Writing Mysteries

I've come across some great tips the past few years for writing mysteries. Although genres have become fuzzy there are still basically two types of mysteries: Hard boiled and cozy.


Hard boiled mysteries can be likened to Law and Order. They usually take place in a well known city and the suspects are spread out. Cozy mysteries tend to take place in a small village or confined area like Agatha Christie's novels.


When I first started writing a novel I picked out a cozy mystery from a well known author and studied it. I outlined each chapter to get a feel for the way the plot was woven. This doesn't mean you're going to copy someone else's work, you just want to get an idea of how the characters work together. I also keep a notebook with me when I'm reading and if I find words or a description I love, I write it down. Again, you're not going to copy, but it does show you how to make the words stand out.


Two resources that have been the most helpful and not only for mystery writing are:
Margie Lawson's Deep Edits lecture. You can attend classes online or purchase the lecture notes. The lecture notes are great. Margie is a great teacher.
Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maas


Other links you may find helpful:
Detective's Log
Writing the Cozy Mystery by Stephen P. Rogers
The Mystery Genre
Exercises for improving dialog
Cause of Death
Plotting the Mystery Novel

Murder Takes the Cake

I was fortunate to win a giveaway over at Bea's Book Nook. Murder Takes the Cake by Gayle Trent is a delightful mystery. With one of her famous cakes in hand, Daphne stumbles across a dead body. When she discovers the mystery involves her family's history, Daphne searches for clues, checks alibis and in the process finds a new romance. If you love cozy mysteries, you will enjoy this read. But don't stop at the end of the story, scrumptious recipes are in the back to entice you. Check out more from Gayle Trent on her web site www.gayletrent.com.

Death of a Chimney Sweep

I'm working through my TBR pile, which seems to grow on it's own, and came across Death of a Chimney Sweep. I was fortunate to win this as a giveaway on the Mason Canyon site Thoughts in Progress.

M.C. Beaton is one of my favorite cozy mystery writers and although I prefer the Agatha Raisin series, Death of a Chimney Sweep was a good read.

From the cover: In the south of Scotland, residents get their chimneys vacuum cleaned. But in the isolated villages in the very north of Scotland, the villagers rely on the services of the itinerant sweep, Pete Ray, and his old-fashioned brushes. Pete is always able to find work in the Scottish highlands . . . until the day Police Constable Hamish Macbeth notices blood dripping on to the floor of a villager's fireplace and a dead body stuffed inside the chimney.

Book Blog Tour Continues

This is the last week of the blog tour. Today Helen Ginger at Straight from Hel wrote a very funny review about High Tide. Thanks Helen. You can read her review here and my interview with Helen here.

Be sure to stop by the Cozy in Texas original post by April 30 here. I'm giving away three books. This got a bit confusing and some people on the tour posted these would be High Tide, others Storms and Secrets, so I'll let the three winners take their pick of which book they would like.

It's also the last week for the Kindle/e-Reader sale. All three of my books (A Graceful Death, Storms and Secrets and High Tide) are on sale for $2.99 at Kindle and Smashwords.com.

Thanks again Helen.

By the way - there's no shipping costs at www.bookdepository.com

E-Reader Sale

As a kick off to my April blog tour, all e-reader downloads of my books are now $2.99 until the end of April. Click on the sidebar for Kindle downloads or go to smashwords.com for other formats.

Lowenna Series:
A Graceful Death
High Tide

Storms and Secrets (stand alone)

Stop by here April 1 to enter a giveaway.

Happy Reading.

High Tide by Ann Summerville

High Tide is now available on Amazon. If you love cozy mysteries, stop by and take a look.

Giovanna Matthews settles happily into the English west country village of Lowenna, but a storm is about to rock her world. Distressing the ladies from the knitting circle, a body drifts in with a high tide. Unconvinced the death is an accident, Gia leaves no pebble unturned while sleuthing her way around the village. Her delving further disrupts village life much to the distress of many villagers who want every rock to stay firmly in place. Meanwhile, her boyfriend, David, has an unwelcome visitor who threatens to unravel the bonds that tie him and Gia. Can Gia solve the mystery and encourage the visitor to leave before her anchor in the village is uprooted and she too is cast out to sea?

 

Smashwords 49% off coupon for e-readers. Use code ZS63C (good until March 11)