  Mystery
This week: Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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Welcome to this week’s edition of the Mystery Newsletter. A mystery by nature is a question in search of an answer. The Mystery Writer poses the question in prose or poetry, and then proffers clues in the scenes, conversations and actions of believable characters. A microcosm of life and living, but one that the writer controls by taking pen or keyboard in hand and designing a world of solvable riddles and clues, perhaps by transporting them for a time to an ‘otherworld.’
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Greetings! Several of our readers have written and asked me to provide some further information with respect to planting clues and leading the reader to discover the how and why on the way to solving a mystery, be it a historical mystery, true crime, a delicious cozy perhaps. How do we make our 'otherworld' real and believable to the discerning reader of mysteries; make our mystery story one where he/she can follow real leads to arrive at the satisfying and intriguing solution just ahead of the protagonist or, when reading the solution, wonder how he/she glossed over the clue to the surprise twist?
One way is to engage your own curiosity about life and read, not only mysteries, but your local newspaper and/or weekly newsmagazine for stories of intrigue and crime. Many of them give loads of detail in the continuation of the front-page or metro headline stories including, among other things, weapon specifications, drug composition and methods of transport and background on methodology. Of course, if you use actual clips from the articles, be sure to cite to the reference as part of your story. Work it into a conversation (or perhaps argument) between your protagonist and a helper for focus and to incite your reader to mayhap follow-up and do a bit of research on his/her own to better understand how the clue fits, or why it may be just a misdirection or red herring. Don't you find yourself sometimes doing just that, if only to verify the truth (or fallacy) of a specific clue in a delicious 'otherworld'?
Mysteries of crime or mayhem incorporate elements from the then-current daily life of the writer's 'otherworld' that are recognizable to readers. We have so many resources available to us in our global world, so I’m answering the request posed by some of our readers to include a few resources that are easy starting points for planting both obvious and subtle clues for your reader.
For example, if you’re writing a historical cozy, akin to Arsenic and Old Lace, you might read up on apothecaries and gardening to incorporate the common, actually mundane, uses of arsenic at the time into your story. If you do so, you will find it is still a naturally occurring element, found throughout the environment and exposure can lead to everything from skin irritation to abdominal problems, nervous system disorders, and cancer. As versatile a tool for the criminally-inclined today as in Victorian times (or a red herring sidestep, perchance?) http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/arsenic.html
Or maybe your story has victims succumbing to a face-contorting demise in a bucolic field of clover, without a mark or wound (not even fang marks on the neck) to clue the sleuth. Maybe they were just scared to 'death' by, or of, something? Perhaps there’s more to it? Consider the location, and ask why each of them happened to be in field of flowering clover in the bucolic retirement community of cancer survivors at this particular time. Clover, along with lima beans and sorghum (hmm, some 'natural' possibilities?) contains amygdalin, which produces cyanide, which is believed to be the active cancer-killing ingredient in laetrile, which is not approved for this use in the U.S., but is so approved in other countries. See how much information is available, how one question yields another, then another, some or all of which can lead to creative clues, misdirection, or resolution of your mystery from one cursory search from a free government site - http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/laetrile/patient/allpages/print/
I’m including one cite here in a purely altruistic spirit for all of you with beloved feline or canine companions. Chocolate can be harmful or even deady to pets. The caffeine-like substance in chocolate, recently touted as a chemical that may reduce a human's susceptibility to cancer, methylxanthine, can induce serious physical reactions in your beloved companions, up to and including their pain-riddled demise. The darker the chocolate, supposedly the ‘healthier’ for humans, and the more toxic to pets. http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pro_apcc_dyk
So, you see, a little bit of research sparked by curiosity will yield realistic, accurate, believable clues to perplex, misdirect and, perhaps, ultimately solve the puzzle of your mystery or leave your reader satisfied at the twisted ending that eluded him/her until the very end.
© 2008 manga-kate
Until we next meet,
Keep Writing!
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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I'm certain you will find pleasure reading (and reviewing) the following mysteries penned by writers in our Community.
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Beth waited for her friends at the campsite till she got a call on her dead cell phone.
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And a few challenges to incite the Muse of Mystery to pen a story or, perchance, a poem of mystery and intrigue this March
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Thank you for inviting me into your home for a time. I hope you enjoyed this issue of the Mystery Newsletter. Last month, I asked for some of your favorite true crime mystery reads, and offer here several responses from members of our Community. 
Submitted To: Mystery
Submitted By: wildbill 
Probably the most popular true crime mystery ever is the Jack the Ripper mystery which has had hundreds of articles, books and fictionalized stories and novels. Not to mention the TV and movie adaptations.
I wonder, if it ever is solved (or perhaps it has been), will we ever know it, or is the mystery of 'Jack' just too intriguing?
Submitted To: Mystery
Submitted By: StephBee 
I love Ann Rule. Her stories add that extra emotional depth to them. The first true crime I read was about Jeffery McDonald by Joe McGinness. Excellent writing. Great topic to tackle!
I haven't read Ann Rule, and thank you for the tip which promises to offer an intriguing otherworld for the waning days of winter. Thank you.
Submitted To: Mystery
Submitted By: Cubby
Excellent newsletter, Kate! Mysteries are a popular genre in the library I work at, and my patrons are eager for well-written plots with new twists and turns. Weaving true facts into fiction will many times peak a reader's interest enough to dig deeper into the true topic itself. My recent article on Fictional Biographies in the For Authors newsletter states that many authors fictionalize true stories to draw in an bigger audience. I learn more about history through historical fiction than I ever did in high school text books! It amazes me how curious I become about something I had never thought twice about, thanks to an author who weaved true facts into his or her fiction. Jodi Pocult is a good one for this. She touches on controversial subjects, as in My Sister's Keeper and Second Glance, among others. I won't go into detail, as my feedback would turn into an article if I wrote much more, lol! I really enjoyed your newsletter.
~Cubby ")
Thank you for your encouragement. I also find that historical fiction and mysteries incite my curiosity and I read on, and question further, and continue seeking answers to those questions, and you said it, learning |
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Mystery: March 05, 2008 Issue [#2259]
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