Types of Mystery Novels

Contribute

FREE eBooks

Books

Everything.com>Writing>Types of Mystery Novels

Writing Fiction

Mystery/Thriller

Types of Mystery Novels He Said/She Said THE WD INTERVIEW: Chuck Palahniuk: Shock And Awe The Core Need of Elizabeth George The Pull of the Mystery A Collaborating Dream Hallie Ephron Build the Thrill Evanovich, Inc. Walker Meade's Unspeakable Acts Tips for Injecting Dialogue With Suspense and Tension Conducting Research with Ridley Pearson Getting Your Act(s) Together 3 Tips for Saving Research Time What is Suspense? Writing Small, Not Small Writing The WD Interview: <br>Laurell K. Hamilton Time of Death: A Critical Part of the Timeline A Published Prosecutor The WD Interview: <br> James Rollins Lee Child On How To Create Suspense James Rollins' "7 Ways To Make Your Characters More Sympathetic" 9 Tricks to Writing Suspense Fiction A Guiding Hand: Sandra Brown on Her Mentor 5 Simple Marketing Tips from M.J. Rose Marketing Tips from M.J. Rose and Doug Clegg WD Live: Sandra Brown WD Live: Steve Berry, James Rollins and Brad Thor WD Live: David Baldacci WD Live: M.J. Rose WD Live: Lee Child WD Live: Emily Benedek The WD Interview: George Pelecanos 10 Basic Ingredients of a Successful Thriller The WD Interview:<br>Brad Thor Steve Berry Profile M. William Phelps Expanded Interview Michael Crichton’s Top 5 Writing Lessons The WD Interview: <br>James Patterson Q&A with Pop Fiction Winner Marcy Kennedy

Elements of Fiction

Write Short Stories

Write a Novel

Writing Romance

SciFi/Fantasy

Write Graphic Novels

Write Horror

Literary Fiction

Historical Fiction


Types of Mystery Novels by Joyce Lavene & Jim Lavene Share Email Print - Types of Mystery Novels Tags No tags are currently set for this article. To add a new tag Log in or register Today's mystery novels vary colorfully In thrillers, readers want the good guy to win Hard-boiled mysteries are no longer as popular Today’s mystery novels are a colorful quilt of ideas, time frames, and settings—everything from vampires who solve crimes in 1920s Chicago to Ellis Peters’s Cadfael series set in medieval England. There are detectives who solve crimes in the future and thrilling car chases set on the streets of contemporary Los Angeles. Thrillers Put together a desperate man with a dose of high-end technology, toss in some evil drug lords and sophisticated weaponry, mix in some explosions and a high body count, and you have the recipe for writing a thriller. The thriller usually takes place in present time and ranges from 85,000 to 110,000 words. It can include some romance but mostly the reader wants to see the bad guy get killed in some terrible way and the good guy get out alive. Cozy Mysteries This popular subgenre has been taken to many different places in the past few years. What began in England with Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple books has evolved into a variety of such story lines. There are candy store owners who stumble across dead people. There are witches who solve murders with incantations and innkeepers who can’t keep murderers out. All of these books have one important thing in common: a quirky, nonprofessional sleuth who manages to solve the crime. They can have virtually any setting, any time, and range between 60,000 and 100,000 words. They normally contain some light romance but have very little sex or vulgarity. Police Procedurals This subgenre includes the popular police mysteries. In this case, one police detective or a group of police officers solve the crime. They might be unorthodox and may not always follow the rules, but they go step by step, following the clues, and end up with a suspect in custody. They have complete access to records, search warrants, and sophisticated surveillance. These books are usually contemporary and have between 60,000 to 100,000 words. They can be graphic in detail and may contain profanity. Historical Mysteries To qualify as a historical mystery, the story must be set in the past. The crime must be solved by means available to the sleuth in that time period. Most historical mysteries are also cozies, but there is the occasional book that is a historical thriller or police procedural. Details of the time and place must be accurate. Because this subgenre can cross other subgenres in the field, word count, sexual encounters, graphic content, and profanity can vary.
1 2

by Joyce Lavene & Jim Lavene

Today's mystery novels vary colorfully
In thrillers, readers want the good guy to win
Hard-boiled mysteries are no longer as popular

Today’s mystery novels are a colorful quilt of ideas, time frames, and settings—everything from vampires who solve crimes in 1920s Chicago to Ellis Peters’s Cadfael series set in medieval England. There are detectives who solve crimes in the future and thrilling car chases set on the streets of contemporary Los Angeles.

Thrillers

Put together a desperate man with a dose of high-end technology, toss in some evil drug lords and sophisticated weaponry, mix in some explosions and a high body count, and you have the recipe for writing a thriller. The thriller usually takes place in present time and ranges from 85,000 to 110,000 words. It can include some romance but mostly the reader wants to see the bad guy get killed in some terrible way and the good guy get out alive.

Cozy Mysteries

This popular subgenre has been taken to many different places in the past few years. What began in England with Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple books has evolved into a variety of such story lines. There are candy store owners who stumble across dead people. There are witches who solve murders with incantations and innkeepers who can’t keep murderers out.

All of these books have one important thing in common: a quirky, nonprofessional sleuth who manages to solve the crime. They can have virtually any setting, any time, and range between 60,000 and 100,000 words. They normally contain some light romance but have very little sex or vulgarity.

Police Procedurals

This subgenre includes the popular police mysteries. In this case, one police detective or a group of police officers solve the crime. They might be unorthodox and may not always follow the rules, but they go step by step, following the clues, and end up with a suspect in custody. They have complete access to records, search warrants, and sophisticated surveillance. These books are usually contemporary and have between 60,000 to 100,000 words. They can be graphic in detail and may contain profanity.

Historical Mysteries

To qualify as a historical mystery, the story must be set in the past. The crime must be solved by means available to the sleuth in that time period. Most historical mysteries are also cozies, but there is the occasional book that is a historical thriller or police procedural. Details of the time and place must be accurate. Because this subgenre can cross other subgenres in the field, word count, sexual encounters, graphic content, and profanity can vary.