Here’s an angle that makes this sort of Mormonism-in-the-background novel more relevant for all Mormon readers. Mormons have reached the degree of visibility in the general culture that Mormon characters will show up in TV shows and movies and novels in the same way that Catholics and Evangelicals and Jews show up in predictable stereotypes. The “Mormon stereotype” is not generally flattering. It is often shallow. So if we are going to encounter more realistic or more compelling Mormon characters, it is probably going to be in book written by Mormon authors. We need to support those Mormon authors who make that attempt. If we don’t, all there will be is the unflattering, shallow depictions one sees elsewhere.

A good counter-example is Agatha Christie. I’ve read many of her books, and while they do take place in a time and place, there is very little investment in the culture. Another potential example are Robert Parker’s mysteries, many of them set in the Boston area. He spends a fair amount of time on Boston geography, but I’d say he spends relatively little on the culture. Again, he may have assumed that most of his audience was American, but still, he doesn’t invest a lot in the particularities of Bostonian culture.

It is interesting that so many mysteries seem primarily tied to examining these cultures. I’m trying to think of mysteries where foreign culture wasn’t the real key for me. Sherlock Holmes I guess but those are short stories.