MWA members and authors such as Phyllis A. Whitney, Edward D. Hoch, John Lutz and others give insight to writing a novel and mystery novels in particular. The book covers not only the specifics to mysteries, but the very basics of novel writing, from preparation to market, and has a half dozen chapters on specialties such as the medical and legal thriller.
Impressions: While not as good as Writing the Breakout Novel, this is still an excellent resource, particularly for the mystery writer. I picked it up to help me with my mystery novel (which is probably on indefinite hold while I work on a few other things and learn more about the genre), but have found myself picking it up and looking up things for my non-mystery novels as well.
Unless otherwise noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by me.
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I will no longer be linking to Amazon and no longer recommending Amazon as a place to purchase books I review. Amazon has repeatedly used bully tactics to reinforce its policies, even if those tactics cause harm to authors or limit customer choices. Amazon usually apologizes for the events after the fact, but that they continue to use the same methods makes those apologies hollow. I will not purchase from or encourage others to purchase from a business that chooses to take from the pockets of authors (who as a whole earn a lot less than general public realizes) and decide what the public should and should not read.
