Tips on Writing a Mystery Series

Serious Desi · Mar 14, 2010

There have been a lot of questions about series so I took this one to the mystery section...

With my first story I decided that it was going to be a mystery and that I was going to have a plot line that kind of extends throughout the series.

I hint at things in book one that won't be figured out until book three or four.
I'm worried that if I do that then it can't really stand on it's own. I'm not sure if that's okay, or how to make it work.
Does anyone know any books that have done this?

Also, I'd like a few tips on writing a series in mystery.

Thanks

alleycat · Mar 14, 2010

You could have a sort of sub-plot mystery that runs through several books (say, something related to the main character's personal life, or the case he didn't solve that continues to haunt him), but you probably want the main mystery of each book to be solved.

Offhand, I can't think of a series of books that have an extended main mystery (there might be some, I just can't think of any at the moment); mostly when I think of something like that I think of television shows like Lost or Twin Peaks.

heyjude · Mar 14, 2010

My tips, take them for what they're worth.

1-Create a character people like and will follow. See Bosch, Reacher, etc.

2-Put them in difficult and fascinating situations and write about them engagingly. See our own Ann Simko, Fallen.

3-If you want to have a running mystery, that's fine. But be aware that if it's too big, too present, it will make some people so crazy that they will never read anything you write again. See Tana French, Into the Woods. (For those wondering, no, I will never give up that grudge.)

Those are my thoughts. Hope it helps!

mtrenteseau · Mar 14, 2010

I'd take a look at Carole Nelson Douglas' Midnight Louie series.

The main character is a PR agent who was dating a magician. He was involved in counterespionage against the IRA, so he disappeared for a while, then he came back, then he faked his death and when last we heard he was running from bad guys while recovering from his injuries in Switzerland.

This plot line has run over twenty books.

Consider a sitcom - while people joke that life's problems are solved in twenty-two minutes, they're really minor problems interconnected by what we know about the characters. We can watch an episode of I Love Lucy out of order and we know that Lucy will have some scheme that she gets Ethel to join her in, and it will end up poorly. At the end of the episode, everything's cleaned up, but Lucy is still scheming...

alleycat · Mar 14, 2010

mtrenteseau said:
I'd take a look at Carole Nelson Douglas' Midnight Louie series.

The main character is a PR agent who was dating a magician. He was involved in counterespionage against the IRA, so he disappeared for a while, then he came back, then he faked his death and when last we heard he was running from bad guys while recovering from his injuries in Switzerland.

This plot line has run over twenty books.

But that wasn't the main plot mystery, was it? I don't know; I've never read any of the books. That sounds more like a sub-plot.

I take it that Desi is asking for a series where there is a main mystery not solved until a later book. I suppose Stephen Kings Black Tower books could be considered a bit like that, even though they're not considered mysteries. I'm having a hard time coming up with a book series when the main mystery isn't solved until book three or four.

ToddWBush · Mar 14, 2010

A continuing storyline doesn't make a mystey (or any kind of novel, for that matter) into a series. What makes anything into a series is the main character. We want to spend time with these characters, so we invest time (and money!) into doing so. In the M/T/S world, let me use a couple of examples that I (and a lot of others here) enjoy:

Harry Bosch: Michael Connelly's main character is an LAPD homicide detective. There are characters that pop in and out of the series, and even some themes that appear in nearly every book (tunnels, paintings, etc.), but the only thing that makes the series good is Bosch himself. Every book is like a new layer being pulled back on this person that the reader loves to learn about. With every new story, some new element of this person you have grown so invested in is revealed.

Elvis Cole and Joe Pike: Robert Crais writes this series, and, like Bosch, there are new elements revealed in the characters with ever novel. However, these stories work as a series because of the depth of the friendship that Cole and Pike have. Neither of these men would be friends with normal people. One never talks and the other never shuts up; one constantly makes jokes of everything and the other never laughs... But they both have a bond with each other that runs deeper than love. It's the friendship that makes it work as a series. That and the fact that Joe Pike is the clearly the most awesome individual on Earth and it's fun to see him kick butt all over L.A.

Serious Desi · Mar 14, 2010

alleycat said:
But that wasn't the main plot mystery, was it? I don't know; I've never read any of the books. That sounds more like a sub-plot.

I take it that Desi is asking for a series where there is a main mystery not solved until a later book. I suppose Stephen Kings Black Tower books could be considered a bit like that, even though they're not considered mysteries. I'm having a hard time coming up with a book series when the main mystery isn't solved until book three or four.

I'm sorry, I should have been more clear.

The mystery, mystery is solved but my character's nephew has odd behavior, some ESP stuff, but it's on my character's mind often, making it kind of a prominent mystery.

And my character doesn't believe those kinds of things, so it will take a while for him to figure it out and accept it.

I'm really appreciating the tips

Ruv Draba · Mar 14, 2010

Most mystery authors I've read write episodic mysteries into their series: the same characters with slowly-changing relationships, investigating different episodes of crime and malfeasance from book to book.

Perhaps the biggest benefit of doing this is that it's easy to write book-by-book. Perhaps the biggest cost of doing this is that the main character's life quickly becomes a soap-opera.

Some authors do it the other way: they break the characters' relationships into episodes and run an over-arching master plot through multiple books. This means that from book to book, the relationships become sub-plots, and the mystery becomes layered. Len Deighton did this in the first three Bernard Samson books, for example.

If it's done well you get a very rich range of relationships and rich plot too -- so best of both worlds. But one needs enough plot of enough weight to sustain it, and enough interesting characters to keep things moving -- and it requires perhaps a bigger mastery of craft than the episodic series. If it's done badly, it can look padded.

As far as writing series goes though, unless you've already published quality novels, I'd do neither. My suggestion: just get a good novel or two out, and save the series design until you know that your novels won't disappoint.

Because in my experience, most series are nowhere near as good as a stand-alone, well-crafted novel.

Serious Desi · Mar 14, 2010

Ruv Draba said:
Most mystery authors I've read write episodic mysteries into their series: the same characters with slowly-changing relationships, investigating different episodes of crime and malfeasance from book to book.

Perhaps the biggest benefit of doing this is that it's easy to write book-by-book. Perhaps the biggest cost of doing this is that the main character's life quickly becomes a soap-opera.

Some authors do it the other way: they break the characters' relationships into episodes and run an over-arching master plot through multiple books. This means that from book to book, the relationships become sub-plots, and the mystery becomes layered. Len Deighton did this in the first three Bernard Samson books, for example.

If it's done well you get a very rich range of relationships and rich plot too -- so best of both worlds. But one needs enough plot of enough weight to sustain it, and enough interesting characters to keep things moving -- and it requires perhaps a bigger mastery of craft than the episodic series. If it's done badly, it can look padded.

As far as writing series goes though, unless you've already published quality novels, I'd do neither. My suggestion: just get a good novel or two out, and save the series design until you know that your novels won't disappoint.

Because in my experience, most series are nowhere near as good as a stand-alone, well-crafted novel.

I think I have too much story for this character for one book.

But that's what I'm mainly worried about. Being able to put this out as a stand alone book if I can't have a few books follow after it.

I guess I could kind of solve the mystery but leave a lot of it unanswered.
Then I might have to push it back into a sub-plot.
:e2writer:

And I thought I was half way done with editing.

Ruv Draba · Mar 15, 2010

I'm a little worried that you didn't set out to write a series, Desi, but rather got caught up in a story that you can't confine to a single book. In authors that haven't published something novel-length, it's often (though not always) a sign that they don't have conscious control over some complexity in the story.

So... when you say 'story', are you talking plot or character-development?

You can always defer some character-development to another book. In some books, a character doesn't change at all.

'Too much plot' though could be a sign of:

Too many characters with an oar in the plot;
Minor characters becoming major, creating too many subplots;
Scenes that don't progress the main plot
Scenes that delay/defer resolution of the main plot

Bear in mind that you could (if you wanted) write the main plot for Lord of the Rings in about ten scenes, just by focusing on Frodo, Sam, Gollum and the Orcs, and pushing everything else into the background.

Which might lead one to wonder 'How much plot is enough'? My answer is: just enough to surprise the reader and make a main character change, or remain steadfast at some cost.

So, here are some questions that I hope may help you health-check your story's complexity and momentum:

How many times does the main character change? How many times is it tested and proven steadfast?
How many characters are involved in complicating the plot, opposing the main character and so on?
How many characters are going off on their own frolics, creating subplots that have very little to do with the main plot?
Have you divided the story into scenes? Does each scene have a clear goal for the major characters in it? Does the goal relate to the plot, or to something else? Are the goals all resolved by the end of the scene?
In how many scenes does the main character take a step backwards or sideways in trying to achieve its objectives, as opposed to moving forward? Are there any scenes in which the main character goes in circles?
Are there any scenes in which the main character is drinking tea, at the hairdresser's, comforting itself or maintaining good relations with other characters rather than solving its driving problem?

Serious Desi · Mar 15, 2010

I think it's mostly my character's development.
He just has problems that can't be solved in a span of one book.

And when I try to publish this I don't want it to get too long. I heard it's a bad thing to have a book that's longer than average when first trying to get published.

My secondary characters barely come into play most of the time. I really only have three that influence the plot and only one of those has problems my character cares to really address at all.

I'm defiantly going to see how my story holds up to those questions.

Ruv Draba · Mar 15, 2010

If it's just development Desi, how much of that development can or should be triggered by your current plot?

In real life, people tend not to undergo multiple complex changes all at once. Perhaps your character will need many experiences to traverse its full arc!

Serious Desi · Mar 15, 2010

My character has a deep phobia of cats and refuses to accept that it's a phobia and see a therapist for it.

Thanks, Ruv, you are so helpful.

mtrenteseau · Mar 21, 2010

While I never resist an opportunity to mention Carole Nelson Douglas' books, perhaps a better example it the Harry Potter series.

Each book has a mystery or a situation that is resolved by the end of the book. In the first book, Dumbledore hides the Sorcerer's Stone for his friend, and Harry fends off an attempt by Voldemort to steal it. We also see the true friendship and loyalty that Harry, Ron, and Hermione will display throughout the series (and we know that one of them is being selfish, it's either temporary or guided by something really important).

But it takes all seven books to understand why Voldemort went after Harry and his parents, why Dumbledore was so powerful, and whether Snape was good or evil.

Serious Desi · Mar 24, 2010

Harry Potter actually works really well. Thanks

RJK · Mar 24, 2010

Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty. Holmes solves a mystery in each book, but Moriarty is lurking in the background, or he is the antagonist and gets away.

The Mentalist - Patrick Jane vs. Red John. The antagonist is always lurking in the background. Jane's goal is to find and eventually kill the man who murdered his family.

heyjude · Mar 24, 2010

RJK said:
The Mentalist - Patrick Jane vs. Red John. The antagonist is always lurking in the background. Jane's goal is to find and eventually kill the man who murdered his family.

Ooo... sorry for the derail, but did you see the interview where the head writer said "Oh, we won't ever actually finish that storyline, he'll never catch Red John" and then a couple days later he fell all over himself saying it was a mistake? Wonder if anyone (besides me) was pissed?

You HAVE TO EVENTUALLY SOLVE THE MYSTERY.

Hey, maybe it wasn't a derail. I forget which thread I'm in. Sorry.

Tips on Writing a Mystery Series

Serious Desi

I love coffee!

alleycat

Still around

heyjude

Making my own sunshine

mtrenteseau

Mild-mannered accountant by day...

alleycat

Still around

ToddWBush

Serious Desi

I love coffee!

Ruv Draba

Serious Desi

I love coffee!

Ruv Draba

Serious Desi

I love coffee!

Ruv Draba

Serious Desi

I love coffee!

mtrenteseau

Mild-mannered accountant by day...

Serious Desi

I love coffee!

RJK

Sheriff Bullwinkle the Poet says:

heyjude

Making my own sunshine