The Fugitive in the High-Rise
The residents of a high-rise apartment building receive an anonymous text claiming one of them is a fugitive in disguise. The message includes a time limit to figure out the identity of the fugitive before the police are alerted, sparking paranoias and alliances among neighbors.
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 Mystery and Crime prompts
- The Spy Letters in the AtticAfter moving into a charming, old house, a young journalist finds a collection of encrypted love letters hidden in the attic. Decoding them reveals…
- The Museum's Moonlit TheftWrite a story set in a small coastal town where every full moon, a priceless artifact is stolen from the local museum. The night watchman is baffled…
- The Manuscript at the Book SigningA crime novelist attends a book signing event, only to receive a manuscript that tells the story of an unsolved local mystery, one eerily similar to…
- The Case from the PastA renowned private detective famous for never having an unsolved case is now retired. However, a letter arrives one morning, postmarked 25 years ago…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
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