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 Features of a Mystery or Detective Story
A well-structured mystery story leaves questions and clues for the reader all
the way through. The only way for the reader to find the answers should be
by finishing the story.

A mystery or detective story may include the following features:

● Have a closed setting where the ● May include the
number of suspects is small and detective’s sidekick;
certain; ● Include several clues
● Include a victim of a theft or crime; which narrow down
● May include a hunt for a missing the suspects;
object; ● Often has a red herring
● Include several characters who are clue which turns out to
suspects and who all have a motive for means nothing;
the crime; ● Ends with the detective
● Include a detective character who has accusing the culprit and
special skills to help solve the case; may include the return of
the stolen item.
 The Setting
A mystery story setting should interest the reader and should:
• Be a closed setting or standalone place that contains the mystery, the clues and
the characters;
• Have lots of interesting features that all add to the mystery;
• Be exciting enough for the reader to want to follow the investigation.

Good locations for a setting might include:

village hotel train

school concert hospital

 The Detective
The detective is the hero of the story. It is their job to investigate, piece the clues
together and ultimately solve the mystery.
Detectives are often:
• determined • clever
• plucky • daring Often, a detective has a
• adventurous special quirk or skill that
sets them apart from the
other characters.

Sometimes, the detective has a sidekick.

A sidekick is someone who assists the detective
in their investigation.
 The Mystery
The mystery should be an impossible situation that, to begin with, seems to makes
no sense at all. When writing a mystery story, you will also need to consider:

The victim The problem The suspects

Who has called the What has happened?
detective? Often, there is an item that
What is their reason for has gone missing.
being at the scene? Why is this item so
important to the victim?
Who was there at the time
that the crime was
committed?
What could their motive
be? Their motive is their
reason for committing the
crime, for example, to
make money.
Often, a mystery story will
have more than one
potential suspect.
 Clues and Red Herrings
What is a clue?
A clue is a piece of information that
can help the detective, and the
reader, to solve the mystery.
Clues should act as small signposts
throughout the story.
Examples of clues could be a piece
of clothing left at the scene, a
footprint, a sound or a smell.
What is a red herring?
A red herring is a piece of information
that seems like a clue but misleads the
detective and the reader.
Red herrings often lead the detective
to suspect the wrong person.
Often, they turn out to have another
explanation that is not important or
not relevant to the mystery.
 Solving the Mystery
Once the detective has gathered all the clues and investigated all the
suspects, then the mystery is solved.
Often, the detective accuses the person they believe to be guilty in
front of all the other characters and explains how they know that they
are the one that committed the crime.

Solving the mystery should answer all

the reader’s questions and bring the
story to a close.
 Famous Detectives
Mystery stories have been popular for many years. Here are some that you might
have heard of:

Sherlock Holmes Hercule Poirot Miss Marple

Perhaps the most famous
fictional detective is Sherlock
Holmes, created by British
writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Along with his sidekick, Dr John
Watson, Holmes appears in sixty
stories.
When the first Sherlock story, ‘A
Study in Scarlet’, was written in
1887, the character was instantly
so popular that he even began to
change the way real detectives
and scientists solved crimes.
Hercule Poirot is a Belgian
detective character who was
created by English author
Agatha Christie. Poirot
appeared in over 80 stories
between 1920 and 1975 and has
also been a character on stage,
in films and on television.
Written in 1934, ‘Murder on the
Orient Express’ is possibly the
most well known of the Poirot
stories.
Jane Marple is an amateur
detective also created by
Agatha Christie. Known as
Miss Marple, she lived in the
village of St. Mary Mead and
has appeared in numerous
stories between 1927 and 1976.
As well as stories, she has also
been portrayed on television
and on stage.
If you are looking for an exciting mystery story, try ‘The
Curious Case of the Stolen Show’ from Twinkl Originals.

Download the
story here.