What Makes A Mystery Story. What makes mysteries such an ideal genre for new fiction writers is its predictable but highly customizable overall storyline sequence. Mystery novels are often called whodunnits because they turn the reader into a detective trying to figure out the who what when and how of a particular crime.
The criminal must be mentioned in the early part of the story. A mystery purveys the elements of shock and awe. The author HG Wells said that its a short story if you can read it in.
Dean Wesley Smith one of the most prolific mystery writers of our day defines a mystery as a story that involves a crime or puzzle to be solved and it must be solved by storys end.
In 1928 Father Ronald A Knox Roman Catholic priest mystery writer and one of the founders of The Detection Club set forth the rules for fair play for detective fiction known as Knoxs Ten Commandments or the Decalogue 1. What makes a good mystery. As in any successful genre a likeable character is a must. A seemingly simple question but the answer is not so simple.
