Consider the Sub-genres of Mystery
When it comes to mystery and murder mystery subgenres, here are the usual suspects:
Cozy Mysteries
Cozy mysteries often take place in small towns, frequently featuring charming bakeries and handsome mayors. Though the crime is normally murder, there’s no gore, no severed heads in boxes, and no lotion in the basket. As a result, there are rarely any traumatized witnesses or family members in these murder mysteries — making cozies perfect for a gentle fireside read. Example: the Miss Marple series by Agatha Christie.
Recommended reads
- A Guide to Cozy Mysteries [blog post]
- And Then There Were None: The 10 Best Agatha Christie Books [blog post]
Police Procedurals
Police procedurals commonly center on a police investigation (betcha didn’t see that one coming). They feature realistic law enforcement work, such as witness interrogation and forensic science, and require a great deal of research to convince readers of their authenticity. Example: Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series.
Noir Detective Novels
Most associate “noir” with black-and-white films of cynical gumshoes and femme fatales. Their flawed characters and complex plots are renowned for leaving readers in the grey. (Did the investigator do the right thing? Was the culprit really evil?) The crime may be solved by the end, but the mystery itself is rarely so open-and-shut. Example: The Maltese Falcon
Suspense
A suspense mystery is all about high stakes and unexpected twists — elements that make it nearly impossible to stop reading. The mystery builds throughout the narrative, clues are painstakingly planted to divulge just the right amount of information, and things are constantly edging towards a dramatic, often shocking climax. Example: Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl.
2. Commit to a Crime Before You Write
While some authors like to write without an outline, improvisation doesn’t lend itself well to the mystery genre. To build suspense effectively and keep your readers engaged, you’ll need to drip feed information bit by bit — which means you’ll need to know your crime and its culprit inside out before you put pen to paper.
Consider not only who committed the crime, but how they pulled it off, and why. Is there anything unusual about their methods, or any specific details you can include that will add texture to your story — say, the lingering smell left behind by a specific real-world poison or perfume? Would anyone else have witnessed the crime — or thought they witnessed it — and if so, why might they remain silent?
By mapping out and researching your crime, you can think about telltale clues that may have been left behind, and when best to reveal these clues to your readers to keep them hooked.
3. Research & Pick Your Setting with Purpose
Setting is the backbone of mystery; it fosters the right atmosphere and typically plays a significant role in the plot. Pick a setting with which you are familiar. This adds depth and authenticity to your mystery.
4. Carve out an Intriguing Cast of Characters
Mysteries are largely about human intrigue, and to pull that off, you’ll need an interesting cast of characters. Dedicate time to figuring out your victim (if there is a victim), perpetrator, suspects, and sleuth.
Create a Memorable Sleuth
Your sleuth, whether they’re a nosy neighbor or a chief inspector, serves as the eyes and ears of your novel — so it’s important that the reader cares about them from the start!
Explain your sleuth’s motive. What’s stopping them from saying “I guess we’ll never know” and walking away? Would an innocent person be jailed? Will the thief strike again? Or is your sleuth’s motive less selfless, maybe a promotion or a cash reward?
Your sleuth doesn’t have to be a quirky mega-genius a la Sherlock Holmes, but even your “everyman” amateur detective should still be a well-rounded and unique character. Give them idiosyncrasies, interests, and a life outside of the crime, including perhaps a history or connection to the victim that makes them especially invested — “this time, it’s personal…”
Profile Your Perp
You will first need to get their motive right. Your entire plot hinges on this character and their reason for committing a crime, so it has to be thoroughly believable!
What did/does the bad guy stand to gain or lose? More often than not, the answer will involve money, power, or both.
Explore the Dynamics Between the Victim & Suspects
For there to even be a mystery, your culprit can’t be the only possible criminal. To keep readers hunting for the truth, try to show your other suspects having any two of the following:
- means (did they have access?),
- motive (how would they have benefited from the crime?),
- and opportunity (were they close to the crime scene?).
It’s then the job of the sleuth (and the reader in tandem) to dig out whether they have all three — and even if so, whether they actually did it.
5. Build Tension Throughout the Story
A good mystery has the push-and-pull between question and answer. As the author, it’s your job to draw the reader’s attention to the right things at precisely the right moment.
The best way to ensure this is to expertly plan your novel’s shift from the unknown to the known. You’ll produce the gripping rise in action that all great mystery stories possess. Here’s how to do just that.
Hit 'em with a Hook
Every story should start with a great first line, but mysteries are particularly fertile ground for first-rate hooks. Many authors open with the crime.
“We were about to give up and call it a night when somebody dropped a trunk of jewels off the bridge.”
— John D. MacDonald, Darker than Amber (edited)
There’s no one “right way” to open your mystery story. But to make sure it’ll capture readers' attention, try to write an opening that
b) leads them to ask further questions
c) introduces some stakes (conflict, danger, etc.)
Pull out the Red String & Connect Your Clues
You’ve successfully enticed readers with your hook! Now, to keep them engaged, you’ll need to structure your plot around the clues to your mystery’s solution.
For this, consult the Fichtean Curve, a narrative structure that emphasizes rising action, tension and mini-crises — the idea being to keep readers eager to learn more. You must organize your plot so that each new clue ratchets up the tension, until you arrive at the climax.
This moment takes place when the pivotal clue turns up, or when your sleuth realizes the significance of a forgotten lead. What happens at that point leads to your novel's ending.
Give Your Sleuth Time to Think
While you may want to make your story as action-packed as possible, it's also important to slow down at times.
You can even employ misdirection here by having the sleuth make mistakes and get things wrong sometimes. Or, they could off their special skills that make them a good investigator.
Consider Red Herrings
Because they lead the reader down the garden path and away from the truth, you might think red herrings would cause frustration. But when done well, they’re part of the fun, and that’s why they’re a tried-and-true trope of murder mystery.
By upping the tension and escalating the pace, even if it’s towards a dead end, red herrings conjure the signature push-and-pull of the mystery genre. (Not to mention, they keep readers from guessing the answers too soon!)
For a classic mystery bait-and-switch, you might consider:
- a character who appears complicit, but isn’t;
- an object that seems more important than it is (cleverly subverting Chekhov’s Gun!); or
- a misleading clue that was planted by the culprit.
You don't want to hint too obviously at the twist (such as who the bad guy is), because then the reader might put the pieces together prematurely and the reveal scene will feel lackluster and anticlimactic. At the same time, you don't want the twist to feel like it comes out of left field, because then you'll lose the reader's trust. You need to leave just enough breadcrumbs throughout the story so the reader feels like the twist has been right under their nose the whole time.
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