Secrets to Writing a Mystery

Unlock the secrets to writing a bestselling mystery novel.

This book solves the puzzle of deep structure specific to mysteries and guides you through an actionable, flexible process to outline, write, and edit a mystery novel.

Through the process, you'll

• Learn to identify your mystery type (Cozy, Traditional, Detective)
• Assemble your essential cast of characters (Sleuth, Victim, Suspects, and Culprit)
• Anchor your story with the five mystery story arc scenes.
• Develop your story with genre-specific patterns and scenes.
• Learn how secondary plots and subplots can be woven into the mystery plot.
• Deepen your story by giving victims fatal flaws and anchoring culprit motives in personal stakes.
• Structure the story by choosing the right POV strategy to control tension and effectively drop clues and red herrings.

Use this book as a reference, and from now on, you'll write every mystery with confidence.

As with all the books in the Write Novels that Sell series, we give you the theory-the why behind our recommendations-and you use the actionable advice to understand the theory and apply it.

Are you a writer ready to move beyond the basics and dive into the deep structure that powers commercially successful mystery novels? Then this book is for you.

Parise for Secrets to Writing a Mystery:

While reading this book, I kept thinking, "I wish I had this book when I wrote my own mystery." Secrets to Writing a Mystery brilliantly demystifies the genre. It's an essential, insight-packed guide for mystery writers. Clear, actionable, and full of those "ah-ha" moments that change the way you write. -Iris Applewood, Author of Fragrance of Forgotten Truths