For mystery novel ideas, start small and local. Criminal activity in your town can provide crucial, plot-important lessons, even petty crimes.
Want to understand crime to improve your writing and generate mystery novel ideas? Your local newspaper or online TV news are stellar resources for crime research, especially if they provide a handy-dandy Police Blotter, a list of recent arrests, or a Crime section.
Here are the lessons I’ve learned so far from local crime research & the writing prompts that they’ve inspired:
#1 Nothing is too small, gross, lame, or ridiculous for a criminal to steal.
A quick perusal of the newspaper’s weekly police blotter proves thieves will steal ANYTHING.
Here’s a short list of stolen items from the last few months: loose change, Invisalign braces, a toilet, a bucket, a laundry wash tub, a porcelain dragon head, a parking sign, pill bottles, a floating dock, a water bottle, potato salad, a Jeep Patriot owner’s manual, a pedicab, and (my favorite) 3 Rhode Island Red Hens.
With a list like that, I wonder what goes unreported!
Mystery Novel Ideas: How might a senseless, take-whatever robbery end up the crucial piece of a larger crime? Could the thief be a witness? An unwilling accomplice?
#2 Thieves enjoy Wal-Mart, unlocked cars, and long walks through construction sites.
Reading crime news regularly, you find patterns. Based on my local police blotter (only a partial representation of the crime in this area), 33 crimes were thefts from cars (this does not include stealing the cars themselves). Often, whole neighborhoods are targeted in one night. In this local report, police saw an uptick in car thefts near the holidays, especially in our area parks.
Wal-Mart’s another popular target – and not just in frequency but quantity. In my research a few years ago, a single offender shoplifted Tide detergent pods, 10 towels, paper towels, toilet paper, and a comforter from Walmart. Long shoplifting lists like this are common as if thieves fill up carts and simply walk out with them. I don’t know – maybe they do.
Tools and equipment are also big-ticket criminal items. Just because something’s big and heavy doesn’t mean it won’t get pinched – water heaters, AC units, and appliances are all up for grabs. In crime, anything goes!
Mystery Novel Ideas: If nothing’s safe, what could get pinched in your story? Where does your character go that could put her property at risk? And come on, don’t we need more Walls-Mart stores like Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts? That’s an all-time fav… though not about crime.
#3 Thieves like to take their chances.
A common and easy way to steal is straight from people’s doorsteps, where deliveries are left daily. According to this New York Post article, over 64% of Americans have been victims of porch piracy in the year before, over 210 million packages.
Some organized criminals will follow UPS and FED EX trucks to grab and flee. But it’s a crapshoot for the criminal–they have no clue if their risk will pay off. A good score might be electronics or video games. But they could just as easily end up with vegan dog food or fish tank filters. Is it worth it?
The quick answer is yes. Consumer.com reports that in their survey, only 9% of consumers filed a police report for stolen packages. And according to security.org, it’s a crime of opportunity that rarely ends in arrest.
So, perhaps the biggest risk for this type of thief is an awkward encounter with the homeowner or his picture splashed on social media.
Mystery Novel Ideas: What if the thief ends up with something that puts her in danger? And the angry homeowner knows where to find him?
#4 Sometimes we law-abiding citizens make a bad situation worse.
Check out this story of over 70 reported auto burglaries in Wilmington. While thieves are consistently nabbing computers, phones, money, etc., from cars, they’re also stocking up on guns. In this rash of thievery, 31 guns were stolen, many from unlocked cars left in their driveways. If you’re going to own a gun, care for it responsibly.
Mystery Novel Ideas: Tired of being victimized by car thieves, a neighborhood (or school faculty or retirement home) takes matters into its own hands, ending in murder.
#5 Gotta love the dumb ones.
Crime is often committed out of desperation, forcing us to question the larger problems in our society. And victims are forever impacted by the trauma.
But sometimes, on a lighter note, criminals make it impossible not to laugh. Like the guy who evaded the police by running into the ocean only to be chased back to shore by a shark. In this particularly fun apprehension in Surf City, the police used a drone to keep track of the guy.
Mystery Novel Ideas: Every town has a “village idiot” for petty crimes, but none as dumb as Randy. He’s the town’s catch-all of bad behavior. But when the police are desperate for answers in a twisted murder, Randy may be the only one who can help catch a killer.
#6 Petty crime creates awesome writing prompts.
For more mystery novel ideas, try these examples of real thefts:
A couple stole $600 worth of Red Bull from two different stores (Wal-Mart was one of them). Why so much Red Bull? Why? Could they really like Red Bull that much? Or are there other possibilities? Sudafed is used to make drugs. Could Red Bull be used in that capacity too? Could the Red Bull be used for a caffeine-fueled time machine? Or (as my sweet daughter suggested) could this couple think that enough Red Bull would actually give them wings like the commercial says? Maybe.
Or perhaps… they have inside knowledge on Red Bull being the cure to a new pandemic.
Shoplifted from a Food Lion: a can opener, a green hand light, 2 Cokes, steel wool, pliers, a toothbrush, a set of wooden skewers, cat food, and cat treats. What kind of shopping list is this? Are cats in danger? Is this criminal a survivalist gone outlaw? Campers who forgot some essentials? Something worse?
Bank robberies, art thefts, and murders make for exciting stories, but how everyday criminals think (or don’t) could prove just as valuable for your mystery novel ideas.
For every crime, there’s a story. Check out your local paper, online news, and hang out with me on my blog for more writing prompts. So glad you’re here!
What have you learned about crime in your town that you can use in your fiction? Share your ideas below! It’d be a crime not to… ha.
