The Stolen Watches
Following a high-profile robbery at a luxury watch store, a rookie detective is assigned her first major case. She quickly realizes that each stolen watch was custom-made for specific high-ranking officials around the world. As she tracks the watches, she uncovers a deep web of political intrigue and international espionage.
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 Detective prompts
- The Academy's Murder CaseAt a prestigious private detective academy, students are assigned cold cases to solve as their final exam. One student uncovers new evidence in a case…
- The Politician's Erased DayIn an alternate reality where everyone has the ability to erase a single day in their life from everyone's memory once they turn 18, a detective…
- The Missing Cat CaseWrite a story about a detective who is assigned a mundane case of a missing cat, only to discover it is linked to a series of elaborate burglaries in…
- The Memory ThiefSet in a dystopian future where memories can be bought and sold, a memory detective is tasked with recovering a stolen set of memories that could…
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