Edgar award nominee James N. Frey, author of the internationally
best-selling books on the craft of writing, How to Write a Damn
Good Novel, How to Write a Damn Good Novel II: Advanced
Techniques, and The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the
Power of Myth, has now written what is certain to become the
standard "how to" book for mystery writing, How to Write a Damn
Good Mystery.
Frey urges writers to aim high-not to try to write a
good-enough-to-get-published mystery, but a damn good mystery. A
damn good mystery is first a dramatic novel, Frey insists-a
dramatic novel with living, breathing characters-and he shows his
readers how to create a living, breathing, believable character
who will be clever and resourceful, willful and resolute, and
will be what Frey calls "the author of the plot behind the plot."
Frey then shows, in his well-known, entertaining, and accessible
(and often humorous) style , how the characters-the entire
ensemble, including the murderer, the detective, the authorities,
the victims, the suspects, the witnesses and the
bystanders-create a complete and coherent world.
Exploring both the on-stage action and the behind-the-scenes
intrigue, Frey shows prospective writers how to build a
fleshed-out, believable, and logical world. He shows them exactly
which parts of that world show up in the pages of a damn good
mystery-and which parts are held back just long enough to keep
the reader guessing.
This is an indispensable step-by-step guide for anyone who's ever
dreamed of writing a damn good mystery.
