Customer Reviews

Writing Mysteries: A Handbook by the Mystery Writers of America

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This is a kind of "anthology" reference book on writing modern mysteries for want-to-be authors. Everything from where to look for inspiration, building a good plot, mastering ambience and effective character and dialogue development is here. What is also here - and very much present - is, in fact, the influence of crime writers. For example, the first chapter discusses the general "rules" for writing a mystery. I find it too partial to the modern, American crime writers, depecting the use of violence, certain cities, etc.; as the optimal places to write mysteries about.

Other writers, like Tony Hillerman, who writes mysteries about the Navajo indians, writes a kind of pedantic chapter, very much geared towards people like him, who are established writers; but that the novice can find discouraging.

I find the most helpful, and best written chapter of all is one of the last ones, written by Ruth Gavin, a mystery editor; where she tells exactly what an editor is looking for in a mystery and what the readers are looking for as well. She definitely helps the first time writer to get published.

I find the traditional, cozy or not, British mystery the most enticing, entertaining and relaxing. If you are this kind of writer, this book is not going to appeal much to you. Although I would still reccomend you browse it, I suggest "You can write a mystery", by Gillian Roberts. On the other hand, if you are a Sue Grafton fan - who, by the way, is the editor of this book -, and you also like Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum; you will find this volume very appealing.

Novice writers of this genre and those who just love to read mystery books will get a lot from this book. The essayists are all published writers of the genre who give expert advice with excellent examples to guide the reader toward better understanding.

If you want to write mysteries (and get them published), read this book. Then read it again. And again. Commit portions to memory if need be. Keep it beside you while you write. Sleep with it if you have to.

Each chapter is written by a published author in the field and they know their craft. Twenty-seven chapters, each devoted to one aspect of the genre: plot, character, dialogue, suspense, pacing the story, vivid villains, amateur sleuths, looking for an agent, and getting your manuscript accepted and published are just some of the important topics that are covered.

The advice is invaluable and the authors make getting a mystery book published seem achievable. They speak to you as equals, as fellow adventurers on the same elusive quest. There is something comforting in knowing that Lawrence Block has suffered writer's block. A block for Block, so to speak. Or that Edward D. Hoch's Edgar-winning story The Oblong Room suffered a few rejections before being accepted.

There are so many valuable articles but the one I found most helpful is by Ruth Cavin. She tells you what an editor is looking for, and how she has to separate the publishable wheat from the unpublishable chaff. She doesn't mince words, and the many pointed observations she makes are a fascinating insight into an editor's world. If you listen to what she (and all of the other contributors) have to say, your next letter back from the publisher may not be a rejection.

With exerpts from various mystery writers- it's a wealth of information on the genre of mystery writing. I enjoyed reading this book as I was writing my novel, Moral Hazard-A Wall Street Thriller and put many of their ideas to use. Moral Hazard - A Wall Street Thriller