My father fell in love with the Cat Who books by Lillian Jackson Braun with little incentive. A long time cat lover, mystery novels involving a cat that seemed to solve the crimes, as well as about cat lovers (for the most part), was right up his reading alley. Like many, he gobbled them up as soon as each one was released.

Writing mysteries and crimes is a long-held tradition in storytelling and publishing. We have some members of Writers in the Grove who are steadfast fans of the genre.

Here are some tips on writing crime and mystery fiction to tickle your fancy and keep you up at night – reading.

5 Killer Tips For Writing Deadly Crime Fiction – Molly Greene: Writer: Molly Greene is the author of the popular Gen Delacourt Mysteries series. In this great summary of tips, she offers legendary advice:

Open with a bang or a body.

Think James Bond. Or Agatha Christie. James Patterson. Or Garry Rodgers. AK-47s. Or dismembered hookers. Biological bombs. Or a corpse hanging from a meat-hook. A sharp hook… which is the oldest storytelling device and still the best.

You’ve got about ten seconds to hook your reader and keep their face in the page. So start off fast and slowly add backstory. Build it up, then end with a bang. Maybe another body, too.

Among the many tips offered by the following articles is advice that applies to all forms of writing: don’t be boring, edit well, don’t write likeable characters, have plenty of conflict, have a very compelling and damaged detective/investigator, and know exactly what your story is about while you are teasing the reader along the journey.

• Stories That Kill. 7 Tips for Writing Crime – The Creative Penn
• Who dunnit? Top tips for writing detective fiction – Children’s books – The Guardian
• 10 top crime writing tips – Professional Writing Academy
• How to write the perfect crime story – Children’s books – The Guardian
• 10 Tips on How to Write Believable Crime and Murder Scenes – Live Write Thrive
• The 5 C’s of Writing a Great Thriller Novel – WritersDigest.com
• Writing Crime Fiction – Suspense – Now Novel
• 5 Killer Tips For Writing Deadly Crime Fiction – Molly Greene: Writer
• Crime Fiction: Tips and Pet Peeves – Armchair Interviews
• How to write a prize-winning crime novel 
• Mystery Genre Writing Guidelines – The Balance