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I’m a subscriber to the Dorothy L. listserv for mystery lovers. I recommend it for anyone who enjoys reading or writing mysteries. You subscribe to the listserv (my subscription is through my Google Mail account) and receive their digests on a myriad of mystery topics (reviews, discussions of plot devices, etc.)

A recent discussion on the listserv centered around the members’ pet dislikes regarding mystery novels. There was mention of thrillers that invoked violence on children and pets (obviously you need to tread lightly with these topics–when you bring innocents in, you risk alienating a core group of readers), the sleuth having information that’s not made known to the reader (violating the “fair-play” rules of mystery writing), and even a couple of readers who disliked cliffhanging ends of chapters.

The last “dislike” surprised me. There’s nothing I like better than being forced by the author to keep reading a book. I have lots of great memories of staying up too late at night because I had to find out what happened next.

I think some readers feel manipulated when there are too many cliffhangers. It’s sort of like the Saturday morning serial movies of the 1950s-1960s….an obvious ploy to keep you reading. If every chapter ends with a knife at someone’s throat, you’re going too far . Tension in a story is best if it’s built gradually. If your chapters are constantly ending at life and death moments, then your device risks yanking your reader out of the story by revealing the strings that you’re pulling.

On the other hand, I think it’s totally acceptable to end some chapters with the unknown or an element of excitement. NEVER end a chapter with someone going to bed for the day (your reader might have the idea to do the same thing.)

Great points to end chapters are: the discovery of a victim’s body (usually more than one in a book), the discovery of a startling piece of information about a suspect (frequently a red herring), the point the sleuth realizes whodunnit, and –yes–even once where the protagonist faces the killer one on one in a moment of danger.

I came across this quiz, “What Font are You?” which was linked from Literary agent Janet Reid’s blog.  My font is Mrs. Eaves.  Sigh…

I’m excited that my upcoming release, Pretty is as Pretty Dies, (August 2009) is already available for preorder on Amazon. And I love the great cover the art department at Midnight Ink designed.

So you’ve got your victim, sleuth, suspects. You need your murderer. Maybe you’ve known all along who you were planning to tag as the perpetrator–maybe even before you knew who your victim was.

If that’s the case, you may need to double-check your manuscript. If you’ve consciously placed all your clues to lead to your killer, your puzzle could be too easy for the reader to figure out. The times that I’ve solved the mystery (or had a pretty strong suspicion I’ve solved it) before the book’s half-way mark, I was pretty disappointed.

To avoid pointing too obvious a finger at your book’s murderer, consider the possibilities:

If all the suspects have motive, means, and opportunity (and they all should), then devise an alternate ending involving at least one (if not all) of your suspects as the perp. You may discover, in doing so, that you like another ending better than the one you’d originally planned. Remember The Mystery of Edwin Drood? Charles Dickens died before penning the ending of his novel. For the Broadway version, the audience votes on the identity of the murderer. The playwright devised alternate endings for each possible scenario. This, at least, will ensure that each of your suspects has a good, solid reason and means to kill the victim. If you find that isn’t so, go back to the drawing board and beef up your motives.

Want to add a layer of complexity to your puzzle? Lead your readers in the wrong direction with red herrings. With your sketched out alternate endings there will also be clues that lead to that suspect’s guilt. By placing clues that point your reader to a different murderer, you’re using red herrings. Be fair, though, and don’t lead the readers in the wrong direction for too long.

Have your suspects muddy the waters. If each of your suspects has his or her own agenda to promote (covering up a secret in their past? Blackmailing another suspect? Hiding an illicit relationship?) then they will be busily concocting lies throughout their interviews with the sleuth.

Expose a suspect’s alibi as false. Maybe a character was completely passed over as a suspect because of his airtight alibi. But what if his alibi suddenly falls through? This adds another possibility for your readers to consider (or a red herring for them to follow.)

You want your ending to be a surprise to the reader, to have them say, “Oh, NOW I see…” If they’ve known for much of the book who the murderer is, you’ve removed the primary reason for them to finish the book…or buy your next one. On the flip side, you don’t want the murderer’s identity to be a complete shock (you can’t get away with a suspect who is introduced to the reader in the last few pages.)

This is an old (2002), but still relevant Salon article that details an editorial assistant’s experiences plowing through the slush pile (the heaps of unsolicited and unagented manuscripts that fill editors’ desks.)

Humor aside, the article does make an important point: don’t call the publisher.  Have a question regarding submitting? Look up your answer on the publisher’s website. If you can’t locate your answer there, write an email. Don’t send anything along with your query letter (no gifts, odd or otherwise.) Make sure your query letter is plain and well-written; this is not the time to experiment with unusual fonts, paper, etc.  You’ll only mark yourself as an amateur if you do.  Realize what you’re up against, numbers-wise, and make sure that your manuscript is the best you can make it.