>Nowadays there is a big focus on series where every episode ends with an addictive cliffhanger. I hate that. Me too. And most of the cliffhangers are stupid,

>Nowadays there is a big focus on series where every episode ends with an addictive cliffhanger. I hate that. Me too. And most of the cliffhangers are stupid, you know they were added in just to pad out the episodes. > Lately everything has to be dark and quirkiness is used to explain how someone is directly rude. Yeah, I've stopped reading crime fiction (and watching crime drama) for exactly this reason: Every detective *has* to be rude/obnoxious, hate their life, be an alcoholic with marriage problems. And I'm like, why can't we have a mentally stable detective who solves crime because of duty, and not to excorcise their "inner demons" (or other such psychological BS reason usually given). For this reason, I love Columbo, Poirot and Midsomer murders: The detectives are honourable people, very polite and respectful, but polite doesnt mean they let people walk over them. It seems to me most crime writers cannot grasp the fact that one can be polite and ruthless (or relentless) at the same time.