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I really enjoy writing murder mystery books. That’s why I’ve written so many.
I read them all the time. There’s nothing I like more than to settle down to a good murder mystery book . Some of my favourite writers are Ruth Rendell, Ian Rankin, Lawrence Block and James Lee Burke. A murder mystery book has a number of predictable ingredients.
A Murder Murder is the worst crime of all. Hearing about it or reading about it is a shocking thing. It’s a dramatic way to start a book and it gives the reader a reason to read on. They want to know who did this murder and why. Maybe sometimes they want to know when and how. Most people are murdered by someone that they know so the victim’s life, family and friends have to be examined. This gives the writer a chance to tell the story of the victim’s life. In real life most of us, thankfully, never experience this violent and unexpected kind of death. Often in real life murders are not solved. In books they always are solved. Maybe this is one of the reasons that these books are popular. Murderers are caught. A Detective The detective is a very important person in a crime novel He/she is the one person who will stop at nothing until they find the killer. Their personality is very important. Usually they’re determined with a strong sense of right and wrong. They may have a tragic past, where something has happened in their own lives. When they’re trying to solve the crime they relate to it more because of their own past unhappiness. The detective can be a member of the police or an individual or a private detective. When I wrote the East End Murders my detective was called Patsy Kelly. She was eighteen and worked in her uncle’s detective agency. She was only there to do the odd jobs but she always got involved with solving crime. Clues Clues are important. There might be forensic clues; blood stains, hairs, fingerprints. There might be others: things that neighbours overhear, sightings, diaries, a dropped train ticket. The detective will have to analyse these and link them to the life of the victim. That’s the only way that they will be able to work out who the murderer is. Red Herrings These are false clues and they are put there to distract the reader. It’s important that the reader doesn’t guess who the murderer is before it is revealed at the end. The writer will slip in something now and then; a newly discovered letter, a late witness who saw a red haired man running from the scene or a dropped earring that was wedged in between the floorboards. These things will take up the time of the detective but they will send him or her on a false trail. The Resolution The detective will know who the murderer is before the reader. They will hold their secret for a few pages while they find a way of confronting the murderer. When they do they will reveal who, why and how. There may even be a further chapter where the detective will talk to a friend or colleague and explain in more depth what has happened. This gives the reader a chance to hear answers to questions they might themselves raise. Why did the blonde man run away when he found the dead girl? Why did the dead girl ring the 22nd March in her diary, the day after she died? There’s a lot more to these books than you’d think. I love them. At their best they’re thrilling and puzzling and - if they’re well written - they tell you a lot about human nature and a darker side of life. My books are available from Amazon.co.uk 
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