If you're thinking of writing a mystery, read this advice from writing coach Jessica Page Morrell first

'My name is Kinsey Milhone. I'm a private investigator, licensed in the state of California. I'm 32 years old, twice divorced, no kids. The day before yesterday I killed someone and the fact weighs heavily on my mind.'
A Is for Alibi by Sue Grafton

So now you're writing a mystery. Your detective is a whizz, yet believable, and your criminal dastardly and inventive. You know who was killed and why. If you do say so yourself, your mode of murder is ingenious, in fact, it's the stuff nightmares are made of, and you even have a few red herrings up your sleeve.

Plotting and pacing
Now comes the tricky business of plotting a story so that the clues are laid, the suspects interrogated and the criminal revealed at a pace that keeps the readers involved. You don't want to write based on a formula, but at the same time you want to use the storytelling devices inherent in the genre. Mysteries require organisation and reason. The writer metes out clues bit by bit, shaping a pattern like building blocks.

Early in the story you must introduce the criminal, the victim and any other main characters. While some writers prefer to introduce the setting and characters, and get their stories off to a leisurely start, the sooner a corpse is discovered, the sooner the reader is wracked with questions and forced to keep reading to discover answers. Some authors insist that the criminal need not lurk about in the early stages of the book, but these authors would do well to read the classic and best mysteries. A true mystery novel is based on fair play, a kind of cat-and-mouse game between author and reader where the writer conceals and the reader guesses. Fair play requires that the writer reveals the same clues to the detective and the reader until eventually she tells all. As the puzzle pieces fall into place over the course of the story, if the criminal is kept in full view, it is deeply satisfying to slowly expose her, replete with gruesome motive.

Your victim and suspects
In the early chapters of the book, the victim, the murder scene and the person who finds the body are introduced. This scene usually includes several clues and should be sufficiently horrific to linger in the mind of the reader. Once the main plot is firmly in place, a sub-plot, such as a love interest, can be introduced.

If you've written an outline, you've likely started with a victim and murderer, as well as the motive and method of the murder. Now, ask yourself, who else knows the victim? The clever writer introduces a bevy of suspects to be interrogated and eventually eliminated. As the suspects drop away one by one, the writer homes in on the real criminal. This is accomplished by delving into the victim's background. Who knew her and why did they want her dead? You might want to provide the other suspects with both access to similar weapons and motives. Sometimes a wily murderer will leave false clues of her own. Often writers stage a second murder or will kill off the chief suspect at about two-thirds of the way through the story, just to keep the plot boiling, because as in all fiction, mysteries require increasing complications.

Your criminal
Naturally the story culminates with the criminal being confronted, then caught. If you're wise, you'll invent a criminal who is interesting and driven. Research your criminal type and invent a background and childhood to match her crime. There is a huge difference between a sociopath and someone who kills out of desperation or passion. The story must provide a satisfactory explanation of the motive, clues and links between characters before it ends. While mysteries don't require happy endings to satisfy the reader, they do need all the loose plot ends cleverly tied and tidied.

A sense of realism
Mysteries are realistic. There is palpable tension on every page and danger, or at least the threat of danger, hangs over the lives of the characters, including the detective. The criminal must have a serious motive for his evil deeds and exert great effort to avoid capture.

Extra seasonings
The extra seasonings in a delicious mystery include a memorable setting, an intriguing cast of characters and an underlying theme. While mysteries are written chiefly to entertain, contemporary writers often like to delve into deeper themes, such as political corruption. Many writers like to season their stories with facts and provide settings cut straight from real life.

A little more action
And finally, many modern mysteries are laced with action borrowed from thrillers. Often the detective will be forced into impossible danger, from which her escape is highly questionable, until at the last possible moment, she slips out of the murderer's clutches.

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