Adding Romance to Your Mystery Plot – Guest Trisha Loehr

By Liz, excited to welcome my friend Trisha Loehr to the blog today! Trisha is a romance writer and a book coach, and we’ve had a TON of conversations about adding romance to mysteries. She’s got some great tips on why this could be a great subplot- so wanted to invite her here to share with all of you! Enjoy!

Seeing a detective (either amateur or professional) figure out both a complex case and what to do with all the feelings emerging whenever that other person is nearby can be such fun. 

Here are four reasons why you might want to add a romantic subplot to your mystery novel.

Adding a romantic subplot to your mystery novel increases stakes, adds tension, and gives you more types of conflict to play with.

You’re probably thinking that your novel already has lots of stakes and tension. After all, somebody’s dead and we need to figure who did it before they kill anyone else. But hear me out. 

When your protagonist is trying to solve a mystery while also trying to navigate a possible romantic relationship, the stakes for them personally are higher. They have to choose which problem to prioritize and then deal with the consequences of that choice.

Are they on a first date with the person they’ve been secretly in love with for a decade and then get a call about a lead in the case? If they leave now before the appetizer is even placed on the table, they likely won’t get another chance at this relationship…but if they don’t leave, the trail could run cold. Are they trying to reconcile with their true love after neglecting them for years because they’ve been so focused on solving cases only to have a murder take place on their romantic cruise? Do they involve their partner or try to hide the fact that they’re working the case at all?What happens if their love interest gets implicated in the mystery? How do they keep their emotions out of the game?

Adding a romantic subplot to your mystery novel allows the reader to see other aspects of your protagonist’s character.

When you add a romantic subplot, emotions and feelings get involved. Physical desire gets involved. Confidence may give way to awkwardness. Scenes related to a romantic subplot can give readers insight into your protagonist’s wants, needs, and history. Past relationships and romantic backstory may influence decisions or interpretations of clues. And this can all lead to learning a whole lot more about what makes the protagonist click. 

Adding a romantic subplot to your mystery novel creates opportunities to slow the pacing and give the reader a rest from all the action.

Sometimes mystery novels move real fast with clues dropping all over the place, people scheming and protagonists chasing down every lead. While exciting, this can get exhausting for readers.

Adding a subplot around a romantic interest may provide sweet moments of connection between characters or even humorous moments to slow the pacing and give the reader a brief rest from the more intense action.

Adding a romantic subplot to your mystery novel gives readers an opportunity to see that everyone is worthy of love.

Romance novels or romantic subplots are ways to add joy to stories and moments of tenderness that can greatly impact readers. Romance in stories can be uplifting, can tackle hard topics like self-love and self-worth and can make people feel seen and worthy of love because they get to see characters who may be similar to themselves in some way, shape or form give and receive love. That can be revolutionary for some readers. 

Readers: What makes you excited or unsure about adding romantic subplots into your manuscripts? What are your favorite mystery novels that contain romantic subplots?

Trisha Jenn Loehr is a romance writer and Author Accelerator certified book coach who helps busy women who want to write romance novels without guilt or shame prioritize their writing, develop their craft, and find joy in the journey toward their publishing dreams. Connect with her on Instagram @trishajennreads and at trishajennreads.com where you can book a Free Intro Call to see if she’s the right book coach to help you.