The Book Stacks

All novels have characters, setting, and plot but only the mystery has clues. In order to make the clues more appetizing to the reader, writers need to inject a certain degree of foreshadowing and red herrings to accompany their clues.

Foreshadowing is simply the writer’s way of hinting to the reader that something usual is about to occur. The weather, time of day, character names or the decay of an object can all be used to foreshadow the events yet to come in a novel.

Red herrings are well placed distractions for the reader. In a mystery, the sleuth will often think that she has found a clue but it is in fact a red herring meant to provide misdirection.

Unlike foreshadowing and red herrings, clues are facts that will lead to the solution of the cozy mystery puzzle. Clues can come from the following sources:

• Character – The characters’ behavior, circumstances, lies and truth can all generate clues for the reader.

• People’s secret lives – Everyone has a secret in a mystery and these secrets can either individually or combined serve as a clue.

• Relationships – The origin or purpose of a particular relationship can be a clue. When deciding on which relationships to use as clues, remember that the character with the clearest motive is never the murderer and the least likely suspect is also never the murderer.

• The body – This is where the forensic information comes into play. The smallest item on the body like a speck of lint could be a clue or even how the victim was dressed when the body was discovered.

• Dialog – When characters talk to each other, sometimes what they don’t say can be a clue just a much as what they actually say. This can also take the form of a conversation being overheard.

• The scene of the crime – There may be something that the murderer takes with him or leaves behind.

• The missing item – This could be an item that would normally be there but is now missing such as a light bulb in a lamp, contact lenses solution and etc.
When deciding on your clues, remember to be selective and to be fair with your readers. You want to tease them but you don’t want to insult them or frustrate them too much.