The Framed Thief
The daughter of a convicted thief is determined to clear her father's name. Delving into the underworld, she uses clues he's left behind to uncover the true culprit behind the historic diamond heist for which he was framed. Illustrate her perilous journey through the underbelly of the crime world.
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.
- Limit it to one location and one night.
- 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.
Writing crime fiction
Not who did it, but why, and whether they'll get away with it.
Crime fiction covers any story built around a crime, and it's often told from the criminal's side. Where a mystery is a puzzle, crime fiction is about people: the pressures that lead to the crime, and what it costs everyone involved.
What readers expect
- A crime at the heart of the story
- Moral gray areas
- Criminals as real people
- Tension over who gets caught
A tip before you start
Give your criminal a reason the reader understands, even one they'd never act on themselves.
More Crime Fiction prompts
- The Detective's Last EvidenceA retired detective receives an anonymous letter revealing the location of the final piece of evidence needed to solve their last unsolved case — a…
- The App That Granted WishesA mysterious new smartphone app promising to fulfill users’ deepest desires goes viral. However, users start to disappear after achieving their…
- The Poker Game PlotDuring a high-stakes poker game, a player realizes that the game is a cover for the players to communicate about an upcoming major crime. Pretending…
- The Art Thief's CluesWrite a story from the perspective of a detective who has been called to solve a high-profile art heist in a bustling metropolis. As they follow the…
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