Detectives, sleuths, police officers, private eyes, mystery writers—it doesn’t matter what their title is, they all want to solve the mystery—and so does the reader. Clues, red herrings, alibis, and lies are the stuff of a great who dunnit.
But there is more to writing a mystery than deerstalker hats and magnifying glasses. So whip out your notepad, it’s time to take notes on how to write a structurally sound mystery.
How to Start a Mystery Story
Strange symbols, a missing painting, or a dead body are all ways that mysteries have begun on the page. But where did they start before they were a twinkling in the author’s eye?
1) Read
Reading classic mysteries, award winning mysteries, and popular mysteries will give you an idea of what readers expect and how exemplary mysteries are written and plotted. The more you read, the more you learn and come to understand the genre.
2) Subgenre
Straight mysteries still exist, and if that’s what you want to write, go for it. But today, there are many subgenres.
Cozy mysteries avoid gore and keep romance closed-door. The detective is usually an amateur, often in a small town, with fun themes like cats, books, baking, or gardening.
Historical mysteries are set in a specific era and reflect that time’s technology, norms, and events. Police procedurals focus on modern investigative methods—think forensics, databases, and following leads by the book.
Classic detective stories pit a sharp sleuth against a mastermind. Hard-boiled and noir feature tough private eyes solving gritty crimes.
Inverted mysteries reveal the criminal early; the tension lies in proving how they did it. These often open with the crime itself.
Thrillers aren’t quite mysteries—the focus is on stopping crimes before they happen: bombs, serial killers, high-stakes chases. Heists fall under crime but not mystery.
Once you know your subgenre, you’ll better understand the tropes your readers expect.
3) Protagonist
Knowing the genre will help you choose if your protagonist is an amateur or what kind of a professional they are.
You must also decide if you have a group protagonist—think Scooby Doo—a combined protagonist—like the Hardy Boys—or a single protagonist, which most well-known mysteries are—Miss Marple, Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown, V.I Warshawski, Jack Reacher, etc.
4) Perspective
Choosing point of view (pov) and perspective and point of view are key in mysteries—it lets you control what the reader knows. Decide whether first or third person suits your story, and how deep you want to go into a character’s pov.
Avoid making readers feel misled when hiding information. Instead, craft an unreliable narrator. This was done really well in Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn through journal entries that were written by the character for a specific purpose. And of course, the queen of mystery, Agatha Christie, used the unreliable narrator technique to perfection in both And Then There Were None and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
5) Skeleton Blurb
Once you know your protagonist, you can create your skeleton blurb; PROTAGONIST must STORY GOAL otherwise STAKES. Your subgenre will shape your skeleton blurb. In middle grade mysteries, stakes are lower—like never uncovering a secret. In hard-boiled stories, the PI’s life, or others,’ may be on the line.
Still, the goal remains: solve the mystery—be it a theft, death, murder, or puzzle. In Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson, there is both a cold case missing person and a current timeline death(s) that the protagonist is trying to solve.
6) Setting
Decide when and where your story takes place—your genre will help guide this. Historical mysteries should be set before the 1990s—yes, even the ’80s count now—while cozy mysteries often unfold in small towns.
Choose a setting that shapes your story, characters, and especially your detective. A sleuth on vacation won’t have their usual support. A local, newcomer, or returning resident will face different town dynamics.
Unusual crime scenes—like a drowning in the desert or a fall at sea—can deepen the mystery. Isolated settings like a storm, island, or space raise tension, especially as the body count climbs. Use setting purposefully to enhance your plot.
Engage all five senses, objects, and weather to add realism, depth, and suspense.
How to Write a Mystery Novel
7) Story Arc Scenes
A novel should have good structure with the five story arcs scenes at certain intervals. The Inciting Incident (II) can happen anywhere from before the story starts—like in a cold case—all the way to the fifteen percent mark.
The inciting incident is either when the crime occurs or when your sleuth learns about it or is assigned the case.
The second scene, Plot Point 1, is when the protagonist reluctantly accepts the story goal. Often they realize that they are the only one who can solve the case because of some reason specific to your character.
Here they are still under the misunderstanding that this will be easy and they don’t yet realize the depth of difficulty this case will bring them. This happens between the 20-30% mark of your novel.
The Middle Plot Point happens between 45-55% of your storyline. This is where the protagonist finally turns proactive and decides that they really want/need to solve the mystery. It becomes very personal to them.
This is also a moment where we find the false defeat—another body, usually the best suspect—or false victory, where they think they have solved the mystery
The fourth story arc scene is Plot Point 2, where the protagonist is the farthest away from solving the mystery they have been the entire story. It happens around 70-80%, and it feels like all is lost. Maybe they’ve been taken off the case or the person they thought it was is found dead.
However, they gain the last piece of information they will need to actually solve the mystery in the climax, though they often don’t understand or misinterpret it at this point.
Finally, the scene your reader has been waiting for, what your skeleton blurb promised, the Climax. This scene occurs at the 85-95% mark and is the height of conflict and tension in your story.
The detective reveals all and the perpetrator is unmasked, or the stolen document returned, or the dangerous creature in the basement turns out to be a stray cat, etc.
The climax should be a surprise to your reader, but they should also have all of the pieces to have solved it. And it shouldn’t confuse them either.
The days are over when the detective laid everything out including information that had not been disclosed to the reader previously in the story. The reader wants a chance to see if they are as observant and smart as the protagonist and the author. Think of it as a battle of wits.
And finally, as long as the mystery is solved, it is up to you to decide if the perpetrator is brought to justice or not. This is a place where you can really play with surprising your audience.
8) Characters
You should have the minimum number of characters to tell the story you are trying to tell. A small cast of victims, suspects, witnesses, and accomplices means you can spend more time developing each of them. They should each have their own personalities and have a balance between positive and negative traits.
Don’t fall into the trap of the bad guy is ugly, dark, and does only bad things. Make your characters real.
Giving the criminal their moment to save a cat goes a long way to not only making them seem human, but also as a red herring to make the reader believe they couldn’t be the one your sleuth is looking for. Morally Grey Characters: Definition, Examples, and Writing Tips | Fictionary
Everyone has their secrets that they don’t want to share and no one is willing to reveal their life’s story and bad habits to new people they’ve just met, especially if that person is an investigating police officer.
9) Tension and Conflict
Mysteries are about solving a puzzle, but suspense often comes from the perpetrator trying to stop the sleuth. Tension stays high as readers wonder who the culprit is and if the detective will figure it out. In a good whodunnit, I’m always tracking my top three suspects.
To keep readers guessing, make things hard for your protagonist. What might suspects hide to protect themselves or others? What must your sleuth sacrifice to uncover the truth? Make them earn each clue.
10) Clues
Throughout your story, characters will talk and evidence will surface—these are the clues your reader will try to piece together. But don’t make it too easy.
Some clues should be vague or misinterpreted; others should be red herrings—misleading details that distract both the sleuth and the reader.
It’s all about balance. Reveal some clues early and hold others back. Hide them in lists. People remember the first couple things and the last, but tend to forget what is in the middle. Clues in the first few chapters of the book are often forgotten, which is why key hints can be placed at the start.
In A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson two of the biggest clues are given right away, but Pippa and the reader think they know what those clues mean, so the climax comes as a surprise.
11) Backstory
Use backstory and flashbacks carefully to reveal character motivations. Why is your protagonist driven to solve the crime? Why are suspects hiding things or acting suspiciously?
Only reveal this information when it’s needed for the reader to understand the moment. Let your protagonist uncover it gradually, shifting suspicion as the story unfolds.
How to Write a Mystery Short Story
Everything that matters in a novel is important in a short story. The biggest difference is obviously length. Even with fewer words, the story must still feel complete.
Word choice is even more important in shorter forms of literature because the full story must be conveyed within a certain number of words. Take into account your writing style.
As most short stories are around 5,000-6,000 words, think about how to divide that up into five sections. So, each set-up, story arc “scene,” and reaction must be encapsulated in about 1,000 words.
You’ll need to use fewer characters, limit your setting, and use fewer clues/red herrings. There is no room for subplots in a short story, so keep laser focused on the mystery.
What Makes a Good Mystery?
- Avoid clichés. Mysteries have been around since the beginning of writing, so it is important to try and keep things fresh.
- An intriguing but solvable puzzle.
- Solve it at the climax or you are going to have very frustrated readers.
- Make it obvious, but not too obvious.
- Create atmosphere with mysterious settings, weather, and tone.
- Use good structure. Every story benefits from well structured scenes and at the global level.