What Happened?
How do you design a murder that is effective, believable, and solvable in a mystery novel?
- Complexity and Puzzling Nature: Design the crime scene to show and hide at the same time
What appears to have happened should be clear enough to form an initial theory, while the truth is concealed within overlooked or misinterpreted details. - Relevance to Plot and Theme: Align the murder with the story’s plot and underlying theme
The crime should not be interchangeable; it should reflect the central conflict, reinforce character arcs, and deepen the meaning of the story as the truth is uncovered.The chosen crime should tie into the broader themes of your novel, whether it’s revenge, betrayal, greed, or justice. - Clue Potential: Ensure the murder generates a fair and traceable clue trail
Every aspect of the crime should feed the investigation—producing clues, red herrings, and contradictions that allow the reader to solve it (but not too easily). Consider how the crime will allow for the placement of clues and red herrings, opportunities for subtle hints, without making the answer too obvious too early. - Unique or Unusual Aspects: Introduce a distinctive or unusual element that sets the crime apart
A unique method, setting, circumstance, or twist gives the murder identity and intrigue—but it must still operate within believable limits and support the logic of the solution.Unique crimes create intrigue and give readers something memorable to latch onto. - Emotional and Psychological Stakes: Define a clear motive that logically drives the crime
The murder must make sense from the killer’s point of view—emotionally, psychologically, or practically—so it feels inevitable rather than arbitrary. The crime should carry emotional weight, not just for the victim but also for the other characters.
Digging Up the Dirt to Find a Crime or Where Do You Get Your Ideas?
Ideas are lurking everywhere. They are hiding in plain sight. Stories are found reading between the lines of other stories.
- Rumours & Gossip in the work place or the play ground
- Eavesdropping in coffee shops & wine bards
- From you own experience
- Pet peeves taken to an extreme
- The news, including headlines, police reports, forensic science journals, & psychological studies
- Art & Literature events
- Historic events
- Folklore & urban legends
Write about something you feel strongly about. It may be an injustice. It may be a dream. It may be a hobby.
Say you really love to garden.
Research interesting stories about gardening. A quick search gave me this piece of FOLKLORE:
In 2019, gardening enthusiasts in Dorset, England, unearthed a prehistoric treasure trove while working in their community allotment. What began as a routine day led to the discovery of Iron Age tools and Roman-era relics.
However, things took a strange turn when gardeners reported eerie phenomena—plants growing unusually fast, odd sensations of being watched, and whispers in the garden. These experiences sparked local legends, and the site became known as “the haunted garden,” blending history with mystery.
This bit of research could inspire a murder mystery novel or script.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD VILLAIN?
The Crime comes from an Obstacle to the Villain’s Desire. Who or what is stopping them from having what they want. What do they need to do to remove the obstacle from their path and reach their desire?
What is their MOTIVE?
- A good villain has a clear, logical motive and belief system. Their actions make sense to them, driven by a wound, goal, or worldview that turns a truth into something dangerous.
- A good villain targets the protagonist’s weakness, not just their safety. They apply pressure to the hero’s flaw, fear, or moral limits—forcing change, not just survival.
- A good villain drives the story’s conflict and reveals its theme. Their choices create consequences that expose what the story is really about, making the narrative meaningful as well as tense.
TRACK all details!
Tracking plot details means that everything, which needs to be included is included, and nothing extra creep in.
A simple, easy to read, reference, spreadsheet, diagram or whatever method works for you, will make your life easier. Being able to track details means you can avoid plot holes, which lose reader trust and ensure that nothing appears, which is not supported.
So cool, I wrote a small novel w/out this outline, got help for it at great cost (NOT from here), that was not all that helpful , and see the reader has expectations . . .
I marvel at mysteries or detective novels I read, all the BIG names, and how dense and convoluted they are!
It’d be helpful to put the actual titles or actions/pieces, in those boxes in your diagram above, to plot the plot, but maybe that’s proprietary to you?!
Hi Jacques – thank you for your comment. I try to strike a balance between giving lots of information away so that writers can get help from the website and so that they know that I know what I am talking about. If people find the free information useful I hope that they see buying my book CLUETRAIL or booking a consultation as a good investment. All the diagrams are labelled in the book and there is tons of instruction on creating clues and hiding them. I like creating plots for mysteries where people have everything they need to solve the mystery and if you ware writing one of those types of mysteries then my book is very useful.
To be clear, my expertise is in plotting rather than writing. I can help people put together a tight plot but whether it is written clearly and cleanly or dense and convoluted is up to the writer and editors. If you want to make sure your plot has no loose ends or extra information then I am your expert. I believe in diagramming rather than outlining. This is basically the book I wanted to read when I was starting to do mystery entertainment and needed to come up with a variety of plots quickly.