Book Review: How to Write a Damn Good Mystery

Book review: How to Write a Damn Good Mystery: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide from Inspiration to Finished Manuscript
By James N. Frey

Like the title says, this is a ‘step-by-step’ guide.

I don’t actually write mysteries, but some of my stories have a mysterious thread within them. For example, The 15 Date Rule has a bit of a mystery in terms of a theft. In writing this story I had questions such as what is a true red herring? How do you create one? How do you deal with them? How do you create false leads without ticking off your reader–either by making it too obvious or by totally deceiving them? As I read through this book, I came across  answers to my questions. I learned what is common practice, what works and what might not.

This book would be excellent for a beginning mystery writer who is looking for a methodical plan to follow or simply some ideas on how and where to start. If you don’t mind putting in a little hard work (brainstorming) on the front end, with Frey’s method, you will create a focused first draft that requires few plot overhauls after completion. Even writers who prefer a ‘seat of their pants’ method will find his methods helpful. Basically, Frey helps writers focus their thoughts in a productive way. He walks through how to create a good hero/heroine, a good murderer, a setting that will add to your story, as well as a step sheet which plots out any major obstacles the hero/heroine will encounter as they work towards reaching their goal (solving the murder). He also discusses different ways the hero/heroine can work towards gathering information–a random gatherer or a methodicial, clue-by-clue gatherer. And naturally, he provides how to wrap up your mystery in an entertaining way (none of that boring, sit down and reguritate everyone’s motives stuff).