So far I’ve written a female coming-of-age novel, a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, a time-travel book…and those are all in the same series. What’s next? I think a murder mystery is on the horizon, and as a newcomer to this genre, I needed to get back to basics.
Writing Mysteries is a solid book for any new writer, though I ended up skimming certain sections that either didn’t apply to me as an experience writer or didn’t apply to me because I’m won’t be writing, say, a medical mystery or true crime novel. Note also that this book was released in 2002, so plenty of the seasoned veterans contributing chapters make frequent mentions of typewriters and that new-fangled Internet (I might exaggerate a bit, there). Despite the dated technology and submission issues, the writing advice is fairly solid, and I do recommend this as a basic craft book to new writers who know they’ll be specializing in the mystery genre.
In conclusion: I got the basics I came for, I did a good bit of highlighting, and I certainly have a much better idea of some of the dos and don’ts for this new journey I’m undertaking.
Rating: 3 (out of 5) stars. Cross-posted to Amazon and Goodreads.
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