The Steampunk Boiler Room

GADZOOKS!!! I know.... I think that is the biggest hitch in one of my stories. I know the mystery, but I'm not certain how to go about it! Some times I think every situation is different... for "In Pursuance of Zheva McGee" I have mystery within mystery... one was a disappearance, and we jump in to the middle of it. The other is a murder mystery where we stumble upon one of the crime scenes. I think for the other story I am working on, it suits it best to start with backstory and have the mystery itself as bits of breadcrumb... not so much a whodunnit, but what was done, how, and why, before they can catch the known killer. Does that make sense to anyone else?