Some of us decide to write a mystery on a whim. Others, after brooding on the notion for years (not unlike, perhaps, those many disgruntled nephews harboring dark fantasies about their wealthy uncles, in book after book after book…). Each of us has a different motive for murder; we write to exorcise those demons, or to make them our servants, or simply to have a bit of fun. So: how do you do it? What are the building blocks for a classic murder mystery? Where do you begin?
The Rules
Everyone knows that classic murder mysteries obey certain rules. But no one agrees what those rules are. And the
