> Contemporary mystery authors too often feel the need to create the illusion of depth by having alcoholic protagonists with messy personal lives I agree with

> Contemporary mystery authors too often feel the need to create the illusion of depth by having alcoholic protagonists with messy personal lives I agree with you. Messy personal lives and often sex scenes or gore that add nothing to the story. I find it off-putting and disturbing (not necessarily morally disturbing, more as noise or feeling disconnected from the author: I don't get why are you telling me this, am I missing the point, should I be enjoying this?) and find myself retreating to old classics like Poirot, Father Brown, Miss Marple and Sherlock Holmes again and again