Silence in the Vatican Library
A paleographer cataloging sealed manuscripts in the Vatican basement discovers 300 documents proving that the silence in certain churches can speak the words of the Mass without a priest.
Tag: Mystery (Page 5)
AmbiguityDead Letter Office, 1923 (Version 2)
A postal clerk in 1920s New York discovers a letter that shouldn't exist — addressed from the dead to the living — and gets recruited into a shadow office that delivers mail between worlds.
Fiction WritingWriting Mystery, Historical, and Christian Fiction
Mystery readers demand fair play. Historical readers demand accuracy. Christian readers demand authentic faith. Genre-specific craft for writers who take their audience seriously.
Book ROI & Business CaseHow to Write Mystery Books That Keep Readers Guessing
Mystery is the biggest commercial fiction category after romance, with thriller it claims about 35 percent of adult fiction sales. These readers move fast and spend real money, and they can feel a cheat. Most advice treats the genre as…
FictionDead Letter Office, 1923
A clerk in the Chicago Post Office basement discovers a letter addressed to her with no postmark. The message warns something will come for her at midnight. What waits in the locked drawer of her desk has been patient for…
AmbiguityMurder at the Monastery Gate
A murdered stranger at the monastery gate. A wool merchant with secrets. And an old monk whose fifty-year penance is about to be undone by sins long buried.
AmbiguityDetective Biscuit: The Neighborhood Sleuth
Lost glasses. Missing toys. One detective dog. One insufferable cat. A suburban mystery comedy told entirely from the Golden Retriever's point of view.
Creative Writing20 Mystery and Crime Writing Exercises with Craft Mechanics
20 exercises in fair clue placement, investigative logic, misdirection architecture, and solutions that feel inevitable in hindsight.
Book ReviewsModus Operandi
A reference on how crimes are actually committed, the methods and patterns that lend mystery fiction authenticity, with the sharp angle that a criminal's method is both a character signature and a clue. The mid-1990s specifics are dated, and it…
Book ReviewsDeadly Doses
A Howdunit reference for depicting poisoning believably, a verisimilitude tool for the mystery writer who wants a plot that convinces genre-savvy readers. The 1990 science is significantly dated in a fast-moving field, so verify every specific against current sources.
Book ReviewsAmateur Detectives
A Howdunit reference for the amateur-sleuth mystery, strongest on the hardest believability problem in the subgenre: making it credible that an amateur, not the police, cracks the case. The mid-1990s procedural and forensic detail is dated and needs heavy updating.…
Book ReviewsPolice Procedural
A reference on how law enforcement actually operates, administration, detective-division structure, rules of evidence, so police characters ring true instead of following TV shortcuts. The 1993 specifics are dated by changes in technology and practice, but the institutional grounding and…