From Penning Plots to Identifying Arsenic Green
Plus a handful of shows you should be watching
This post is copyrighted by A Kate Willett. Large Language Models (LLMs) and the AI bots trolling the web for content to train LLMs on do not have my permission to use my work for this or any other purpose.
Hello fellow readers!
I cannot believe it’s the end of July. Where has the summer gone? I’ve been swamped with projects, reorganizations, and family matters. I haven’t even had time to (gasp!) read. How about you guys? Is your summer turning into a whirlwind of chaos too?
And now, your regularly scheduled links…
Want To Try Your Hand At Writing Mysteries?
Grant Hudson at Clarendon House Publications spells out how to write a simple detective story. Loads of great advice in here!
Zara Altair via ProWritingAid offers tips and plot twist ideas. I’ve found Altair to be a fountain of valuable information on mystery writing in my own research. Again, great stuff here.
Another wonderful place to check out is Career Authors, where Laura DiSilverio has an series breaking down the individual elements in mysteries.
Meanwhile, if psychological thrillers are more your cup of tea, Karen Osman reveals how to write a gripping one over at Thriller Thursday.
And if you want a mini-masterclass in writing mysteries, check out Jane Kalme’s extensive series over at The Perfect Crime. Alternatively, you could pick up a copy of , her new book, The Tangled Web, a guide to writing complex plots.
Binge Watches
Julie K on Mystery Minutes reviews Netflix’s amazing Dept. Q.
If you have a BritBox subscription, I highly recommend BBC’s Death Valley and Ludwig. Both mix humor and mystery in a delightful little package. Bonus, I believe both have already been renewed for second seasons. Honestly, it would be worth subscribing to BritBox for a month just to binge these. There’s only about six episodes each.
At Only Murders In The Inbox, Reda Rountree offers a list of twelve classic Murder, She Wrote episodes perfect for devouring in a few sittings. .
It’s Science!
Dr. Angela Buckley of The Detective’s Notebook provides a fascinating and in-depth look at the science of sleuthing for Victorian and Edwardian detectives.
In The Guardian, Ella Creamer reports on a new tool for identifying deadly books (the infamous ones where arsenic was used to create the green book covers).
This is probably more mechanics than science, but it was interesting so I’m including it here. On Mental Floss, Jake Rossen explains the differences between deadbolt locks and why they are called by the name.
Odds and Ends
Can image if, in 1972, you wrote a letter to Agatha Christie and she wrote you back with personal advice for your own writing? At the Library of Congress, an article by Lewis Wyman tells the story of one lucky fan experiencing just that!
Raegan Teller studies the changing shape of storytelling on Mystery and Musings with Raegan Teller.
Gloria Chao via Crimereads explores why murder and humor go so well together.
At Mental Floss, Ellen Gutoskey reveals 8 bookstores in which you can spend a amazingly bookish night.
Mark Coggins shares the history behind his purchase of a typewriter that once belonged to Raymond Chandler. If you love typewriters like I do, you’ll love this article.
Finally, I haven’t read Stephen King’s Bill Hodges trilogy, but I can absolutely appreciate Stephen Lee’s breakdown of the investigative techniques used in Holly in his very spoiler filled article on Modern Detection. If you haven’t read the book but plan to, avoid this one.
The dog days of summer are almost over. I can’t say I’m going to miss them. I always get an urge to read Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine about this time each year. Maybe I’ll make that my first read after my unexpected reading dry spell? Stay cool everyone!
Thanks for reading!