[ book tip by Emily Bullock ] Come closer, I have a secret to tell... I love mystery books: cops and robbers, psychopaths, detectives both gritty and cosy.  I can curl up with a big old airport paperback and love every second of it. But I never respect myself in the morning! I have always wondered what it was about those books that made them just so damn readable. I know they are not great literature but still they have me turning the page and clamouring for each new chapter.

Everyone always says that you should face your fears so that is what I did. How to Write a Mystery by Larry Beinhart sounds like some ‘self-help write a bestseller in ten easy instalments’ type of nonsense. But the title, as in all good mysteries, is just another red herring. Beinhart was a joy to spend 224 pages with. His humorous insights into this much published genre were both insightful and engaging. Like a magician revealing his tricks, Beinhart readily lays bare the tools of the trade.

Beinhart teaches at Oxford, lucky students I say. He easily explains and orders the world of mystery writing, drawing on his own experiences and referring to some of the greats such as Elmore Leonard. He breaks down hooks, the characters, the plots, the sex, and of course the violence. Reference to his wife’s books (I’d never heard of them) was a little tiring but I’ll forgive him that nepotism. I feel much better about my addiction now, but I still feel it might take more than this book to let me put my Agatha Christie collection out on display for the world to see.  

[ book info ] Beinhart, Larry: How to Write A Mystery. (Book language: English) Ballantine Books, New York, 1996 (1992). ISBN: 0-345-39758-4.