Killing is easy. Getting away with it is hard.

I’ve finished my next two novels, and I’m ready to start something new.

This one, I will be a near-perfect crime story.

By my definition, to be perfect is to be flawless. But, a perfect murder – one done entirely without suspicious circumstances - is never investigated. Consequently, there isn’t a mystery to solve or, for that matter, a story to be told.

In my near-perfect crime, I’m leaning toward disposing of the body but keeping the victim alive, in the sense of him or her staying in touch with a loved one. The loved one will be fooled. It’s only when another member of the victim’s family becomes suspicious that the police get involved.

Another approach I’m considering is to infect the victim with a disease which, over time, will be fatal. The crime becomes suspect only after others die of the same affliction. Those killings were the result of the perpetrator getting caught and blackmailed. A bit more bloody, but offering more writing fun.

Any suggestions?

If you had a way to commit the perfect murder, and assuming there was someone in your life who deserved killing, would you do it? In this scenario, there would be no risk of arrest.