Formula for a decent locked room mystery?

Thump · Jan 5, 2012

Hi!

I love mystery novels and detective novels and all that but I don't write it. I just can't seem to think in those nifty, twisty ways you guys do (respect y'all).

A friend asked me to write her a short story for her birthday and requested it be a locked room mystery with her as the amateur sleuth.

I love a good locked room mystery (I read "Le mystère de la chambre jaune" when I was a teenager and have enjoyed the subgenre very much since) but I have no idea how to craft one. To be entirely honest, I was never able to guess who- and how-dunnit until the detective explained it...

Would anyone be able to give me a breakdown of things to think about or maybe some links to websites that might have a basic formula (I know, I know...). It doesn't have to be a brilliant story, decent is good enough, it's just a bit of fun for a good friend and if I can throw in a good twist, I'll be happy with that.

Thanks!

Torgo · Jan 5, 2012

Thump said:
Hi!

I love mystery novels and detective novels and all that but I don't write it. I just can't seem to think in those nifty, twisty ways you guys do (respect y'all).

A friend asked me to write her a short story for her birthday and requested it be a locked room mystery with her as the amateur sleuth.

I love a good locked room mystery (I read "Le mystère de la chambre jaune" when I was a teenager and have enjoyed the subgenre very much since) but I have no idea how to craft one. To be entirely honest, I was never able to guess who- and how-dunnit until the detective explained it...

Would anyone be able to give me a breakdown of things to think about or maybe some links to websites that might have a basic formula (I know, I know...). It doesn't have to be a brilliant story, decent is good enough, it's just a bit of fun for a good friend and if I can throw in a good twist, I'll be happy with that.

Thanks!

Hmm. I love locked-room mysteries myself - my favourite subgenre of mystery - and I think I have read most of the significant efforts. I can't really think of a formula, though. Each one really revolves around the particular baffling murder method so they're kind of individual.

The best LRMs were by John Dickson Carr (aka Carter Dickson.) My favourites are The Hollow Man, The Judas Window and maybe The Case of the Constant Suicides. You could look in to some of those for inspiration? Carr was quite a formulaic writer in some ways; he'd craft the ingenious locked room first and then populate the rest of the book with stock characters (usually some kind of tedious love triangle). One common technique he'd use for atmosphere would be to play up the spookiness or the faux-supernatural angle - The Hollow Man is particularly good for that - and it's always a good fit with the LRM.

knightrunnermat · Jan 5, 2012

Start with the ending. Who got killed? How? What was the motive? What did the killer do to hide their guilt?

I find that my writing is at its best when I know where the end of it is going. If I were to write this story, I would try and establish as many facts as possible regarding the murder. Then I would do my best to hide or distort those facts.

Just a thought.

veinglory · Jan 5, 2012

1) Person seems to have been murdered in an inclosed and inaccessible space
2) Cunning detective works out how the killer did it.

Thump · Jan 5, 2012

Thank you Veinglory, you are always so helpful. Nothing spurs me on more than snark.

Knightrunnermat: Thanks, that's very helpful. I've got a basic idea of what I want the final revelation to be, character-wise, and the setting but working out the technicalities of the murder, the concealment and how my detective (my friend) would go about solving it are doing my head in

Torgo: I've heard about Dickson Carr but somehow never really got around to reading anything by him. I think it's probably because back when I was most into mystery novels was when I was a teenager and my main reading language was French and the school library (French school), only had Gaston Leroux and Boileau-Narcejac for mystery. I'm going to look up some of his stories. Maybe it will truly rekindle that old flame

wonderactivist · Jan 5, 2012

I think the best formula is no formula - keep us guessing. I found with my own plotting that reading LOTS of mysteries and lots of modern novels helped me to get more comfy with plotting - plus watching the nightly news.

One series that I particularly recommend is 5-Minute Mysteries by Ken Weber, plus of course anything by Arthur Conan Doyle and in novels I found that Vonnegut and Palahniuk (sp) helped me to write less predictably.

Warm regards,

Lucie

Thump said:
Hi!

I love mystery novels and detective novels and all that but I don't write it. I just can't seem to think in those nifty, twisty ways you guys do (respect y'all).

A friend asked me to write her a short story for her birthday and requested it be a locked room mystery with her as the amateur sleuth.

I love a good locked room mystery (I read "Le mystère de la chambre jaune" when I was a teenager and have enjoyed the subgenre very much since) but I have no idea how to craft one. To be entirely honest, I was never able to guess who- and how-dunnit until the detective explained it...

Would anyone be able to give me a breakdown of things to think about or maybe some links to websites that might have a basic formula (I know, I know...). It doesn't have to be a brilliant story, decent is good enough, it's just a bit of fun for a good friend and if I can throw in a good twist, I'll be happy with that.

Thanks!

veinglory · Jan 5, 2012

Thump said:
Thank you Veinglory, you are always so helpful. Nothing spurs me on more than snark.

That was not intended as snark. Whether it is Sherlock Holmes or science fiction (the last example I read) that is the formula. The challenge to the writer is to explain the apparent impossibility in a unique and clever way.

Torgo · Jan 5, 2012

Thump said:
Torgo: I've heard about Dickson Carr but somehow never really got around to reading anything by him. I think it's probably because back when I was most into mystery novels was when I was a teenager and my main reading language was French and the school library (French school), only had Gaston Leroux and Boileau-Narcejac for mystery. I'm going to look up some of his stories. Maybe it will truly rekindle that old flame

Carr's the LR specialist of all time - nobody did them better. Here's a ranked list I found (and agree with for the most part - the Hake Talbot is great. Clayton Rawson, not so much.)

Thump · Jan 5, 2012

Oh, very interesting list and I love that there is an explanation of how the list came about. I'll have a more in-depth look.

Also, my 'Gallic pride' is happy.

DocBrown · Jan 5, 2012

The BBC had a show featuring a magician's creative manager (i.e. the guy who creates the illusions). The show was called Johnathan Creek and in it the character uses his mental talents to solve (almost exclusively) locked room mysteries.

I highly recommend it if you're looking for a template of that sort of mystery.

Thump · Jan 6, 2012

DocBrown said:
The BBC had a show featuring a magician's creative manager (i.e. the guy who creates the illusions). The show was called Johnathan Creek and in it the character uses his mental talents to solve (almost exclusively) locked room mysteries.

I highly recommend it if you're looking for a template of that sort of mystery.

I LOVE Jonathan Creek! I wish there were more episodes! Darn the Brits and their really short series!

<- Lives in England, btw.

I have such a crush on Alan Davies since watching Jonathan Creek. *sigh*

brianjanuary · Jan 6, 2012

You can also move your "locked room" elsewhere--for example, a dead body found strangled on a wet beach or in the snow with no footprints around. Lately they've been running the old Banacek TV series where I am--the formula is a kind of locked room mystery (for example, a train with a car carrying precious cargo goes through a tunnel and when it comes out, the car has vanished).

GaryLeoTam · Jan 8, 2012

This certainly doesn't seem like it'd be all that easy to write. I think knightrunnermat has the right idea though. Personally, I'd first think of how the "big reveal" would work, and then write the ending based on that, working backwards.

Formula for a decent locked room mystery?

Thump

defying grabbity

Torgo

Formerly Phantom of Krankor.

knightrunnermat

veinglory

volitare nequeo

Thump

defying grabbity

wonderactivist

veinglory

volitare nequeo

Torgo

Formerly Phantom of Krankor.

Thump

defying grabbity

DocBrown

Hopes to one day write for food.

Thump

defying grabbity

brianjanuary

GaryLeoTam