The Unsent Love Letter
A cold case heats up in a small coastal town when a novice female detective stumbles across an old, unsent love letter that hints at the motive for a decades-old disappearance. Her investigation brings her into the complex worlds of old fishery communities and their secrets, forcing her to navigate tricky waters both literal and metaphorical.
Suggested length: A short story: 1,500 to 5,000 words, or flash fiction under 1,000
Start the clock
Pick a sprint, press start and keep going until it stops. Momentum beats polish on a first draft.
Make it yours
Three ways to take this prompt somewhere nobody else will.
- Plant the key clue in the first scene, in plain sight.
- Limit it to one location and one night.
- Let the most helpful witness be the one with the most to hide.
Writing mystery books
Who did it? You get every clue and a fair shot at the answer.
A mystery opens with a puzzle, usually a death, and closes with the solution. In between, a detective (professional or not) gathers clues and suspects while the reader tries to get there first. A mystery looks backward, at a crime that has already happened.
What readers expect
- A crime or puzzle early on
- Clues, suspects and red herrings
- A detective the reader follows
- A solution that is surprising but fair
A tip before you start
Play fair. Every clue your detective uses should appear on the page first, ideally hidden in plain sight.
More Female Detective prompts
- The Neighborhood BurglaryAssigned to a routine surveillance job in a plush neighborhood, a seasoned woman detective unexpectedly witnesses a minor but strange burglary. Her…
- The Vegas Casino LedgerUnder the bright lights of Las Vegas, a private investigator, famous for leaving law enforcement under questionable circumstances, is hired by an…
- The Stolen Festival ScriptsAt an international women's film festival, a former police officer turned security consultant notices suspicious activity involving the theft of…
- The Reunion Death CaseDuring a high school reunion, a woman who is now a private investigator overhears a conversation that rekindles an unresolved case from her teen years…
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