Can pantsers write mysteries?

I’ve always wanted to write a murder mystery. I’m a big fan of Columbo, Poirot, Jessica Fletcher and all the other sleuths. I’ve often felt the desire to create my own detective, but am held back by the perceived complexity of writing a mystery, and my own improvisational writing style.

In other words, I feel like a pantser can’t write a good murder mystery.

If I, a hardcore pantser, were to write a mystery, I probably wouldn’t know who the killer was till halfway or more through the book. With all the clues and motivations that are required, I feel intimidated and unsure I’d be able to pull it off.

My character would be awesome though!

But I think most people are drawn to murder mysteries by the idea of being able to solve them, and I am not sure how good at that I’d be…

Any pantsers out there write mystery? How difficult is it?