How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook by Mystery Writers of America

Lee Child (Editor)

From the most successful mystery writers in the business, an invaluable guide to crafting mysteries-from character development and plot to procedurals and thrillers-a must-have for every aspiring mystery writer.

Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is known for providing unparalleled resources on the craft, art, and business of storytelling, helping writers of all levels improve their skills for nearly a century. Now, this new handbook helps authors navigate the ever-shifting publishing landscape-from pacing, plotting, the business side of publishing, to the current demand for diversity and inclusivity across all genres, and more.

Featuring essays by a new generation of bestselling experts on various elements of the craft and shorter pieces of crowd-sourced wisdom from the MWA membership as a whole, the topics covered can be categorized as follows:

-Before Writing (rules; genres; setting; character; research; etc.)
-While Writing (outlining; the plot; dialogue; mood; etc.)
-After Writing (agents; editors; self-pub; etc.)
-Other than Novels (short stories; true crime; etc.)
-Other Considerations (diverse characters; legal questions; criticism)

Also included is a collection of essays from MWA published authors-including Jeffery Deaver, Tess Gerritsen, and Charlaine Harris-selected by bestselling authors Lee Child and Laurie King and arranged thematically answering, "What piece of writing advice do you wish you'd had at the beginning of your career?"

Highly anticipated and incredibly useful, this new and trusted guide from MWA's experts provides practical, current, easily digestible advice for new and established authors alike.

• ISBN10: 1982149434
• ISBN13: 9781982149437
• Publish Date: 10 June 2021 (first published 27 April 2021)
• Publish Status: Forthcoming
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

How to Write a Mystery is an interesting and information rich style/technique guide by the MWA and full of takeaways from some of the biggest names in mystery (who, generally speaking, know their stuff). Due out 27th April 2021 from Simon & Schuster on their Scribner imprint, it's 336 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.

Although this is a collection of workshop type instructional writing shorts, I found it lots of good background information here which will inform and enrich my mystery *reading* going forward. Some examples: why are so many mystery protagonists so flawed? What does that bring to the writing of a mystery, for example a police procedural or a PI novel. Why are some loners and some definitely team players? What special considerations are there in writing graphic novels? Children's or YA mysteries? Supernatural elements/talking animals/etc? How do supporting characters help (or hinder) the main character(s)?

The editors did a really stellar job of choosing collaborators to answer particularly relevant questions for them. If the question is on writing with characters who aren't original to your work, finding a writer particularly (probably uniquely) qualified to answer the question is a master-stroke. Max Allan Collins is a very fine writer in his own right, of course (and in collaboration with his wife), but his channeling of Mickey Spillane on the Mike Hammer books both from Spillane's extant notes and on his own are nothing short of amazing. Getting Caroline & Charles Todd to talk about collaborative writing, Charlaine Harris on mixing genres, Tess Gerritsen on medical mysteries, every single one of these short essays is from a top shelf writer talking about the stuff they really know.

Summing up, this is not strictly speaking a "how to write a book" tutorial guide. It is a very well curated selection of digestible essays on particular considerations when tackling mystery writing. I would recommend it to readers of the genre, to writers of any genre, to teachers, and other book related professionals. Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.