forum What makes a good mystery?

Started July 29, 2018 by Deleted user

tune

What do you guys want to see more of in mystery stories? This isn't limited to murder mysteries.

Red herrings and blunders that don't involve the 'we solved it! he's definitely the villain. oh wait, we just found this super important clue that proves his innocence.' It's very predictable.

Note taken. Thanks for the input!

You're welcome. Also, things like 'the butler did it!' and 'it was actually one of the first people we talked to. What an unexpected turn of events.' has already been used a lot as well.

Crazed madmen that have escaped from an asylum are also really overused. If you've seen Happy Death Day, it's got a REALLY good plot twist that is difficult to predict. That's the kind of mysteries I love - the ones where you think it's the mass murderer or the crazed madman, but then it turns out to be someone completely unexpected. It can't be out of the blue though, it has to have the ability to be predicted, but can't be easy to predict. There's a good middle in there somewhere that Happy Death Day definitely achieved. The movie is a horror, comedy and mystery all rolled into one and it's really good. I definitely recommend it for both inspiration and entertainment.

Every Sherlock Holmes with Benedict Cumberbatch. Here's what they do excellent:

They focus on the mystery, not "How Can I Surprise the Viewers?" because nobody likes the old "WOAH, IT WAS THE BUTLER" anymore (as stated above) you rarely ever meet the villian before they know who it is, and if you see the villian, it's normally due to them chasing after them