How to write mystery stories

Mystery stories are the "smartest" books to read. Mystery stories require the reader to be constantly thinking and drawing conclusions about what is going on in the story. They are fast-paced, intelligent, and often have a comical edge to them somewhere in the story. People everywhere have enjoyed mystery stories for hundreds of years. I have read and written many mystery fiction stories, and here are the basic guidelines that I use:

*Characters
Your characters have to be colorful. Put a lot of expression and life into them. For example, make a very jovial policeman or a very angry detective and have their qualities affect each other through out the story. You want your characters to be fully developed and unique. Readers often get characters confused in mystery stories, but if the characters have distinct personalities that should not and will not be a problem. Besides, the reader already has to be kept on his or her toes to follow the mystery, and creating eccentric characters is very entertaining!

*The Mystery
The mystery is quite obviously the most important part of mystery fiction writing. Your mystery needs to create such a conflict that all of your colorful characters are drawn into the pages of your book. Your mystery needs to be a question that is almost impossible to answer without your star detective. A few tips for setting up a mystery that will keep your readers fingers stuck to the book:

* Foreshadowing. You will want to put a detail somewhere in the book that points the accusing finger at one character or another. Foreshadowing typically points the finger at the real criminal, but using a red herring is also a very useful trick that will keep your readers on the edge of their seats.

* Red Herring. A red herring is foreshadowing or showing some detail that is meant to throw the reader off or trick him or her. It is "fake" foreshadowing. For example, say I put a line in the said : Then Louise walked into the room with a bloody knife : Most readers would think that this Louise is the criminal. But later in the book, you can reveal another detail such as Louise cutting meat with the knife. The red herring adds to the mystery because it keeps the reader away from discovering the culprit halfway through the book, and will eventually keep them guessing as to who did it. Red Herrings are often tricky to create because they require a lot of extra activity in the story.

* The Ending. The ending is the crucial part of a mystery story. This is where your detective is at center stage. This is where everything in your mystery story falls in to place....or does it? You can just as easily put a cliff-hanger at the end of your mystery story. Does it turn out that the accused culprit has been dead for a century? You decide, but make sure that it is written well and adds enough suspense to the mystery to keep the reader guessing, or thoroughly explains what really happened. A good ending will give the reader a final impression on the book. Will your readers' be good or bad?

By following these basic rules, your readers will never want to put down your book, or turn away from your story. Another good way to attract readers is by coming up with an idea that has never been thought of. For example, what would happen if a killer killed one of his accomplices and left the original victim alone? You need to create something more complex than "Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?".