🔍

Mystery

Puzzle-solving through clues, deduction, and reveals.

Want to stress-test character dynamics before drafting? Plot a relationship web in ShipCraft and bring the most compelling conflicts back into this genre guide.

Essential Elements

Central puzzle or crime to solve

Fair play - reader can solve alongside detective

Clues distributed throughout

Red herrings and misdirection

Revelation/solution that makes sense in retrospect

Detective figure (professional or amateur)

10 Essential Tropes

Locked Room Mystery

Crime in seemingly impossible circumstances

Example: Murder in sealed room with no visible entry/exit

The Unreliable Witness

Testimony that misleads or conflicts

Example: Contradicting accounts, faulty memory, hidden motives

Hidden in Plain Sight

Crucial clue overlooked until the end

Example: Ordinary object with extraordinary significance

Everyone Has Secrets

Multiple characters with something to hide

Example: Each suspect has motive and means

The Butler Did It

Overlooked servant or background character

Example: Someone invisible to the wealthy/powerful

Race Against Time

Pressure to solve before another crime occurs

Example: Serial killer pattern, ticking bomb, impending trial

The Last Clue

Final piece that connects everything

Example: Overheard conversation, discovered document, observed detail

Airtight Alibi

Suspect who couldn't have done it (but did)

Example: Accomplice, twin, time manipulation

The Detective's Intuition

Gut feeling about overlooked detail

Example: Something doesn't add up, nagging inconsistency

The Gathering

All suspects brought together for revelation

Example: Classic drawing room denouement

Famous Examples

A Scandal in Bohemia by Arthur Conan Doyle
Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl
The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allan Poe

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

•Solution relies on information reader never had
•Detective solves through lucky guess
•Too many red herrings obscure real story
•Motivation revealed makes no sense

Practice with Mystery

Generate a 250-word story demonstrating key Mystery conventions and tropes.

Mix Tropes Tool

Select 2-3 tropes to generate a story that combines them. Learn how different conventions can work together.

Select Tropes (0/3)

Mystery Tropes

Select at least 2 tropes to generate a story

Spot the Convention Quiz

Test your knowledge of Mystery conventions! Read a story and identify which tropes and conventions are present.

How It Works:

1.Read the generated Mystery story carefully
2.Select which tropes you think are present in the story
3.Submit your answer to see how well you identified the conventions
4.Get +1 point for each correct trope, -1 for incorrect guesses