question on detective novel

doomwdfortune · Nov 14, 2011

i was wandering about how i should write my detective novel and need your opinions. i have 3 possible set ups
1: the novel has the characters solve 2 or 3 cases a book and have it focus mostly on the detectives and their live while solving the crimes
2: the novel has one major book long case that the detectives have to solve but wile they work on the big one they solve 1 or 2 smaller ones
3:i go with the standard set up
the reason i ask this question is some of the bad guys I've come up with don't seem like they could carry a whole book by themselves. this is mostly a technical question of whether you think it would work or if it might be to crowded

mirandashell · Nov 14, 2011

Well... like most things in writing, it will depend on how you write it. They've all been done before.

With the first one, what kind of lives would the detectives have?

jeseymour · Nov 14, 2011

You might be better off in the MTS forum with this question.

dpaterso · Nov 14, 2011

Agreed, moving thread to Mystery/Thriller/Suspense discussion forum for wider audience. Story Research is for more specific info requests. (Hope you don't mind.

)

-Derek

Drachen Jager · Nov 14, 2011

None of the above.

If you want to be published and sell well you need to come up with the case first. Something different, shocking, plausible and noteworthy. If you've read the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the first thing that jumps out is how dull the Larsson's.

Not to demean the guy, but he never got a chance to edit with an editor. I'm sure if he'd trimmed 500 pages or so it could have been a really riveting read.

Yet the book sold like mad. Why? Because the CASE was interesting and the characters were interesting.

So, find yourself a shocking, horrifying, page-turning premise. Create some stand-out characters. I mean really interesting people, the kind of people who, if you sat next to them in the bar you'd just stare at for hours while they did nothing at all.

Do that and you've got a bestseller. It's tough as hell to do, or everyone would have a bestseller, but that's the core of it.

Multiple cases - NO, not unless they're related.

One big case, with some side-tracks - NO, not unless they're related.

The CORE case, the one you build your book around should be so important, at least to the lead character, that they'd ignore their regular case-load just to get to the bottom of it. It should be absolutely consuming.

heyjude · Nov 14, 2011

doomwdfortune said:
i was wandering about how i should write my detective novel and need your opinions. i have 3 possible set ups
1: the novel has the characters solve 2 or 3 cases a book and have it focus mostly on the detectives and their live while solving the crimes
2: the novel has one major book long case that the detectives have to solve but wile they work on the big one they solve 1 or 2 smaller ones
3:i go with the standard set up
the reason i ask this question is some of the bad guys I've come up with don't seem like they could carry a whole book by themselves. this is mostly a technical question of whether you think it would work or if it might be to crowded

doomwdfortune!

My probably not helpful answer is it depends. I'm with miranda. If it's well-written and engaging, it will work.

Question: What do you mean by "standard set up?"

frimble3 · Nov 14, 2011

Are they professional detectives: police or private investigators or amateurs? Because professional detectives are likelier to have more than one case, even if one is absorbing most of their attention, while some pie-bakin' amateur sleuth is unlikely to run into multiple crimes, unless they're related.

MysteryRiter · Nov 14, 2011

Drachen Jager said:
None of the above.

If you want to be published and sell well you need to come up with the case first. Something different, shocking, plausible and noteworthy. If you've read the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the first thing that jumps out is how dull the Larsson's.

Not to demean the guy, but he never got a chance to edit with an editor. I'm sure if he'd trimmed 500 pages or so it could have been a really riveting read.

Yet the book sold like mad. Why? Because the CASE was interesting and the characters were interesting.

So, find yourself a shocking, horrifying, page-turning premise. Create some stand-out characters. I mean really interesting people, the kind of people who, if you sat next to them in the bar you'd just stare at for hours while they did nothing at all.

Do that and you've got a bestseller. It's tough as hell to do, or everyone would have a bestseller, but that's the core of it.

Multiple cases - NO, not unless they're related.

One big case, with some side-tracks - NO, not unless they're related.

The CORE case, the one you build your book around should be so important, at least to the lead character, that they'd ignore their regular case-load just to get to the bottom of it. It should be absolutely consuming.

I got to agree with you there. I'm a big mystery reader and personally, I wouldn't pick up a book with multiple cases in one (do you mean a police procedural?). Not to be rude (my work is VERY easy to trash

) but I don't know how much I'd like to pick up any of those by your description, unless you have interesting characters and murders that you left out.

Shakesbear · Nov 14, 2011

doomwdfortune said:
i was wandering about how i should write my detective novel and need your opinions. i have 3 possible set ups

Which ever set up you choose you should have a MC who will engage the reader and a plot that will beguile the reader.

doomwdfortune said:
1: the novel has the characters solve 2 or 3 cases a book and have it focus mostly on the detectives and their live while solving the crimes

Some detective novels do have the detective as the focus but not necessarily on their life which, imo, could significantly sideline the crime being investigated. I think a balance is needed.

doomwdfortune said:
2: the novel has one major book long case that the detectives have to solve but wile they work on the big one they solve 1 or 2 smaller ones

Already been said, not unless they are connected in some way.

doomwdfortune said:
3:i go with the standard set up
the reason i ask this question is some of the bad guys I've come up with don't seem like they could carry a whole book by themselves. this is mostly a technical question of whether you think it would work or if it might be to crowded

Too crowded. If the bad guys seem shallow then maybe they need a bit of padding to fill them out a bit.

ironmikezero · Nov 15, 2011

Unless you really know the law enforcement life, or have first hand experience, I'd recommend that you keep it simple and focus on the case. Don't worry, plenty of tangents will present themselves in the process; toss in a couple of red herrings for intrigue. You'll have ample opportunity to explore your main characters - just remember that as cops they tend to be a bit clannish and cynical.

JanDarby · Nov 15, 2011

It depends on the type of mystery you're writing. Cozies are far more dependent on the protagonist than the mystery itself. Donna Andrews's Meg Langslow books are an example of that -- you don't really care whodunnit, but you care about Meg, and she cares about whodunnit, and you're just along for the ride, with all the crazy things she and her family do.

For other mysteries, there's a range from police procedural (some intricate puzzle, usually with a twist, the novel equivalent of Law & Order or CSI) to things like Sue Grafton's books, which are more focused on the protagonist, but giving equal time to the puzzle.

Gravity · Nov 15, 2011

In all three of my Joe Box novels I had a main plot and a secondary one (it worked with those stories, and the readers seemed to like them).

My new MC, Cameron Bane, is a soldier of fortune rather than a PI, and these stories will each feature a single, breakneck plot. My agent likes the concept, and feels the direction of this new character won't compete with the old.

Architectus · Nov 20, 2011

You could start with smaller cases, but the main case becomes so intense that the detective drops all his others cases, or pushes them unto another detective.

I think it would be cool to have the smaller cases tie into the big case in some conspiracy or something.

cbuck1 · Nov 21, 2011

Every time you switch from one case to another, you'll lose any momentum you've developed to draw your reader into the story. Multiple story lines tend to undermine pacing. A "B story" is fine for occasional relief (the slow uphill of the roller coaster), but your protagonist should always be aware of, if not obsessed by, the primary story during these side excursions.

As others have noted, this is less important in a cozy, but you haven't told us what you're writing.

question on detective novel

doomwdfortune

mirandashell

jeseymour

dpaterso

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Drachen Jager

Professor of applied misanthropy

heyjude

Making my own sunshine

frimble3

Heckuva good sport

MysteryRiter

Murder isn't so bad...

Shakesbear

knows a hawk from a handsaw

ironmikezero

practical experience, FTW

JanDarby

Gravity

Seen 'em come, seen 'em go

Architectus

cbuck1

Author: Go Down Hard (2011)