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Tips, insights and guidance from our editors on mystery writing and craft-focused reviews of bestselling titles in the genre.

How P.J. Parrish Starts a Story: A “First 50” Analysis

[by Ross Browne]

Flap Copy: For Louis Kincaid and his lover, female detective Joe Frye, the present and the past collide when they team up to find out what happened to Jean Brandt, who was reported missing by her husband from their Michigan farmhouse in 1981. Jean’s daughter Amy, only five at the time, has been plagued by […]

By |2024-01-07T02:42:23+00:00March 8th, 2018|Behind The Bestsellers|Comments Off on How P.J. Parrish Starts a Story: A “First 50” Analysis
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Writing Mysteries Guides, tips, and recommended reading for mystery writers

A quick word of caution to the aspiring mystery writer…

For its enduring popularity as a genre, mystery is a surprisingly tough genre to break into for new writers, and in some respects one of the hardest genres to write. This is in part due to the procedural know-how a writer must have to write convincingly about investigating […]

By |2024-01-06T22:47:45+00:00|The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on Writing Mysteries Guides, tips, and recommended reading for mystery writers
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What Writers Can Learn from Lee Child & Jack Reacher A lesson in handling exposition in mystery and suspense novels

Exposition: a discourse of information. (Often necessary, but also challenging to handle skillfully.)

In an earlier post for mystery writers, I talked a little bit about the value of resisting the urge to lecture your readers on what you might have learned in the course of researching your story or what you might know from your own in-the-trenches […]

By |2024-01-19T23:26:21+00:00|The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on What Writers Can Learn from Lee Child & Jack Reacher A lesson in handling exposition in mystery and suspense novels
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Reviewing CAREER OF EVIL by Robert Galbraith A reflection on J.K. Rowling's talent as a mystery writer

“When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman’s severed leg. Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible–and Strike knows that any one of them is […]

By |2024-01-06T22:08:33+00:00|Book Reviews|Comments Off on Reviewing CAREER OF EVIL by Robert Galbraith A reflection on J.K. Rowling's talent as a mystery writer
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The Mystery Writer’s Toolbox For mysteries (of course) and just about any genre of plot-driven fiction

[by Shannon Roberts]
mystery_manQuestions. Motives. Clues. Red herrings. Villains. Suspense.

All of these are elements in any good mystery. And all of them should be elements in your novel—whether it be science fiction, literary fiction, family or historical drama, horror, romance, or something else entirely.

Any good story is driven by […]

By |2024-01-06T22:30:23+00:00|The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on The Mystery Writer’s Toolbox For mysteries (of course) and just about any genre of plot-driven fiction
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