I spend an inordinate amount of time sitting around trying to think of ways to kill people. Yes, it is for my books. Still, I sometimes worry about myself. Or maybe I’ve just been watching too much Criminal Minds, and I worry about being a psychopath. It’s a worry I share with many of my fellow mystery writers.
In my books, I’ve used everything from kitchen utensils to a North Pole sign to commit one of the most heinous of crimes––murder. I’m always looking up exactly how these methods might work. And then do extensive medical research to find out exactly what would happen.
So far, the FBI hasn’t shown up at my house to find out what I’ve been doing. I feel like I probably am flagged, then they look at my social media feeds which are filled with puppies, ballerinas, surfers, and home designers, and realize I’m just a writer.
Let’s hope it stays that way. I had to do a great deal of research on my latest book Death at a Scottish Christmas and find two different ways to kill the victims. But they had to be similar in method because a killer usually sticks to what they know.
If I use a poison, which I don’t do very often, I try to make it something different. And I do my best to find an interesting way for it to enter the system . That’s not to say I won’t use rat poison in someone’s coffee at some point, but I’m always trying to keep it fresh.
While I won’t talk about the exact methods of murder, I thought it would be fun to share a list of books with clever scenarios that you’ll want to check out. These are some of my favorites in that regard:
One author you can’t go wrong with is H.L. Marsay. I’m a big fan of the Chief Inspector Shadow Mysteries featuring Chief Inspector John Shadow and his partner Sergeant Jimmy Chang. The first book in this series, A Long Shadow, features two related cases, which are thirty years apart but happen on the same day. The methods of death are brutal, but also unusual. If you haven’t read this series, I highly recommend it. Just a side note: These books, even though full of murder, might make you hungry. The Chief Inspector loves his food.
I’m bullish about Rex Stout’s, Some Buried Caesar, which is a Nero Wolfe mystery. While I won’t say how he dies, a family scion is found by a prize bull, which leads to a twisting and turn trail of family and enemies, who are the most likely suspects. The killer in this one is more than clever and stays steps ahead, until he or she doesn’t.
In Murder Hooks A Mermaid by Christy Fifield, the victim is found in a mermaid tank. I know, that was a new one for me, as well. Glory, the sleuth, owns a souvenir shop, and gets caught up in the mystery net when her best friend’s brother is accused of the crime. Glory and her pet parrot, Bluebeard, are on the case. This one is also full of laughs.
In Colleen Cambridge’s Mastering the Art of French Murder one might expect that it will be a food-related death. It isn’t. The amateur sleuth, Tabitha Knight, is best friends with the very real Julia Childs. And while there is a great deal of delicious sounding food in this one, the method of death is different and brutal. One of the biggest treats of this one is Paris, not long after World War II, and you will feel like you are there. It’s fun and twisty, and you’ll wonder until the end how the victim ended up where she did.
Sometimes it is the motive that makes a mystery or thriller twisty. And Linda Castillo’s Amish mysteries featuring Chief of Police Kate Burkholder never disappoints in that regard. The methods of murder are also interesting. A Gathering of Secrets is book ten in the series but it’s a good twisty story. Again, the death is brutal and fiery, but nothing is what it seems. You can’t go wrong with any of the novels in this series when it comes to cleverness.
Carlene O’Connor’s Murder in an Irish Village has a clever killer on the run. The method used is stabbing, but what was used is different. And just when you think you’ve figured out the murder, you’ll discover your wrong. I love that the family is so involved in this and in proving that one of them is not responsible for the crime.
Keeping the method of killing fresh, isn’t always easy but James Patterson and Brian Sitts do exactly that in Holmes, Marple & Poe. The three detectives do not shy away from all things murder, but again, they are chasing a clever killer, who uses whatever is available. There are some fun twists and turns in this one, and nothing is what it seems. And who doesn’t want to hang out with these detectives? Their relationships with one another are just as important as the murder, which I appreciate.
While anyone can use a gun to commit murder, it is what happens to the body after Lady Eleanor Swift witnesses the crime that makes this one twisty. Did she really see what happened? Is she being gas lighted? She spends a great deal of time proving that she isn’t insane. Or is she? by Verity Bright keeps you guessing until the end.
While Sweet Nightmare is more YA fantasy/paranormal than mystery, there is a great mystery within it. And the methods of murder are as disturbing as they are clever. There is a spunky young heroine trying to figure out what is going on at this paranormal high school. And the one person she cares about most, may be the murdering villain who kills people with nightmares.
I love an Agatha Christie book. One of my favorite novels of hers is And Then There Were None. A series of murders takes place on a remote island, and each of those murders is based on a nursery rhymes. She varies the ways in which her victims die, and some of those are quite clever. And with each murder, something goes missing in the house. If you haven’t read Christie, this is a good gateway into her books.
You can’t go wrong with any of the books on this list if you want to be entertained. Happy fall everyone.
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–Featured image: Sigismonda Drinking the Poison by Joseph Edward Southall, 1897
