The Hacker's Cold Case Files
A hacker who usually assists the police with their cyber security needs receives a peculiar file that seems to decode to dates and times of unsolved historical crimes. As they decrypt more files, they realize someone is taunting the police with clues to solve cold cases, leading to dark secrets in the police department itself.
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.
- Let the most helpful witness be the one with the most to hide.
- Tell it from the point of view of a suspect who is lying about something else.
- Give the victim a secret the reader learns before the detective does.
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 Mystery and Crime prompts
- The Cursed Gala JewelDuring a high society gala, a renowned jewel, reported to be cursed, goes missing. The host hires a down-on-luck private investigator to find the…
- Secrets in the Snowbound LibraryIn a small mountain town isolated by a snowstorm, the local sheriff discovers a series of coded messages hidden in library books. Each code deciphers…
- The Fugitive in the High-RiseThe residents of a high-rise apartment building receive an anonymous text claiming one of them is a fugitive in disguise. The message includes a time…
- The Spy Letters in the AtticAfter moving into a charming, old house, a young journalist finds a collection of encrypted love letters hidden in the attic. Decoding them reveals…
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