Book Review: How to Write A Mystery

 

How to Write a Mystery

A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America

by

Scribner 

 Nonfiction (Adult) 

Pub Date 27 Apr 2021

If you are looking for a book on how to write in the mystery genre from some of the most successful writers in the business, may I recommend How to Write A Mystery then How to Write A Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America is the one I would recommend to you.

Mystery Writers of America (MWA) provides unparalleled resources on the craft, art, and business of storytelling, helping writers of all levels improve their skills for nearly a century. This new handbook will help authors to navigate a publishing landscape that is always shifting.  It also provides everything from pacing, plotting, the business side of publishing, to the current demand for diversity and inclusivity across all genres, and more.

This book features essays from a new generation of bestselling experts on various elements of the craft and shorter pieces of crowd-sourced wisdom from the MWA membership as a whole, the topics covered are as follows:

Before Writing (rules; genres; setting; character; research; etc.)

While Writing (outlining; the plot; dialogue; mood; etc.)

After Writing (agents; editors; self-pub; etc.)

Other than Novels (short stories; true crime; etc.)

Other Considerations (diverse characters; legal questions; criticism)

In this collection you will also find essays from MWA published authors including Jeffery Deaver, Tess Gerritsen, and Charlaine Harris—selected by bestselling authors Lee Child and Laurie King and arranged thematically answering, “What piece of writing advice do you wish you’d had at the beginning of your career?”

Highly anticipated and incredibly useful, this new and trusted guide from MWA’s experts provides practical, current, easily digestible advice for new and established authors alike.

I give How to Write A Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!