This week: Everyone is a suspect Edited by: Arakun the Scary Raccoon  
More Newsletters By This Editor 
 
1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions
Quote for the week:
"Mystery spread its cloak across the sky
We lost our way.
Shadows fell from trees.
They knew why."
~ From "House of Four Doors" by the Moody Blues |
Although everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty, a good detective usually looks at everyone as a potential suspect until they can rule them out. Nobody is automatically ruled out even if it seems very unlikely that they committed the crime. Is the grieving widow, the devoted best friend, or the loyal business partner really upset about the victim's demise or are they just good actors? There is no way to know without further investigation.
When planning or writing a mystery story, remember to treat all your characters with a dose of suspicion. Try to see all your characters the way an investigating detective might see them. Think of a reason why any of them might have had means, motive, and opportunity to commit the crime. While the guilty party's true means, motive, or opportunity can be kept as a surprise until close to the end, remember to leave subtle clues so the readers have a chance to figure it out. The identity of the guilty party shouldn't be completely obvious right from the start, but shouldn't come out of nowhere without hints either.
It is often necessary to misdirect your characters (and your readers) by making them think as innocent person is guilty or a guilty person is innocent. If you set up illusions for your readers, make sure you do it without lying to the readers. Characters can lie as much as you need them to, but the writer should never lie directly to the readers. While unreliable narrators can definitely lie, in those cases the narrator is a character in the story, and not the direct voice of the author.
For example, in one story I recently read, the character who found the body of a murder victim turned out to be the one who actually committed the crime. While a guilty person might plan to "discover" the crime to divert suspicion from themselves, it is the way it was done in this story that was the problem. The murderer who "found" the body was alone at the time, so the scene was described through her thoughts. There are times when it works well to get inside a character's head, but this wasn't one of them.
Her thoughts, as described by the third person omnicient narrator (the voice of the author) made it seem as if she was totally surprised to discover the crime. Since she was by herself, there was no need to "put on an act" and pretend to be surprised by what she found. It would have worked much better to either have someone else find the body or have another person with the killer when she discovered it. That way she would have had someone to put on an act for, and the writer wouldn't have had to lie about her thoughts. This was a story written by a well known published author, so nobody is immune to mistakes like this one.
Something to try: Write a mystery story where nobody has an alibi.
|
Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
| Question for next time: What subjects would you like to see discussed in future mystery newsletters? |
To stop receiving this newsletter, click here for your newsletter subscription list. Simply uncheck the box next to any newsletter(s) you wish to cancel and then click to "Submit Changes". You can edit your subscriptions at any time.
|
Mystery: October 15, 2025 Issue [#13398]
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
