  Mystery
This week: Why don't they just go to the police? Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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Quote for the week: When all the details fit in perfectly, something is probably wrong with the story.”
― Charles Baxter, Burning Down the House: Essays on Fiction |
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How many times have you read a mystery story that made you want to throw the book across the room and yell at the main characters, "Why don't you just go to the police?" 
Nobody wants to read a story where the plot hinges on the main characters doing something foolish. One of the most common foolish moves by mystery characters is trying to solve the case without calling the police or keeping evidence to themselves. If your characters do not involve the police, make sure they have a good reason.
Imagine the following scenario. Mary's friend and business partner, Sue, has been murdered. Mary suspects Sue's husband, Bill. Here are a few believable reasons she may not want to go to the police:
The police can't be trusted
Maybe Bill is a police officer or has friends on the force.
Mary is a suspect
The police may suspect Mary because she will inherit the business after Sue's death. Or she may have found the body and touched the murder weapon (another foolish move that happens way too often in mystery stories!)
Mary has secrets she doesn't want revealed
Maybe she is has a police record or is hiding from an abusive ex-husband. Or maybe she and Sue were lovers.
The story takes place in a remote setting
The story may be set in a national park, wilderness area, a small town without cell phone coverage, or in a boat on the open sea. Or maybe communication has been disabled by a storm or natural disaster.
Mary is protecting someone
Maybe Mary is in love with Bill, or he might have threatened to harm someone she loves if she tells what she knows.
Mary went to the police, but they did not believe her
Maybe the police think they have already solved the crime or do not think a crime has been committed. Bill might have staged the murder to look like an accident or suicide.
Although amateur detectives investigate crimes on their own in novels and on TV all the time, a character who does this takes a big risk. Not only does he put himself in danger, but he may jeopardize the case. For example, suppose Mary breaks in to Bill's house and finds evidence that he committed the crime. She solves the case and is a hero, right? Wrong! 
In real life, and in a realistic story, any evidence discovered without a proper warrant would be ruled inadmissible in ten seconds. Mary might even be accused of planting false evidence and become a suspect herself. If you want this to happen in your story, it might be better if it Mary isn't the main character. Main characters don't have to be perfect, but readers need to understand and sympathize with their choices. It is hard to sympathize with a character who makes you want to throw the book across the room! Maybe your main character could be a private detective or lawyer who has to get Mary out of the trouble she just got herself into.
This doesn't mean that you have to write a deus ex machina story where the police show up and save the day. Mary can investigate the crime all she wants as long as she doesn't go anywhere she doesn't have a legal right to go. Maybe the important evidence she finds could be in her own home, her office, in some public place, or online. If she does take the evidence to the police that does not mean the case is solved and she is out of danger. Bill may not know she has gone to the police and may come after her. And of course, if the story has a really good twist, Bill may not be the killer after all!
Something to try: Write a story in which an amateur investigator keeps getting in the detective's way.
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Mystery: November 06, 2013 Issue [#5978]
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