The word mystery is a very interesting word that in our current culture has lost some of its original meaning. The word mystery gets thrown about and added as a label on a great many items such as cheap novels, atrocious movies, and freakish carnival side shows when in realty the word has a deeper and more arcane meaning.
The word mystery can be traced back through Old French 'mistere' and Latin 'mysterium' to its origins (most scholars agree) in the Greek 'mysterion.' The word 'mysterion' means "secret rite or doctrine." If you have ever heard of certain Eastern and Middle Eastern Religions referred to as Mystery Religions this is why. Mystery religions involved certain rites and rituals only revealed to the initiates (usually after a hefty financial contribution). These mysteries were secrets, knowledge that few people possessed and even fewer understood. It is also related to the Greek word 'myein' which means "to close, shut" possibly referring to how the mysteries were kept closed off from the uninitiated or to how the initiated were to keep their mouths shut about what they had seen. It wasn't until many centuries later that the word became the common word referring to detective novels.
What it means to storytelling: While it is not "inappropriate" to refer to detective stories and crime solving journeys as mysteries it doesn't do the word justice to just leave mystery at that. Mystery is something as storytellers that we can make so much more important. As storytellers we have the chance to put on a persona that emanates an aura of mystery. We have a secret knowledge that no one else has, not so much puzzles to be solved as in crime dramas, but knowledge that is special and private; knowledge that is given to only a very few. And we can offer a peek of it to our audiences, not a full revelation mind you, but rather a taste; just enough for them to wonder and imagine and escape their reality... even if just for a moment. This can be a very powerful tool if used effectively.
Don't just tell a mystery, be one, and share one with your audience.
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