What are some good ideas for a murder mystery?

Question

I want to write a creative story about a murder mystery.

because it is interesting.

Answer 1

Have the murder take place at a butler convention in Las Vegas so a butler is the murderer and the victim.

Answer 2

Read some books on how to write mystery novels, and do something they recommend not doing. Or: overturn genre conventions.

Example: Make the reader sympathize with the killer. Instead of his capture restoring the world to order, maybe the capture of this killer represents only the latest in a long string of injustices. Maybe the real villain is society.

Or maybe the detective doesn't really want to capture the killer. The Fugitive (1993) was kind of like that. Killer: "I didn't kill my wife." Detective: "I don't care." You could take that indifference even further.

What if A Time to Kill (1996) started before they caught the killer? Instead of a courtroom drama, it's a mystery. The detective uncovers the fact that the victims had raped this man's little girl, thus establishing motive. Does he continue to pursue the case?

All mysteries--all novels really--contain some element of travelogue or non-fiction essay. Whether it's the setting, the nuts and bolts (police procedural), or the high concept (sci-fi); there's always some element of exposition that runs parallel to the actual story and could be separated out from it. For example, you could tell Jurassic Park with robots instead of dinosaurs. You could switch out the chaos theory mathematician for some other eccentric expert. You could come up with some really creative ideas just by immersing your story in whatever it is you know a lot about.

Answer 3

Watch the news. Murders all the time. Some of them have immediate suspects and others do not. Take one that has an immediate suspect and twist it so the person is innocent and its someone else.

For instance, every time a pregnant woman is killed, the first suspect is the father of the child. What if it wasn't him, but the mother-in-law? It's so cliqued about bad mothers-in-law that she would not be an immediate suspect. The motive? She did not want to be a grandma.

Answer 4

Try a comedy murder. I can not say how. But, like the guy is killed and wife gets blamed. It could be a funny of her running from the cops and trying to prove her husband not dead. In the end she gets caught and goes to the Electric chair when a Black Out hits. The Husband shows up as an electrician to turn the power on at the Electric Chair. And realizes he had memory loss and that his wife. Well, it can be funny, I can not say how. ;-)

Answer 5

Listen to the news and read the newspapers/ magazines. Keep a journal of your ideas and the ones generated by family and friends.Interview a policeman/detective/criminologist either formally or informally. Talk with a pathologist. Ideas are everywhere. However, with the genre you have chosen, you have to be accurate enough to be credible.Go for it!

Answer 6

There is some good information about murder mystery games on http://mydarksecret.com/whatis.html or http://mydarksecret.com/HowToWrite/HowTo.html

In fact, you can play a free game there to get a feel for it.

Answer 7

y would ya wanna write about death murder

Answer 8

I can't think of anything good - SORRY! But I wish you luck!

Answer 9

take whatever you are most afraid of and go with that content.