Mystery stories have been popular ever since Poe created Dupin (The Murders in the Rue Morgue) and it looks like they are here for at least another hundred years.

Unlike other stories, the mystery requires the writer to take a two-fold approach to the planning. As with other stories, you need to figure out how to structure the tale, the high and low points, and so forth. But you also need to plan the crime. Neither of these things is easy, and coordinating the two can be tricky. Very tricky.

Let’s start with the planning, both of the story and of the crime. What comes first?

The Idea.

There’s no point in trying to write anything if you have no idea where you are going. If you have an idea, you may be able to develop it into a wonderful tale. But first, you need to test it. How, you say. Well, like everyone else who gives advice about writing, I’m going to start with this staple: read. You absolutely have to read if you want to write. This is particularly true of writing mysteries.

The first test is: has it been done before? More to the point, has it been done a lot? If the answer is yes to both questions, you might need to either find another crime, or a twist on the premise. For example, a fairly common storyline is Sherlock Holmes investigating Jack the Ripper. It has, forgive the pun, been done to death. One writer decided to make his version different by making Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft Holmes, the notorious killer. I confess, I groaned when I read it.

Agatha Christie made a career of the most unlikely person being the criminal. She also introduced us to the unexpected detective in the forms of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. Others have offered unusual sites where the crime occurs: the quiet village, the airplane, the train. And, yes, Mrs Christie employed all of those too.

Since then, we have found detectives who are historical characters, neuro-diverse, and people with criminal records.

If it seems as if it’s very hard to come up with a new take, you’re right, but that doesn’t make it impossible. Try to find some aspect of your own life to tweak the tale. Give your detective or your crook your own profession, or some disability or unusual talent you have. Set the crime in your home town or a place you know well. Base the victim on someone who irks you, the bully at work, or a school teacher you had problems with. Obviously, you will need to disguise the horrible person, but you will know the truth.

You also need to decide if the story should be set in the present day or some time in the past. The Brother Cadfael stories of Ellis Peters are a great example of medieval mysteries, as are the Edward Shardlake novels of CJ Sansom. There are dozens of others. My own novels are set in the late Victorian / early Edwardian period.

If you opt to set your story in the modern world, you need to decide if it should be a police procedural, or a ‘cosy’ mystery investigated by an amateur.

This brings us to research. If you are already an expert in a certain period or place, it gives you a real advantage because you can write knowledgeably about your area of interest. Remember, if the story is real to you, it will be real to your readers.

Before we go any further, I should point out that while most mystery stories focus on a murder or murders, you don’t have to go that route. You can go with theft, blackmail, kidnapping, or any other form of skullduggery. DL Sayers’ novel Gaudy Night focuses on a poison pen letter writer. Not a corpse in sight and it’s one of my favourite mystery novels.

Writing a mystery story is fun, but it isn’t easy. Over the next few weeks we will look at the various elements of constructing a story starting next week with the crime.

If you have questions or ideas to share, please comment. I’d love to hear from you.

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