5 Ways to Create Red Herrings in a Mystery Novel

Great ways to create and incorporate red herrings in your novel!

Global Mysteries

Red herrings play two important roles in a mystery novel. They heighten suspense and add greater challenge to a mystery puzzle by misleading the reader and/or the sleuth. A red herring is a false clue that a mystery writer uses to send readers and sleuths off in directions that do not lead to the apprehension of the real villain. Here are five strategies for creating red herrings:

1. Choose an innocent charact...