Secrets to Writing a Mystery

How do you write a mystery novel that keeps readers guessing? Master the whodunit structure.

Mystery writers are like magicians. You want to astound and delight your readers. That takes more than a clever crime. It takes suspects with secrets, clues that play fair, and a structure that hides the culprit until the very end.

Secrets to Writing a Mystery: The Whodunit Structure is a step-by-step guide to writing a mystery novel. It's for serious mystery writers, whether you're outlining, drafting, or editing.

You'll learn:

• The three types of mystery: amateur cozy, amateur traditional, and detective
• The characters every mystery needs: sleuth, victim, suspects, and culprit
• The five mystery story arc scenes, from the crime introduced to solving the mystery
• How to give your victim a fatal flaw and your culprit a believable motive
• How to create suspects with motive, opportunity, and secrets
• How to plant clues and red herrings that play fair with readers
• How to choose a POV strategy that hides the culprit until the climax

You'll create:

• Mystery, subplot, and combined skeleton blurbs
• A mystery vault for every decision you make
• A Mystery Novel Checklist to write mystery after mystery

We break down six bestsellers, including Murder in an Irish Village, Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, and Everyone Here Is Lying.

Like every book in the Write Novels That Sell series, we give you the theory-the why behind our recommendations-and actionable advice you can use right away.

Trust your inner detective. Your story, your rules. Write a mystery readers can't solve until you're ready.