Why does your amateur sleuth want to solve the murder?

Have her get arrested and her new boss bails her out of jail. I'd be pretty motivated to prove my innocence after that.


I think so far things sound pretty standard. Make it intense. Anything you can add to make it stand out or make things VERY BAD for your character (even in a cozy) is a good thing.

That depends. How curious of a person is the amateur sleuth? How persistent is she? If she starts something, is she dogged enough to see it through to the end, or does she have a habit of leaving half-finished projects? Is she discouraged by opposition or is she stubborn enough that opposition just makes her more determined to press on?

The strength of the motive required would depend on her answers to those questions. If she's naturally curious and fairly stubborn, it won't take as much of a motive to keep her hooked as if she wasn't.

Perhaps beef up the consequences of what would happen if she loses her job/living situation. Like if she has no/few friends to stay with and she's forced to move back in with her over-critical mother and her laid-off creepy husband and their new colicky baby.

Hi Juniper, I have to agree that I think losing a job is not a strong motive. I have read cozies where the sleuth starts to investigate simply due to a surfeit of nosiness, but I think in this market a lukewarm motive may not be convincing enough.

Best motives for non-professional sleuth, IMO (going from most convincing downwards)=

danger/threat of death to sleuth
cops have wrong suspect and think it's the sleuth
danger/threat of death to sleuth's loved ones
cops have wrong suspect and think it's a loved one of the sleuth

...after that there's a bunch of possibilities, but I think these ones are actually the most convincing

I would second AmyAshley's idea, or some variant of it: have your sleuth be a suspect. If she doesn't find out who really did it, she'll end up in the clanger herself. Bear in mind that the police don't arrest people because they "suspect" them of a crime - they have to have some evidence against the person to get an arrest warrant signed off.
You may want her to be arrested to up the ante. Then, as Amy said, there's always bail.
So I don't think you have to worry about her being stuck in a cell.

Good luck

Well, mine got involved because nobody else thought a series of accidents to his co-workers were anything but accidents. He didn't want to be next on the hit list.

Mine was told to do it for work by a new boss she hates. She didn't like the boss, but the case freaked her out, and made her nervous about her own family's safety.

So she started snooping around a little.

The more she got pushed, the more she backed off, and the closer the case came to making her own life insanely difficult and dangerous. Then her family WAS put in real jeopardy, and she realizes how awful she would feel if she lost them. She realizes that running away from the case and doing half-ass snooping is just being selfish, and she gets balls to the wall serious.

That's kind of when things go nuts.

Just because someone is arrested doesn't mean that they are charged. If they are charged, then the police must believe they have strong enough evidence (i.e DNA). If she is arrested for questioning the police can hold her for 48 hours, then they can either release her or go to court to ask for extra time.

I would have them pull her in for questioning, then release her. She knows she has to find the real killer before someone manages to set her up for the murder.

I think that the possibility of losing your home is a very strong motive for investigating a murder! This is a very personal perspective though ... late last year I was sitting at home, just finished supper, and there was a knock on the door ... it was a bailiff from a local court who had an eviction order for me! Cut long and tedious short someone somewhere had made a mistake and I should not have recieved the order. It took me ten days to sort it all out and in that time I realized how strongly I am attached to my home. Not just the building and the contents but what it represents - freedom to come and go as I please, a sign of my independence (and maybe social standing?). It is also a place family and friends associate with me and the good times we have shared here... I think loss of home is one of the worst things that a single person can face.

If a murder took place near here I would want it solved as I think it would mar the ambiance of the area if it wasn't - this can be very personal.

Great thread, juniper! I agree that the MC has to have a pretty strong motive. I tossed a book not so long ago for this.

My MC is investigating b/c her hubby turned out to be a lying, cheating, extorting jerk who set her up for murder. She's pissed.

Yep, I second the MC needing a strong motive. In my original draft, I realised my MC was investigating the murder because I knew she would find something, not because she felt compelled to. So I went back and added in an emotional reason - her boyfriend died in similar circumstances, and she feels guilty about both murders. She didn't murder either of them, but feels she is the reason they were in the places where they were killed, so if it wasn't for her, they wouldn't have died.

Being alone and finally "owning" her place is good. Being a suspect brings in the possibility of being framed helps. Because her ex' is a PI she could be suspect by the police and by the bad people at the same time.
Her investigative skills could be self-taught, watching her ex', leaving her vulnerable to mistakes making the crimes point to her.
Her new job could put her in possession of information about the crime everybody wants and will do anything to get.

Why do you want to solve the murder mystery?

Because it's there.

An amateur sleuth story I was working on awhile back entitled “First Footed By Murder” (which was actually created as part of a therapy session but I’m opening a big can o’ worms going into that, lol,) was about a guy, who like me is housebound, who is shocked to be first footed at new years by his former best friend from high school who bleeding profusely collapses on the hall floor dying before he can reveal who attacked him. This draws the would be hero into investigating the murder as the killer believing he knows his/her identity is now after him and everyone he cares about.

gothicangel said:

Just because someone is arrested doesn't mean that they are charged. If they are charged, then the police must believe they have strong enough evidence (i.e DNA). If she is arrested for questioning the police can hold her for 48 hours, then they can either release her or go to court to ask for extra time.

I would have them pull her in for questioning, then release her. She knows she has to find the real killer before someone manages to set her up for the murder.

Click to expand...

What Gothic stated may be true in the UK or Scotland, but it isn't in the USA. You cannot arrest someone just to question them. You must have a charge, and you must set bail. Bail for felonies are set by the court. Bail for misdemeanors can be set by the Booking Lieutenant, or other supervisor. The person must be arraigned within 72 hours, this allows for weekends and holidays. Normally, they must be arraigned by the next day court is in session. When the person is arraigned, the police state what charge(s) he is accused of, in writing.

The police may detain a witness at the crime scene, to obtain his identification and a statement regarding what he knows about the crime. The police MAY ASK the witness to come to HQ to make said statement, but the witness' cooperation is voluntary. If the witness states "I saw nothing." The police cannot FORCE him to change his statement.

As an example: In the US, Bank robbery is a federal offense investigated by the FBI as well as local law enforcement officers. When a robbery occurs, the bank manager is required to lock all exit/entry doors, keeping everyone who was present during the robbery (except the robbers) locked inside. These witnesses must stay inside the bank until the FBI arrives and interviews them. Only then, are they permitted to leave. As silly as it sounds, this happens even when the robbery takes place at the drive up window, outside the bank. This is bureaucracy in action.

Mine just wants to keep the puppy...



..

Mine has to solve the mystery because (a) her sister is the prime suspect and (b) it's 1820 and there's no real law enforcement around, other than the occasional bumbling country magistrate.

My MC's motive for solving the murder is that the victim sneaked into the MC's office late at night and fell over dead at his desk. He was also one of the last people to see the victim alive.

Which makes him a suspect, but he also realizes that there's something in his office (or on his computer) that someone was willing to kill to keep hidden.

I'm wondering now if I should add a discussion between the MC and the detectives about what constitutes a flight risk...

RJK said:

What Gothic stated may be true in the UK or Scotland, but it isn't in the USA. You cannot arrest someone just to question them. You must have a charge, and you must set bail. Bail for felonies are set by the court. Bail for misdemeanors can be set by the Booking Lieutenant, or other supervisor. The person must be arraigned within 72 hours, this allows for weekends and holidays. Normally, they must be arraigned by the next day court is in session. When the person is arraigned, the police state what charge(s) he is accused of, in writing.

The police may detain a witness at the crime scene, to obtain his identification and a statement regarding what he knows about the crime. The police MAY ASK the witness to come to HQ to make said statement, but the witness' cooperation is voluntary. If the witness states "I saw nothing." The police cannot FORCE him to change his statement.

As an example: In the US, Bank robbery is a federal offense investigated by the FBI as well as local law enforcement officers. When a robbery occurs, the bank manager is required to lock all exit/entry doors, keeping everyone who was present during the robbery (except the robbers) locked inside. These witnesses must stay inside the bank until the FBI arrives and interviews them. Only then, are they permitted to leave. As silly as it sounds, this happens even when the robbery takes place at the drive up window, outside the bank. This is bureaucracy in action.

Click to expand...

It's true you can't arrest someone in order to question them, , but you can hold someone on suspicion for either forty-eight or seventy two hours without actually charging them with a crime. No charges, and no bail. At the end of this time, they must be formally charged or released.

This could work if the amateur sleuth is a suspect.

juniper said:

I'm writing a cozy mystery and I've been questioning this. I'm not sure if my MC's motive is strong enough - fear of losing her new job/living situation.

Click to expand...

If it's not feeling strong enough to you, it probably isn't...but you don't have to change her initial motives. She could first get involved to save her job, then get arrested (because she was snooping around) and now she has to prove her innocence--or whatever.

Layer her motivations like a wedding cake, with lots of sticky icing (delicious danger) between the layers!

Best of luck with the book,

Lucie

She may not know her motives at first, just that she must find the answer. Over the course of the book she could get bits and pieces of a similar murder from her childhood, one that was not solved, one that the adults told her didn't happen. Which gives you a cold case for your next book in the series.

Maybe her old job gave her access to information or a point of view that the locals don't have? Or her ex was going on and on (as he did) about something that reminds her of this case, only no-one gives her any credit. Possibly because she's new to town? Or maybe her first sleuthing efforts make the locals think she's a suspect, trying to deflect suspicion?
Only, please, don't have her fall in love with the investigating officer. I've read one too many modern cosies where the chief motivation for the amateur sleuth seems to be to get cozy with a local cop.

They can detain/arrest him/her as a material witness.

Like Patti, my MC's sister is the prime suspect.

RJK said:

What Gothic stated may be true in the UK or Scotland, but it isn't in the USA. You cannot arrest someone just to question them. You must have a charge, and you must set bail. Bail for felonies are set by the court. Bail for misdemeanors can be set by the Booking Lieutenant, or other supervisor. The person must be arraigned within 72 hours, this allows for weekends and holidays. Normally, they must be arraigned by the next day court is in session. When the person is arraigned, the police state what charge(s) he is accused of, in writing.

The police may detain a witness at the crime scene, to obtain his identification and a statement regarding what he knows about the crime. The police MAY ASK the witness to come to HQ to make said statement, but the witness' cooperation is voluntary. If the witness states "I saw nothing." The police cannot FORCE him to change his statement.

As an example: In the US, Bank robbery is a federal offense investigated by the FBI as well as local law enforcement officers. When a robbery occurs, the bank manager is required to lock all exit/entry doors, keeping everyone who was present during the robbery (except the robbers) locked inside. These witnesses must stay inside the bank until the FBI arrives and interviews them. Only then, are they permitted to leave. As silly as it sounds, this happens even when the robbery takes place at the drive up window, outside the bank. This is bureaucracy in action.

Click to expand...