Murder at the Afro-Caribbean Festival
During the vibrant Afro-Caribbean festival, a notorious masked figure known only by their traditional moniker is found murdered. The main character, an elderly woman who’s been the community's unofficial historian, uses her knowledge of past conflicts and reconciliations within the cultural mosaic of her city to uncover hidden motives.
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 Multicultural Mystery prompts
- The Festival SabotageA disaster at a multicultural festival is initially thought to be an accident. However, a local chef with a past filled with culinary espionage…
- The Thief's Folk MusicA quiet, multicultural neighborhood in London witnesses a spate of inexplicably precise burglaries. The only clue left behind at each scene is a piece…
- The New Year RiddleEvery year during the Lunar New Year, a small Asian community in a European city receives an anonymous gift that benefits everyone. One year, however…
- The Missing Market RelicIn a bustling international marketplace, a famed relic goes missing hours before it's due to be showcased. The main character, a local detective from…
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