I presented, The Anatomy of a Mystery, with mystery author, Sharon Wildwind, at 2015 When Words Collide conference [Calgary AB Canada August 14-16, 2015].

If you’re interested in what makes up the bare bones – pun intended – of a successful mystery, here are my notes:

1         Formula for a Mystery

Suspense = Interest + anticipation + uncertainty + emotion

• Crime: any story of a wrongdoing with consequence
  • Most of the time a murder is involved and other crimes may be significant (kidnapping, fraud, robbery, terrorism and so on.)
  • Story becomes a mystery when the efforts to solve the crime are foremost to the story.
  • Means, motive, and opportunity are integral to the story.
• Secret: the process of uncovering a secret drives the plot. The secret can be the circumstances of the crime, the identity of the perp, the motive for the crime, or other secrets not directly related to the crime but which must be revealed because the crime has been committed.
• Detective: is the primary character or protagonist who is actively trying to uncover the secret and solve the crime.
• Orderly resolution: In most mysteries the crime is solved and order is restored. However, in some of the darker mysteries justice may not prevail. Often the resolution to the crime involves resolving important personal issues for the protagonist. Whodunit? Howdunit? Whydunit?

2         Rules of Mystery Genre

Mysteries are genre and if you are writing mysteries you must comply with the rules. Mystery form is not as rigid as in the past, but there are some rules that still need to be observed for a mystery to be a mystery and a satisfying read. Rules are NOT recipes – they define the boundaries of the playing field.

1. The crime must be serious enough for the reader to want it solved. There must be a penalty for NOT solving the murder.
2. There must be detection–a crime cannot solve itself.
3. Fair Play. Every clue discovered by the detective/sleuth has to be made available to the reader somewhere in the book. The reader, as part of the game of fair play, has the right to expect that clues and red herrings eventually lead to solving the crime.
4. If it is a whodunnit there must be a number of suspects and the murderer must be among them. All suspects must be introduced or mentioned within the first few chapters of the book.
5. If is a whydunnit, the murderer may be known and the question becomes which of the motives is the reason the crime was committed.

3         Developing a Mystery

Mysteries can be either plot or character driven:

• Plot driven mystery emphasizes the puzzle. The author predetermines the sequence of events and then chooses the characters on the basis of how well equipped they are to carry out the plan. Classic Agatha Christie but not what we tend to see today. Editors today are buying character.
• Character driven mystery focuses on the psychology, emotions and motivations of the protagonist and the people around him or her.

4         Plot Categories

This is not a complete list but these are the five most common plot categories and may present a starting point for new mystery writers.

The Puzzle: Agatha Christie novels.  A crime is committed under impossible circumstances, for example, in a locked room. The detective’s role is to solve the puzzle and make the impossible plausible.

The Backgrounder: Present crime is a consequence of something that happened in the past. The detective must delve back into the past to solve the mystery.

Interruption of Everyday Life: This is where an ordinary person, most likely an amateur sleuth, is involved in a crime and is transformed into a stronger person.

Macramé: The main mystery plot and personal subplots converge in the resolution, which changes the protagonist’s life.

The Ticking Clock: In the plot, the main question is will they get away with it? The “it” may be anything with a built in deadline: a robbery [the caper mystery], a kidnapping, or a terrorists attack.

5         The Mystery Arc

Mysteries (mostly murder) are about the rights of the individual versus the rights of the community, the battle between good and evil, and the triumph of justice.

There are also one or more personal arcs that deal with the private fortunes of individual characters. The personal is played out in contrast to, or in synchronization with, the righting of wrong and the triumph of justice.

 

Event	Traditional Mystery (cozy)	Middle of the road	Very mean streets
1.    Introduce protagonist and discover body	Characters are prime; body is secondary (body off stage or clean)	Body tends to take on more importance and messier/Characters have real life problems	Characters have serious problems and body is messy
2.    Police Procedure	Off stage, accidental, or friendly sheriff	Knowledge of process as an overview–some details	Full frontal autopsies Intricate process details
3.    Introduce suspects and red herrings Secondary arcs are developed here	Quirkier the better — the better writers aim for real people, quirky but real	Tangled web of people’s lives	Raining downtown on drug dealers and pimps
4.    First significant threat to protagonist –mystery arc and personal arcs often intersect here	A dark spot in an otherwise cheerful story	Chilling	Physical damage to the protagonist
5.    Raise the stakes	At least one new complication	One or more complications	Looking like the St. Valentine’s Day massacre!
6.    Confrontation that puts protagonist in real danger	Real fear, another dark spot	Significant danger, but protagonist often emerges unhurt	More physical damage, torture, rape
7.    Revelation and resolution—all of the arcs come together	Characters regroup, and may or may not have life changes	Characters have life changes and a commitment to go on	Life has changed, usually for the worse (hard won and transient happiness)
Sample list of Authors	Anne George Mary Daheim Elizabeth Peters	Janet Evanovich P. D. James Carolyn Graham Susan Albert	Patricia Cornwall Kathy Reichs Dashell Hammett James Lee Burke

 

6         Characters in Mysteries

• Protagonist is usually the detective who ultimately will solve mystery.
• Secondary protagonists (Optional) are people whose lives are turned upside down by what happens and who have a connection to the protagonist. What happens to these people is often linked to why the detective gets involved.
• Victim is person who is killed or otherwise suffers wrong at the hands of the villain. The victim’s fate incites the story’s main action and his or her actions, relationships and circumstances are scrutinized in solving the crime.
• Villain is the perpetrator of the crime whom the protagonist seeks to unmask and bring to justice.
• Supporting cast includes witnesses, police and others who add texture and may present obstacles, subplots and sources of support to detective.

6.1         Character Decisions:

Protagonist

Need to match the detective to the story you want to tell. All protagonists must have personal motivation to investigate the specific crime, even if it is their regular job – curiosity, vague desire to see justice done or even challenge of outwitting an evil doer are NOT sufficient.

Public Professionals: Solving the crime is their job. These people are police officers, coroner investigators, district or Crown attorneys, RCMP, CIA/CSIS operatives or FBI agents, etc.

• • They must investigate according to well-defined laws, regulations, and standards or must be a maverick operating outside the norms of their job. Have the weight of official authority behind them.
  • Writers must have a reasonable understanding of police or agency procedures.

Private Professionals: Solving the specific crime becomes a part of their job. These people are private eyes, lawyers, journalists, bounty hunters and insurance investigators.

• • • They have independence and freedom to take action that would land public employees in trouble. In fiction, these people may violate the usual boundaries for these types of professions.
    • Requires writer to have a reasonable understanding of professional standards and investigative techniques used in these professions.

Amateur detectives: Solve the crime because of a personal interest or stake.

• • • • These protagonists are not bound by rules of evidence or to protect license or livelihood. They require the skills to be able to conduct investigation.
      • Requires the writer to be able to give them a plausible background for 1. getting involved and 2. having the skills to investigate. However, they do not automatically have access to evidence like autopsy reports that professional investigators would have; the writer must come up with plausible ways for them to get all the evidence they need.

Secondary protagonist

Sidekicks and supporters like family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, etc add texture to primary characters, often provide motivation for solving the crime, and provide input to resolution of puzzle. Watson allowed Holmes to appear more complex and intelligent and provides more reasonable challenge to readers as he gets same clues as they do.

Victim

Most important character even though they may never appear alive in story. Readers must care about victim so have to be well drawn.

Villain

Must be worthy opponent, someone whose strength, resources and power are equal to or greater than those of the protagonist. Should be complex and realistic human being; not purely evil. Psychology of villain is often most interesting part of mystery. Must have adequate motive for crime; be cautious with using mentally incompetent or casual violence as motivation.

Have a backup villain in case your first one doesn’t pan out. Make him or her viable with means, motive and opportunity.

Supporting Cast

In most mysteries there are a limited number of supporting players. The protagonist often focuses on the solution to the mystery to the exclusion of the real world. For example, other than in thrillers, national or international events are rarely mentioned.

7         10 Clues for Successful Mystery

1. Play fair with the reader
2. Raise the stakes
3. Control the pace
4. Threaten the characters
5. Challenge the characters’ ingenuity
6. Allow characters to make mistakes
7. Limit detective’s options
8. Isolate detective physically
9. Isolate detective psychologically
10. Impose a deadline

8         Related topics:

Conflict in Mysteries

History of Mystery

Point of View in Mysteries

Tools & techniques of Mysteries (clues; red herrings; foreshadowing; legal, forensic, and court procedures)

Types of mysteries

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