Suspense Gimmicks that Work on Me

In a really boring mystery I don't otherwise like, here are things that will keep me reading:
A PLOT THAT KEEPS MOVING
Beautiful setting
Beautiful clothing
Pregnant character who may give birth by the end of the book.
Beautiful animals who may reappear
Romantic interest
Awful character who may get comeuppance by the end of the book.
Wealth, money being spent in abundance
Theatrical or public event to be performed by the end

Is there anyone else who reads books they don't like, just to find out what happens? In my case, whatever vicarious, escapist satisfaction I get from the premise or scenery or themes TRANSCENDS bad writing, bad plotting, etc. I'm pathetic enough to admit that my soul has deficiencies, possibly analogous to nutritional deficiencies. I meet these needs through books.

Based on what I WILL read about in the face of boring or distasteful writing, I can conclude that I have unhealthy fascinations with wealth, beauty, vengeance, romance, and adulation.

I'm not a romance reader ordinarily but I will sit through one if I'm rooting for the couple, or I like the lady's outfits. I will hang around to enjoy a wealth fantasy.

How can I use this in my own writing?

Have the pregnant character give birth onstage during the opening. Oh, wait--that was a season-ender for Ugly Betty.

Have the characters find treasure and reveal it as a public spectacle following a dramatic rescue. Oh, wait--Tom Sawyer!

These strategies won't work if readers aren't invested to some extent. I must've cared about that pregnant character and hated that villain. The writing must've been good on some level for that to be the case.

Puzzles: I stuck through the end of Da Vinci Code because of the brain teasers. It was also a treasure hunt, although a different kind of treasure hunt. The characters raced from exotic location to exotic location, one step ahead of various groups of bad guys. I didn't care about that, but I did think I knew the solution and I wanted to be vindicated.

There's hope for me. I can transcend my own bad writing, if I can exploit human nature effectively enough. I need to convince the reader that whatever turns them on--THEM--is waiting on the next page.