The Birthday Case File
A retired detective receives a mystery birthday gift: an old, unsolved case file from his past, now with a new clue enclosed. As he dusts off his investigative skills, he realizes the sender must be someone from the original list of suspects.
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.
- Make the detective wrong at the midpoint, for a good reason.
- End with the solution in a single line of dialogue.
- Plant the key clue in the first scene, in plain sight.
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
- Murder at the Writers' RetreatA famous crime novelist attends a writer's retreat and becomes unwittingly embroiled in a real mystery when one of the attendees mirrors the murder…
- The Letter Before the CrimeA renowned detective receives an anonymous letter predicting a crime that will occur in 24 hours. The letter details are vague, pointing only to a…
- Letters Behind the Bookshop WallDuring a routine renovation of an old family-owned bookstore, a hidden stack of letters tied to a notorious unsolved robbery from the 1930s is found…
- The Museum Heist CoinYou wake up to headlines that scream about a major heist at the museum you visited yesterday. Things get mysterious when you discover an ancient coin…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
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