14 Tips for Writing Captivating Historical Mysteries

You’re going to spend considerable time and effort immersing yourself in the era you choose, so make sure it’s one that interests you. It’s true that some time periods sell better than others in this genre, and these can shift with the trends. But chasing a trend can also backfire, particularly if it’s not an era or subject that inspires you. Writing is difficult enough at times without dreading it because you chose a premise that bores you, and chances are this will also be evident in your writing.

Read widely and varied on the era and subject you’re pursuing not just the specifics of an event or person. In order to make your historical world authentic, you’ll need to be familiar with a broad range of background information, from what they ate and drank to how they dressed, socialized, spoke, viewed the world, and much more. Primary and secondary sources are always best. Check the bibliography at the back of any especially helpful texts to find what resources they used that might also aid you.

Some moments in history are better suited to certain types of crimes, just as some mysteries will better illuminate a particular historical event or figure. Make your historical and mystery elements work in synchronicity to maximize their impact.

Depending on the time period of your novel, few or possibly none of the forensic detection techniques we’re so accustomed to in our modern world even existed. This means your protagonists have to be innovative in order to solve the crimes committed. This also offers you much more room to play since there may be little or no standard procedure for your detectives to follow.

Never assume that you already know how a certain person or group acted, thought, or spoke. Approach each character as a unique individual with their own backstory, hopes, and motivations. This will help keep you from descending into caricature.

This begins with a firm grasp of their psychology and what makes them tick. People are people across time. Even the most contrary or horrific behavior can be boiled down to its essence to make it understandable—albeit perhaps not tolerable or acceptable—to the modern reader. But be careful what language you use to avoid anachronisms.

And writing fiction allows you to play in those gray areas. But your readers won’t care how good your research is if you can’t convince them why your character or event could be that exception. A skillful writer can keep their readers so absorbed in the story that they will believe these concessions.

Local and regional dialects can give a great deal of charm and flavor to your characters’ dialogue, but when overused, they become a terrible distraction. If readers can’t smoothly read over a sentence and comprehend it, they might become frustrated and be yanked out of the story. This is something to be avoided at all costs.

The language of every time period possesses its own unique flow, cadence, pitch, and intonation. You can find it by reading primary sources written during that era, particularly letters, journals, and diaries. You can hear it in the music composed at that time. You can feel it by understanding the popular dances. Or in more modern eras, watch it played out on film.

An excellent etymology dictionary is indispensable to a historical author. It will help you navigate which words and phrases are too modern for the time period of your book. You can also find many wonderful slang dictionaries for particular eras or situations which can add another layer of color to your story.

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We each have our own unique strengths, interests, and perspectives, and these affect the way we see the world. Your characters should be the same. You should also keep in mind their class, culture, and education level, as these will shade vocabulary, knowledge, and the manner in which they prioritize the objects in the world around them.

If you choose to use characters with various titles and ranks, be they royal, aristocratic, or military, be certain you understand all the rules governing them. There is a great deal of nuance involved with such protocols, and they change from century to century, so don’t stint on your research in this area or rely on tertiary sources who may have gotten it wrong.

The mystery should be the driving force of the story while the history adds depth and layers to its complexity. In your enthusiasm for the history being highlighted, it can become all too easy to let it overshadow and bog down the mystery plot. Keep your pacing and elements of suspense in mind to keep the reader hooked, and when in doubt, trim extraneous information that isn’t absolutely necessary to the reader’s understanding of the events, characters, and plot.

It’s impossible to know everything, and equally impossible to read all of the research materials you might wish to in the limited time available, especially if you’re an author on a deadline. The stark truth is, oftentimes we don’t realize exactly how little we truly grasp of a certain topic until we learn otherwise. Give yourself some grace, and simply strive to keep getting better by continuing to expand your knowledge base for future books with additional research.

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