How to write

A detective story is a type of mystery which has a character, whether a professional investigator or amateur, who solves a mystery. When you decide to write a detective story, consider the setting, character, the mystery (conflict), clues which will lead to a satisfying climax and conclusion.  I think detective stories, more than any other genre, benefit from outlining to ensure all these elements are present.

Setting - Select a time period and place in which you have sufficient knowledge to insure authenticity.  If your story is set in modern times, you will need to consider how the internet has changed the way private investigators work.  There are a number of sleuthing sites which can be incorporated into your story - especially if your investigator is an amateur detective.  Once you’ve determined the time period, select a primary setting, such as a city, a school, a hospital, a ship or an old house.

Character - Now that you know where and when the story takes place, develop characters with the appropriate traits for their environment, including: social attitudes, education, occupation, gender or religion.  If your protagonist is female and your story is set in 19^th century Europe, she’ll be constrained by her social status.  Your detective can be of any age, occupation, gender or even an animal, as demonstrated by the cat detectives Koko and Yum-Yum, created by Lilian Jackson Braun.

Conflict - Every detective needs a crime to solve - whether a murder or the theft of the church’s bake sale proceeds.   Whatever the mystery, it needs to be outlined and explained, step-by-step in sequence.  There should be clues scattered throughout that will give your reader an opportunity to solve the crime with your detective.  This can be incredibly tricky, because you don’t want your reader to solve the crime before your detective.  CK Chesterton observed “The detective story differs from every other story in this: that the reader is only happy if he feels a fool… It is largely a matter of the order in which things are mentioned, rather than of the nature of the things themselves. The essence of a mystery tale is that we are suddenly confronted with a truth which we have never suspected and yet can see to be true.”

Every crime is based on:

Motive - The reason the crime occurred

Method - The way in which the crime was perpetuated

Opportunity - Who was nearby and could have committed the crime.

Climax - A moment or event which should contain an element of surprise and a sense of danger or risk. The climax is the a’ha moment, the mystery is solved, all the suspects, but one, have been eliminated.  It’s not yet known if the outcome is positive (the bad guy is caught) or negative (the bad guy gets away) which will create tension.

Conclusion - In the end, all the questions must be answered.  Secrets are revealed and loose ends are wrapped up.  You might do this with wordy confession or your detective can articulate the what, who, when, where, how and why.

I find detective stories appealing because they provide a glimpse behind the mask people wear. Sometimes I’m appalled by what I find, but other times my suspicions are confirmed.  A character is revealed, but they cannot be connected with the crime until there is psychological reconciliation and then the truth can’t be ignored.

“The inconsistencies of human nature are indeed terrible and heart-shaking things, to be named with the same note of crisis as the hour of death and the Day of Judgment. They are not all fine shades, but some of them very fearful shadows, made by the primal contrast of darkness and light. Both the crimes and the confessions can be as catastrophic as lightning. Indeed, The Ideal Detective Story might do some good if it brought men back to understand that the world is not all curves, but that there are some things that are as jagged as the lightning-flash or as straight as the sword.”