Maniac Monday

I enjoy reading, particularly mysteries. My gripe is that so many modern-day authors* do not seem to understand that there are readers out there who do not want to read about hedonistic immorality nor graphic gore. Is it too much to ask today's writer not to use "the F word" on every page?! Good grief. I've always contended that those who use profanity do so because they haven't the vocabulary to express themselves otherwise. Case in point: I'm currently rereading The Spanish Cape Mystery, an Ellery Queen title with a 1935 copyright date. The investigating police inspector is frustrated by the victim's audacity in getting himself murdered. "For some seconds, he [the inspector] expressed himself with violence and fluency, describing the nature, habits, temperament, and antecedents (probable) of John Marco with a comprehensiveness, lucidity, and imagery that shocked Judge Macklin and caused Ellery's eyes to widen with admiration." (page 161) Bravo. Not a single profane word in that sentence, but the meaning is abundantly clear.

* Footnotes:

• Here's a way I have devised to find a decent library book in the mystery section: I look for the oldest copyright dates I can find, and I look for an author who has more than a couple of titles on the shelf. When I find an author I like exceptionally well, the books are usually out of print, so I'll go in search of them in used bookstores, either physical ones or cyberworld ones.
• A good many contemporary titles I've read do omit profanity and graphic butchery, but they've managed to omit a complex and satisfying plot as well. I recently read a bestselling author's mystery that is set in a bakery. The writing was bland and the conclusion predictable, but there were a number of cookie recipes included, so the purchase wasn't a total loss.