The Sami Activist's File
Set in a snowy, secluded town in Scandinavia, a local police officer of Sami descent discovers an old, unsolved case file from the 1960s about a missing indigenous activist. As she investigates the case, unsettling connections to the town’s most revered legends and her own family start to surface, challenging the historical narrative of the community.
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.
- 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.
- Start with the confession, and make the story about why it's false.
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
- Murder in a Brazilian Seaside TownCraft a tale in a sedate seaside town in Brazil, where the rhythm of life is suddenly disrupted by the murder of a well-loved priest. The…
- Death at the Sakura FestivalThe quiet town of Shimoda, Japan, is shaken when an esteemed tea master is found dead during the Sakura Festival. A bilingual detective from Tokyo…
- The Secret in the CarpetIn a bustling market in Marrakech, a famed carpet merchant discovers a hidden note in a rare Berber carpet he's just sold. The message hints at an…
- Festival ThievesIn an eclectic neighborhood rich with diverse cultures, a series of meticulously plotted thefts occur every year during the community's vibrant…
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