Mystery Writing in a Nutshell (Paperback)

~ John McAleer (Author), Andrew McAleer (Author), Edward D. Hoch (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Edgar Allan Poe Award winner, Pulitzer Prize nominee, and best-selling author John McAleer, Ph.D. (Harvard), taught crime fiction at Boston College for nearly four decades, nurturing authors like George V. Higgins (The Friends of Eddie Coyle), Chuck Hogan (The Standoff), Margaret McLean (Under Oath), James Devlin (Elmore Leonard), and Ted Murphy (the "Belltown Mysteries"). Now he and his son, Andrew McAleer-also a mystery author and Professor of Crime Fiction at Boston College-share the secrets, techniques and art of crafting the mystery novel. Mystery Writing in a Nutshell is an invaluable resource which, step-by-step, takes the writer through the mystery-writing process from creating suspense and strategizing plot twists to hiding clues and enriching character development and much more. With this guide to mystery writing at your side, it is only a matter of time before your novel is afoot! ABOUT THE AUTHORS John McAleer is the Edgar Allan Poe Award-winning author of Rex Stout: A Majesty's Life and a best-selling author of fifteen other books including the critically-acclaimed mystery, Coign of Vantage. A Professor of English Literature at Harvard and, later, Boston College for more than half a century, Professor McAleer also worked as an editor of The Armchair Detective, served as a vice president of the Mystery Writers of America and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Andrew McAleer is the author of three mystery novels and serves as the president of America's oldest continuing literary society, the Boston Authors Club. He teaches Crime Fiction at Boston College, is a member of the Private Eye Writers of America, the editor of the award-winning Crimestalker Casebook and a recipient of the Sherlock Holmes Revere Bowl Award. Mr. McAleer practices law privately in Massachusetts. Edward D. Hoch is a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, an Edgar Allan Poe Award-winning author and one of the most prolific writers in the crime fiction genre. A tireless contributor to Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Mr. Hoch served as president of the MWA and was the 1991 guest of honor at Bouchercon.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: James A Rock & Co. Publishers (January 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596635053
• ISBN-13: 978-1596635050
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #536,117 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chock full of great suggestions!, March 23, 2007

By	BookReview.com (Madison, WI United States) - See all my reviews

"What if..." No that's not a section heading of this Elements of Style sized book for wannabe mystery writers, but a question that I asked when I read that the senior McAlleer introduced a crime fiction course at Boston College in the 1960s. Oh my God, I was accepted at Boston College in the 60s, and as a fan of the genera would most certainly have wormed my way into the class had I gone there. Fifty years later, as I struggle over the drafts of two suspense novels, I realize, like George Bailey, I can learn what I've been missing and enjoy A Wonderful Life. Or can I?

The first two chapters and the last of this father and son authored book are the best. They focus on creating suspense, the story, the hook and structuring plot. Besides some practical suggestions (spend a day in a courtroom) and snappy quotes ("There are two types of statistics: Those you look up, and those you make up."--Rex Stout) there are some intriguing phrases sprinkled about like clues that remain long after the book is finished ("think quicksand," "always be in writer-overdrive," "the clue shell game"). Unfortunately there are also brief Hints-from-Heloise entries--on using brochures from exotic places, checking clothes catalogs to dress your characters and noting how TV meteorologists describe weather--that seem a fast track to dreadful writing. Under the heading "Birds and Animals" I read, "Knowledge of birds and their habits can be interesting to readers." But then there was that Hitchcock movie. I also could have done without the twenty-five pages of reprinted interviews (somewhat fawning) and previously published articles that struck me as filler at the end of the short book (though it is amusing that eighty-nine year old Rex Stout sounded an awful lot like Nero Wolfe).

What I learned helpful to my books is the need for plot "to fight against time," how having two seemingly disparate crimes or incidents intensify reader involvement, that the weapon and/or manner of a killing affect how readers feel about a victim and finally some practical ins and outs of effective titling. The Foreword by Mystery Grand Master Edward Hoch says today's writers don't want to plow through hundred's of pages of how-to books to learn the genre's fundamentals, they want to begin. I plead guilty as charged. And even If this book can't guarantee a mystery writer that Frank Capra ending it deserves a place of honor next to his or her Strunk and White for trying.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars 100-Page List of Cliches, October 1, 2007

By	Kristin Hays (Madison, WI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Although previous reviews suggest otherwise, this book does not contain any substantial guidance on structuring a plot, creating suspense, developing characters, or, really, writing a mystery at all. It is a rambling list of to-dos and to-don'ts, nearly all of which are either basic common sense (hide clues, be accurate, don't cheat the ending) or cringe-inducing (incorporate advertising copy into dialogue, give your protagonist a hat, and transcribe detailed driving directions). The filler interviews tacked on to the end of the book just add insult to injury. At 100 pages, the book still felt too long - a complete waste of time and $10.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Short and Sweet Guide to Mystery Writing, March 24, 2007

By	LA Noir (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

The title of "Mystery Writing in a Nutshell - The World's Most Concise Guide to Mystery and Suspense Writing" says it all. A short, sweet guide to mystery writing that covers the bases from creating suspense to how to hook the reader, through character development and pretty much anything and everything else you might need to know to write a mystery. What sets this volume apart from many others is its brevity and, as the title says, its conciseness. It does all of this in a mere 90 or so pages. Consequently you don't have to wade through pages and pages of minutia to get to the point of each subject.

This is an excellent overview of the subject of mystery writing, but also of writing fiction in general because, after all, most stories are mysteries one way or another. And John and Andrew McAleer give you what you need to know the way a good mystery does with a few quick shots. There's no room here for excess baggage, as there shouldn't be in your mystery. I could cite examples from the book, but it's so short and accessible it would be just as well to pick it up and give it a read.