 Mystery: July 25, 2007 Issue [#1850] |
  Mystery
This week: Edited by: darkin
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Welcome to the Mystery Newsletter. Why are mysteries so popular? Because mysteries make you think. You follow every clue, examine the crime scenes and remember what each suspect said, until you solve the crime. A good mystery can keep you interested until the end. A great mystery will keep you guessing until the last page...when it makes you slap your forehead in surprise!
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Homicide and the Mystery Writer
Murderers kill for a variety of reasons. Detectives call the reasons motives. It can be as simple as "they made me angry" or as complicated as "I had to kill him so my business deal would go through without opposition and I wouldn't lose any money".
In real-life detectives deal with as many different types of murders as there are killers. But even though they are different, most murders can be placed into certain categories. Since there are so many different types, I'll be giving only a brief description of each. Should you decide to use one be sure to research it throughly before writing your mystery.
Familial: These are murders committed by a family member against another family member. It is one of the most shocking for law enforcement to deal with, as most of them have families and would find this kind of act appalling. Often times, these are premeditated crimes.
Crimes of Passion: These are slightly different than Familial murders. These are murders where the killer didn't plan on committing murder when he/she showed up. They are emotion-fueled crimes and often times the killer uses whatever they can find as a weapon.
Business and Financial: These murders centered around a business venture or deal. The murderer sees the death of the victim as the only way to keep their business from going under or their illegal business dealings from being made public.
Vehicular: Though not as popular, there have been cases of people using a vehicle as a murder weapon. A Dentist in Houston murdered her husband with her car after catching him cheating. This could be a great red herring for a mystery story; the murder that doesn't look like a murder.
Gang: Gang violence is a way of life for many people. Murders by gang members have been on the rise for many years, much to the dismay of law enforcement and citizens alike. Some of the reasons gangs kill are: turf, disrespect, drugs, initiations or revenge.
Narcotics: Drugs are a big business. Dealers will kill to keep from being arrested, suppliers will kill to keep order or punish an underling. Both will kill to quiet a witness or halt an investigation. The other side of this coin is the junkie who might kill to get money or drugs.
Organized Crime: This is probably the one area where the writer will have to do the most homework. There are more than one Mafia group, as almost all ethnic groups can lay claim to their own unique Mob organization. Research is crucial to writing this kind of mystery story.
Sexual: These are among the saddest of all murders. The offender isn't driven by desire or love; they are driven by a sadistic need to hurt someone. They can be difficult to solve, often involving rituals that are repeated with each new victim. The BTK killer is an example of this kind of murderer.
Thrill: Sometimes, the killer just likes to kill. It's really that simple. They get an abnormal jolt out of taking another person's life. There is usually a ritual to their crime, certain things they do each time. These are often committed by people who have deeply rooted psychological problems.
Mass: These murderers killed many victims in a short period of time, usually in the same area. Often, this type of killers will walk into a place armed and start shooting randomly. The killer might, or might not, know anyone in the place they are targeting, though sadly it seems the workplace attack is happening more often.
Serial: Serial killers are the best known of all the categories, even though they only make up a small percentage a detective's workload. Most homicides aren't consider a serial until they are linked to two separate murders. These can be especially difficult to solve because most serial killers are very methodical and cautious.
Bizarre: These murders don't fall into any of the other categories. They are crimes so strange and bizarre that most law enforcement officers haven't dealt with them before. Voodoo, ritual, and cannibalism are just a few of these types of crimes.
Any of these can make an excellent crime for your detective to solve. Remember, you can overlap many of these together. When you choose be sure to research and find out all you can. The more details you bring to your story, the more realistic it will be for your reader.
Thank you for taking the time to read. Happy Writing!
darkin
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Thank you for allowing me into your e-mail boxes for this week's issue. I had a wonderful time writing this issue and would love to hear what you think about it. Here is some feedback I received from my last newsletter.
darkin
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Submitted By: Lexi 
Submitted Comment:
Nice tips, Darkin! I think it was great that you pointed out research because it's a major fallback when people are writing about an unfamiliar subject. That's a tip that's important with every genre!
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Submitted By: fifer
Submitted Comment:
Thankyou for a greatly informative newsletter - keep up the good work!
Lightkeeper
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Submitted By: likenion
Submitted Comment:
Yup, you got that right! Every good horror story must have these elements at present and the more evolved and interesting the better the story will be. I appreciate the hard work you put into informing us lazy people. Keep up the good work.
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Submitted By: Suze the Rock Chic 
Submitted Comment:
Great newsletter! You've made me rethink my struggling mystery story in an entirely different way. Using these rules has given me an insight into how to revitalise my story and really give it depth. Also, are there any links you could recommend for UK police procedure and UK medical procedure (autopsies, rate of decay, how to tell what someone has died of etc)?
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I did a quick internet search and came up with these web sites. I hope one of them can help
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Police
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_notebook
http://www.interpol.int/default.asp
Double check anything you get off of Wikipedia, since members entered all of the information on that site. I hope one of these helps
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Submitted By: n.uma
Submitted Comment:
i new to all this but all this enlighteing is improving my thought skill! thanx a ton! :D i feel this is really wonderful!
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