Step 1: Start with Murder

In beginning a new mystery, I start with the murder.

Who’s the victim?

Who’s the murderer?

What’s his motive?

How is she killed?

Where is he killed?

The victim might be not so nice, regardless of appearances. He may have a dark or devious side to his personality. Maybe he cheated the killer out of money or his wife. Threatens his livelihood or his life. Or the life of a loved one. Conversely, he may be a good guy who saw a crime occur. He must die to save the killer from prison, for example.

Motives include.

Revenge

Money

Lust/Love

Save oneself or loved one

Or many other reasons, actual and imaginary

I’ve had a villain who killed to save someone from going to hell. (yeah, I know, I don’t understand these characters sometimes either.) Another wanted the victim’s inheritance. One desired his wife.

Now let’s find a way to kill. Methods include:

Poison (very useful in my historical mysteries)

Firearm (common today but less so in bygone eras)

Knife/axe/hatchet (messy but works)

Smother/strangle (without forensics could obscure cause of death)

Drowning (the killer’s wet clothes might be a giveaway)

Hanging (another not so messy method)

Or the proverbial blunt object (can’t always count on it to do the job)

Next we must find a place for the murder. It must be out of the way, a place where the killer and victim won’t be disturbed, and where the killer can get away without being seen. Umm. A tall order.

I’ve had murders occur in a busy hospital intensive care unit unbeknownst to staff scurrying about, in a deserted barn with only horses to witness the crime, in a cemetery, a river, a wheat field, and more. Get the victim alone, overcome him some way, and strike. Not for the faint of heart.

Okay, now I have a killer, a victim, a motive, a method, and a place.

Time to build a story world around them. That comes next week.