eMysteries Toolkit

The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. [Project Number: 2019-1-DE03-KA201-060127] 55 Researching real people is also a good way to get ideas. Sometimes the most everyday situations can be the most suspicious in a mystery story. Suspense is one of the keys to mystery detective stories, letting go of information little by little to surprise the reader. The idea is to create an atmosphere of danger and that the reader has fun while looking for clues to discover the ending. Suspicious situations or people are usually those who go out of their way, do something suspicious or behave in a way that does not fit into everyday life. Empty, dark places, the night, streets without people, big houses placed away from the city ... are ideas that can be used. An event that apparently is not suspicious at all can be selected as suspicious to provide for a false clue, which would be called a plot twist. The victim's death in the crime can greatly assist in choosing the people to suspect, who has the skills needed to commit that crime, and who has the necessary knowledge or motive. Remember to also give a motive, means, and opportunity to all suspicious characters (including places). Not all characters have to have all three; the final idea is to confuse the protagonist and the reader, and to offer false clues. It is also important to provide them with secrets and alibis. ✓ Secrets serve to complicate the plot, they don't have to be crime related secrets, but it is enough to keep a secret to become a suspicious person. ✓ Alibis also add to the mystery of the story, some of which may be false, thus further complicating the plot. Some examples to create suspense and suspicious moments may be asking unanswered questions, the protagonist running out of ideas or time, the guilty person running away while you focus on a suspect who may not be guilty. In the end, the choice of suspicious characters or situations has to be based on confusing and entangling the reader -and the protagonist- to make the story as mysterious as possible.