What’s in a Murder Mystery, Anyway?

(guest post by Jeannette de Beauvoir)

My favorite genre, whether reading or writing, is mystery. There’s something that’s intellectually and morally satisfying about seeing justice done—and having a go at figuring out how to get there.

Most murders originate long before they come to the reader’s—or the sleuth’s—attention. The body is both the ending of one story and the beginning of another. But unless there’s some sort of flashback in the prologue, the murder mystery proper begins with a body.

I often present an interactive event at libraries and other organizations I call Candlestick in the Library, in which participants help supply the victim, sidekick, murderer, sleuth, and more, eventually putting the entire story together. And that in turn has had me thinking about what components all have to work together to make a murder mystery… well, work!

THE BODY

In a cozy mystery, one that doesn’t follow the investigation from the police point of view  (those are called police procedurals), generally the murder itself is glossed over. Its brutality doesn’t intrude much into the drawing-room or garden; instead, that’s all abstracted and presented to the reader as a puzzle. Readers are generally not attached to the victim, though as the mystery deepens the victim may be fleshed out and presented as more of a person; right now, though, we’re just looking at a body. 

THE SLEUTH

In a mystery in which the protagonist is a detective (either police or private), that person now enters the scene. Although not always the case, this is also often the point where the amateur sleuth enters the scene, though generally with less deliberation; most amateurs stumble over bodies—literally or metaphorically—or get drawn in by someone else. In a detective novel, there is sometimes a dark haunting past or present problem (think Sherlock Holmes’ cocaine habit), while amateurs often handle their pasts and foibles with humor.

THE SUSPECTS

The obvious suspect is, of course, rarely guilty. Agatha Christie pioneered the least likely suspect as murderer; but there are all sorts of options between those two extremes. It’s generally not the butler (though to be honest, I long to read a mystery in which the butler did do it!). Suspects generally all present a motive for murder, though more often than not these motives are established by the author as red herrings to lead the reader astray.

THE WEAPON

The weapon used reveals the level of planning—or lack thereof—involved. Murder weapons (or methods) in novels tend in general to be more creative than those in the headlines; one can only assume that when real criminals use creative methods they’re not caught.

THE INFORMATION

There’s lots of it. The weather, people’s habits, gum wrappers left behind… nothing is too small for the author to include. It’s up to the reader to figure out what’s relevant and what isn’t. The author has a duty to the reader: all the information necessary to solving the crime must be given to the reader in the name of fair play—so a lot more of it needs to be there in order to distract!

THE RED HERRINGS

Just as superfluous information must be included, along with a plethora of possible suspects, the author includes possible false trails for the reader to fall in love with and follow. 

THE REVELATION

It’s no fun to solve a murder if you can’t reveal your solution as dramatically as possible! Remember Hercule Poirot’s “you may wonder why I’ve called you here this evening”… this is possibly the most annoying part of the classic Golden Age mysteries, as the detective (professional or amateur) takes the suspects through the entire case, throws about the red herrings, and finally reveals the culprit. Modern mysteries, like mine, will tend to be a lot shorter and a lot less dramatic, but we do still have to tidy up a few things, and we generally do that via a conversation or recollection.

And that’s pretty much it! Of course, I hope that you see more than this barebones structure in my novels… but I am writing them in conformity to an old and venerable writing tradition.

Happy sleuthing!