The biggest tip I'd have would be to plan anything in advance, you can't go with the flow and see where a mystery is going, you need to know it from the start.
And stay 'simple' not in a way that the reader can understand what's happening from the start but they need to somehow get it. Don't go make the mystery unraveled by some letter arriving five pages before the end explaining everything (except if it arrives at the reader's door not in the book that would be amazing but not doable). Sparkles some evidences from the start but throw them on a wrong path from time to time, with a reason, they need to think it's leading somewhere (which it will, it will give them some more information they can use to try and understand who is the killer).
Don't had pages just to had pages, if you want to make the book bigger, had some personal story for the main character but don't send them on five clues that are just dead end, avoid dead end ad much as you can
NeitherAwareness8092 t1_jctfahu wrote
Reply to [OT] Any tips on how to write a good mystery? by Xexotic_wolfX
The biggest tip I'd have would be to plan anything in advance, you can't go with the flow and see where a mystery is going, you need to know it from the start.
And stay 'simple' not in a way that the reader can understand what's happening from the start but they need to somehow get it. Don't go make the mystery unraveled by some letter arriving five pages before the end explaining everything (except if it arrives at the reader's door not in the book that would be amazing but not doable). Sparkles some evidences from the start but throw them on a wrong path from time to time, with a reason, they need to think it's leading somewhere (which it will, it will give them some more information they can use to try and understand who is the killer).
Don't had pages just to had pages, if you want to make the book bigger, had some personal story for the main character but don't send them on five clues that are just dead end, avoid dead end ad much as you can