Writing Crime Fiction

A locked-room mystery works when the solution is fully decided before the first sentence gets written. You choose the room, map every physical constraint, … Read more

Learning how to end a mystery series without disappointing readers comes down to three jobs: answer the question you spent eight books asking, resolve … Read more

A crime novel series works when three decisions are made before you draft book one: what the series promises, what carries forward from one … Read more

Learning how to write a heist plot comes down to three things: one precise objective, a crew small enough that every member matters, and … Read more

To write believable autopsy and forensics scenes, you need four things: the right sequence of professional steps, honest limits on what an expert can … Read more

A courtroom scene works when it changes something. Not when the judge bangs a gavel for the fourth time, and not when the prosecutor … Read more

A police procedural is a story in which trained police officers or detectives solve a crime by working the case step by step, from … Read more

Getting the structure right is what matters most when you work out how to write a small town murder mystery, because the suspect pool … Read more

If you are wondering how to choose a setting for a crime novel, the answer is short: pick a specific place and time that … Read more

An amateur sleuth investigates because staying out of it costs them something specific. To write an amateur sleuth who has a reason to investigate, … Read more