Even Your Murder Victim Needs Personality
In a new post, Zara Altair says mystery writers need to invest as much time in their murder victims as their sleuths. "As the...
Forget Your Subplots? Try Grids!
In a post on DIY MFA, Claire Fraise explains why she uses a plot grid to outline her mystery novels. "Books in this genre can...
How Using Tension Builds Your Mystery
In their latest episode, the Writing Excuses hosts build on their previous episodes about building tension and explore creating a mystery story with those...
10 Ways to Make Your Hero Suffer
In a new blog post, Zara Altair suggests ways to make your mystery sleuth suffer. "The art of writing a suspenseful mystery is as...
Pondering Multiple Mysteries
In some sense, every novel is a mystery, else readers wouldn't be curious enough to finish them. While we generally think of mystery as...
What Does a Coroner Do Exactly?
In a new series of podcasts, crime writer DP Lyle will talk about various aspects of forensic science and how it might be used...
Put a Funhouse Mirror in the Middle of Your Mystery
At the midpoint of a novel or movie, you are likely to encounter "the mirror moment" : a scene in which the protagonist looks...
Breaking the Rules of Crime Fiction
In a post on CrimeReads, Benjamin Stevenson examines the purported rules for writing crime fiction and some authors who broke them. "You may know...
The Ineluctable Brilliance of Patricia Highsmith
Lit Hub shares an excerpt from Jess Walter's introductory essay for The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2022. In the excerpt, Walter shares how she...
Does Art Beg to Be Stolen?
In a post on CrimeReads, Cordy Abbott says sometimes objects are so beautiful, we can't help but steal them. "We can think of numerous crimes...
