Mystery Writing Prompts & Story Ideas

16 mystery writing prompts to start with

Every one can go straight into the AI story generator: tap "Write it" to see one way the story could go, then write your own version.

1. Write about a retired detective who runs a crossword column and finds a stranger's obituary in their own handwriting.Write it
2. Write about a parish priest who is the only guest who knows the dinner party has thirteen place settings.Write it
3. Write about a hotel night porter who realises the forged painting is better than the original.Write it
4. Write about a forensic accountant who recognises the killer's alibi from a film.Write it
5. Write about a crime-scene cleaner who receives a confession in the church's lost-and-found box.Write it
6. Write about a small-town librarian who is hired to find a woman who claims she hasn't gone missing yet.Write it
7. Write about a nanny with a photographic memory who finds a coded message in a library book's due-date stamps.Write it
8. Write about an insurance investigator who notices the victim was wearing someone else's shoes.Write it
9. Write about a teenage podcaster who discovers every clock in the manor was stopped at 9:14.Write it
10. Write about a museum conservator who must solve a murder before the island ferry returns.Write it

What-if ideas

• What if the only witness to a murder was a parrot?Write it
• What if a detective could only investigate crimes that had not happened yet?Write it
• What if every suspect at the reunion had a motive and a twin?Write it
• What if the victim left clues in their knitting?Write it
• What if the crime was solved but the culprit refused to be arrested?Write it
• What if a town kept no records for a single year?Write it

Tips for mystery writers

Play fair

Show the reader every clue the detective sees. The Detection Club's oath (Christie, Sayers and others) made this a rule of the genre.

Work backwards

Decide what really happened first, then decide what the detective sees and in what order.

Use red herrings with care

Every false lead should have an innocent explanation that holds up on a second read.