The Da Vinci Code is a very successful detective and mystery novel in recent years. It has broken the record of sales of American novels. This novel is combined with several different styles, including the detective, panic part and conspiracy theory. It made more people become interested in   religion. And there is no doubt that suspense has played a quite important role in its success. This novel is filled with suspense. So it’s a good model to show how suspense works in novels and how important it is.
In mystery novels, the proper use of suspense can make the novel more attractive and excellent. Nowadays in the fiction market, the mystery novels usually can attract more readers because of the dramatic plots.
Based on The Da Vinci Code, this article will analyse different types of suspense. Compared with the studies of former scholars, more impacts of suspense on plot processing and character building will be discussed. As a result, the importance of skillful use of suspense in a successful work will be concluded.
2 Suspense in Processing the Plot
In detective novels, using suspense in proper position of the whole story can effectively advance the process of plots. With different kinds of suspense in different ways, the story will have unexpected effects.
2.1 The use of suspense in the beginning
Many authors choose the murder as the suspense. And so does the author in The Da Vinci Code. Hu Heping(2004) believes that suspense has two features. One is that suspense seeks for the highest degree of echo of society. Writers tend to make murders as the suspense because it can make readers feel angry and anxious. It also raises their desire to read. He also points out the importance of suspense in detective novels. The setting and solution of suspense is necessary for plots.  Authors tend to make the identity of murders as the suspense because it can make readers angry, anxious and sympathetic so that readers will have a strong desire to reader more. Life is precious for people and the murder can make the readers angry, anxious and concerned about what really happened. It is the social echo of suspense.
And in the novel, the author uses a murder as the beginning and it creates a tense phenomenon immediately. Langdon, the main character, is involved in the murder in the beginning. The readers are told that Langdon is innocent, but Fache, the policeman who wants to arrest Langdon doesn’t know. They don’t know who the murderer is. Readers will feel anxious for the characters like Langdon because he is innocent. In stories with such a beginning, readers cannot figure out what will happen later. They will have prediction and expectation. And this plot has created the tension. Readers do not want Langdon to be arrested. With some excellent descriptions, readers will feel to be personally on the scene and they will be as nervous as the character. In this novel, readers have known the murderer and wait for the characters to find the truth with anxiety. They hope the murderer can be punished. With such mood, readers will naturally produce a desire to read the following chapters. This proves if readers know the fact that characters don’t know, readers will feel anxious and want to know the following plots. 《达芬奇密码》中的悬念研究(2):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_25954.html