WHODUNIT? YOUDUNIT! So you want to write a mystery. There's more to it than just a detective, a dead body, and Colonel Mustard in the drawing room with the candlestick. Fortunately, Larry Beinhart--Edgar Award-winning author of You Get What You Pay For, Foreign Exchange, and American Hero--has taken a break from writing smart, suspenseful thrillers to act as your guide through all the twists and turns of creating the twists and turns of a good mystery. Drawing on advice and examples from a host of the best names in mystery writing--from Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spillane to Scott Turow and Thomas Harris--plus some of his own prime plots, Larry Beinhart introduces you to your most indispensable partners in crime: *Character, plot, and procedure * The secrets to creating heroes, heroines, and villains ("All writers draw upon themselves and their experience. While the whole of yourself might not be capable of being either a serial killer or an FBI agent, there are parts in each of us that are capable of almost anything.") * The fine art of scripting the sex scene *The low-down on violence ("A crime novel without violence is like smoking pot without inhaling, sex without orgasm, or a hug without a squeeze." ) *And much more! From the opening hook to the final denouement, Larry Beinhart takes the mystery out of being a mystery writer.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Frank and informative:
If nothing else, books on writing can help jumpstart your engine when writing. Mr. Beinhart's contribution to helping writers is a whodoesit (discussion on mystery writers) and a howdoit (on writing a mystery), and offers some thought-provoking insights.
General:
This book falls into the big category: Too general and vague to be any good for a mystery writer. Sure, it holds some information about good writing, but for that purpose there are tons of better books. As for mystery, this book does not give you any good plotting instructions, any good storytelling etc. Buy another book or save your money.
Helpful, witty, and wonderful, but biased--not for cozies!:
The things I love about this book are that it's clever, formally interesting, and fun to read, and that it is irreverent. It doesn't tell you to scrutinize the market and write only the sort of book that is viable and popular. It identifies the structures and details that make for pleasurable reading, and it encourages you to be innovative and unique. It sets you in the direction of thinking about the specific choices you've made for your book and how you can make them more compelling. However, this book... more info
... Even though this book is specifically for writing mysteries,
it is by far the best of all the writing books I have.
Besides being a great writer, which makes this book a quick and enjoyable read, Larry gives practicle advice, inspiration, examples, and walks you through each step of writing a mystery.
I've put aside all other writing books and I'm reading this one for the second time.
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