The Elements of Mystery Fiction: Writing the Modern Whodunit

Read this before.... you start floundering on your first attempt at a mystery. This book won't teach you to write well, nor does it try to. Tapply assumes you will read other books on writing, maybe take classes, and will put in the elbow grease required to learn how to write well on your own. What he offers in this book is an insightful overview of writing issues peculiar to the mystery genre. Such as how to approach a plot that is very much two-fold. To the reader, the plot is how will the protagonist unravel this mystery. But there is also the plot of how and why did the murderer/villain etc commit the crime. He discusses different types of slueths, and characterization points to consider if you are potentially developing a series slueth. He also goes into an in depth discussion of dialog since much of mystery is driven by conversations in which the slueth gathers information. He discusses structure and tension. He also mentions several common pitfalls that every writer has committed in a first draft at some point. On the whole, a very useful book for someone who already has a good start at becoming a writer but just needs a little more direction on how to approach mysteries. My copy has yellow highlighter all through it now, and I intend to go back to it because I know I'll need the information I highlighted again someday.

Several years ago, Mr. Tapply was kind enough to give me some much needed criticism. This book reminded me fondly of his comments ( sometimes written in the margins; other times typed neatly on a seperate sheet of paper ) which were always well-reasoned and compassionate. Read this book. Often. Mr. Tapply's advise and tactics on writing inspired me to finish my college degree and re-enter the writing life.