Most mystery fans believe the best thing about a good whodunit is solving the case alongside their favorite fictional detective. But there’s something even better–solving it first!
Miss Scarlet in the Library with the Candlestick! If you’ve ever played a game of Clue, then you know how rewarding it feels to be the first one to figure it all out. Well, that same Clue victory dance can happen with any whodunit, no matter how complicated it seems.
After years of teaching high school English and, of course, a lifetime of reading and watching mysteries, I realized that the critical thinking skills for analyzing literature (or any story-based medium) worked just as well for solving fictional crimes.
And for lit-nerds like me, the realization made the classic whodunit even more fun.
My amateur sleuth, Delilah Duffy, was inspired by the idea. As an avid reader and former English teacher, she’d trained her brain to observe and pick through details. If she could dissect a book, she could analyze the events unfolding around her and look for deeper meanings behind seemingly unimportant things. Her critical thinking busted tough criminal cases wide open. And it often got her into trouble and got her out of it… eventually.
Trouble aside, we can actively engage in our mystery novels, crime shows, or movies. Besides, that’s why I like mysteries in the first place. Mysteries invite you to utilize your skills right alongside the protagonist. And if your skills lead you to catch the killer, then it feels freaking awesome, especially if you get there first.
Don’t you want to feel like that?
On multiple occasions, I’ve impressed my husband, Joe, by calling out the killer in a TV show before the investigator has an idea who did it. “How on earth did you know?” he usually asks, starry-eyed.
I smugly point to my temple, smile, and say, “Gray cells, baby.”
Yeah, it’s a good feeling. But, even if you don’t have an audience, it’s fun and gratifying to know who committed the crime three-quarters through a book (or sooner). You read the rest of the book just waiting for the detective to catch up and prove you right.
In a well-done whodunit, you have everything you need to make an educated guess no later than three-quarters through the book, show, or movie. If the writer has done her job, that is. My humble opinion is that every mystery should be solvable for the reader. No last-minute villains popping out of a hat near the end. Or crucial information withheld for the sake of withholding. No oh-didn’t-I-mention facts dropped in like bombs. What is needed should be laid out, and it usually is.
In my Delilah Duffy mysteries, I introduce the villain within the first few chapters, even if the crime hasn’t happened yet. It’s only fair. But every writer is different. Even so, there’s a lovely formula to mystery writing that makes it easy to detect (ha, crime pun) where a plot is headed.
Though there will always be exceptions, here are 5 key tricks to solving a whodunit (before they do):
1.) Get a clue or two.
A great whodunit begins with an intriguing crime and a smorgasbord of clues. While all may be interesting, not all will be important. Your job is to figure out which clues really matter, and often it’s just one or two that really break the case.
When it comes to clues, pay attention to the little things. For example, often the cause of death usually doesn’t matter as much as the contents of the victim’s pocket or stomach. The murder weapon usually doesn’t matter either and is, quite often, used as a distraction. How many times have you seen a murder weapon planted to incriminate the wrong person? Likewise, how often does the murder weapon secure the right conviction? Rarely will a killer hide the weapon, fingerprints and all, in his or her own bedside table. And, if that happens, it’s not much of a mystery.
So, you must decide what’s important. Of course, you might be saying… Hello, I’m not a detective. How should I know what’s important?
Pay attention to your protagonist. If nothing stands out to you, decide what stands out to her. What does she notice? What perks her interest? I have found that by watching/reading facial expressions while clues are being delivered tells me what clues matter.
And make note of the oddballs. Unusual clues matter more often than not. The yellow fibers under his toenails… the expensive champagne in her stomach… the cracked porcelain doll sitting near the body. Presenting oddball clues helps writers make their crimes more interesting, and nine times out of ten, there’s a reason for it.
2.) Start the elimination.
Once you have the crime, you usually have your hero, the hero’s support team, and the suspects (though these might be peppered in as the story goes along). In a series, you can eliminate from suspicion the hero and his/her posse of recurring helpers (typically cops, medical examiners, partners, etc.). However, you cannot eliminate a hero’s helper if he or she is partnering with the main character for the first time. These one-hit-wonders are fair game to be villains or victims.
Anyway, by the halfway mark, you should know your suspects–anywhere from 2 to 12 people who have appeared in the story (whether the protagonist considers them suspects yet or not). Narrowing down the list of people with a reason and/or means to commit the crime leads to eliminating them later.
And don’t discount anyone with an alibi. Alibis change all the time. (More on that later).
Once you have your suspect pool established, you’re well on your way to solving the case.
3.) Beware the obvious.
Among your suspects, one will stand out as the bad guy right away. Either the detectives or the other suspects, or maybe both, will point to this character as the bad seed. Perhaps she has an attitude. Or a sketchy past or a few unsavory vices. She may be promiscuous, unethical, or an addict. Whatever the case, she’s practically begging you to believe that she’s the killer. She might as well have a bloody scarlet K knitted to her sweater.
Don’t believe the obvious. It’s a trick. And sometimes, it’s a twist in the making–that character will end up being the next victim or maybe even a hero of sorts.
Likewise, you may find that there’s an angelic character, too. But, again, don’t buy into these hard-and-fast characters. No one is all bad, and no one is all good. And the ones who attempt all-bad or all-good facades are typically the ones who surprise us the most. And watch out for the angels. Most of the time, they’re up to no good.
4.) Nothing is absolute.
Writers love tricking their readers with false alibis, obvious suspects, and hidden motives. So, outsmart the writer by realizing that nothing is absolute. No one’s alibi is entirely concrete. Obvious suspects usually didn’t do it. And when it comes to motives in a whodunit, the person with no reason to murder the victim… well, she probably did it. Pay attention to where the writer leads you and go the other way.
The best way to eliminate suspects is to look for the one you know the least about and who “seems” to have nothing to hide.
How many times have you seen an alibi refuted or a new motive discovered? In many stories, the twist in the plot comes with the discovery of a new will, an affair, or betrayal, offering new motives or a broken alibi (the character was in a room full of people… oh, except for the time he took an hour-long smoke break). Hold on tightly to your original handful of suspects. Discount them only if you think the writer’s putting too much energy into convincing you that they’re the one, which brings us to the next trick…
5.) Go with your gut.
Trusting your gut takes practice. But your critical thinking skills are fine-tuned with every book, show, or movie you watch (and amazing blog post you read). Rely on your instincts. The suspects, the clues, especially the oddball ones, the attempts to make something seem concrete – characters, alibis, motives, whatever… all these will lead to an inclination. You know who did it, don’t you?
If not, hit pause or set the book down. Ask yourself… Is there an impression or some tidbit of info that’s bothering you? Does a behavior or something said strike you funny? Did you feel like someone was lying?
Pinpointing idiosyncrasies solves cases, and the skill to find them gets better as you go. Sometimes, I’ve had “feelings” about characters simply because they didn’t stand out (writers don’t invent characters for nothing). Other times, I’ve said to myself, “Gosh, wouldn’t it be cool if [this person] was the killer?” And guess what? I’ve loved it when that happened. Ah, so satisfying!
You may not know how or why, but uncovering who boils down to a study of human nature. Study the characters. Based on the information the creator has provided, which character portrays that secret deviance that enables him or her to commit murder? Which character feels more likely? Who do you like for it? Take a guess. The worse that can happen is that you’re wrong. But, what fun if you’re right!
Note: To claim “rightness,” you must call it. It’s an honored tradition in my house now, and it’s easy to do. Just yell out the killer’s identity to whoever will listen. Then, when you’re proven right, you can gloat. Without calling it, gloating is an empty victory.
Disclaimer: Of course, not all mysteries will fit into the same mold. Some will be more like Clue in which one killer is just as likely as the next. Others will be so complex with twists and turns that you will happily suspend your efforts for the sake of a wild but super fun ride. Some of my favorites have been way over my head, even if all the clues were there.
Still. If you approach your next mystery, whether it’s a TV show, movie, or novel, with a plan to figure it out, you can pick apart the pieces enough to make a truly educated guess and, of course, have a little more fun than simply moving along with the story.
In Sea-Devil, the first of my Delilah Duffy mystery series and the following books, most people say they didn’t figure out the killer, but when they reflected on the story, the clues were all there for them to find. The best mysteries entice us with well-constructed characters and clues that lead us toward an ending where these come together for us to say either, “Of course, how could I have missed it?” or better yet, “Ah! I knew it!”
Be sure to check out my fun posts like Best Ways to Get Murdered (in a Mystery Series), Mystery Novel Ideas: Petty Crime, and why I’m into mysteries in the first place in A Mystery Series Love Story.
Good luck, fellow couch potato sleuths! Share your successes below! Or any other tidbits on how to solve a whodunit.
