what makes a good mystery/thriller?

[blackdragon6]

in your openion what makes a great mystery/thriller?

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

intrigue....otherwise it would be boring.

[Buzz Dixon]

Characters whom you care enough about to see what happens to them -- but, hey, that's what makes any good story!

Past that, it's hard to come up with any hard and fast rules. Give the audience all the clues, don't invoke coincidence or the supernatural (unless it's a dark fantasy thriller, but that's somewhat different), hit 'em with the ol' switcheroo (i.e., lead 'em to think A is happening when it's really B and all the clues point to B on a re-reading/viewing).

[Ontir]

You have to invest in the characters. If the writer doesn't care about them, we won't either.

I want to see something I've not seen before. To paraphrase Nancy Sinatra, "Don't be 'same'in, when you oughta be changin'!

Give me some good ol' Red Herrings. I want more than two off the cuff "maybe he did it"s that never go anywhere - like in an Alex Kava book.:rolleyes:

I want some "creep" in the story. Something, somewhere needs to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

There has to be a little bit of sadism in it. If no one gets, or can get hurt, there's nothing for the good guy to work against.

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

if its a murder mystery/thriller it needs to start out like a typical inner city homicide/crime drama.but than it turns into something more complex.these are the things that i think are needed

a verry lengthy suspect lists,that ranges from the usualy suspects to the not so usual.

the mystery gets alot bigger

lots of paranoia (especially if theres a subplot of corruption,conspiracy and or apathy)

nobody should be safe,anybody could die at any moment.

it should be dark and noir-ish

there should be red herrings but something thats not anti-climatic.

a great build of tention,and suspence

[blackdragon6]

Give the audience all the clues, don't invoke coincidence or the supernatural (unless it's a dark fantasy thriller, but that's somewhat different).
i think you have more leeway if its supernatural/sci-fi.you can practically do whatever you want.the sky's the limit.if we're going with practicality than your gonna have to work harder.

[Buzz Dixon]

i think you have more leeway if its supernatural/sci-fi.you can practically do whatever you want.the sky's the limit.if we're going with practicality than your gonna have to work harder.
Have you ever compared the pure giallo (literally "yellow" but synonymous with "mystery" in Italy) films of Dario Argento (THE BIRD WITH CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET, THE CAT O'NINE TAILS, DEEP RED/THE HATCHER MURDERS/PROFUNDO RUSSO, OPERA) with his supernatural thrillers (SUSPERIA, TENEBRAE, PHENOMENON/CREEPERS)? His earlier pure crime mysteries were full of weird characters and occurances but in the end are purely rational, his supernatural thrillers start of in the "real" world but soon veer into weird nightmarish worlds of the supernatural, but his middle/late crime thrillers start incorporating elements that can not be rationally explained even though the killer is revealed to be an ordinary human being.

(Border-line spoiler hint: In all of his early pure crime thrillers, the face of the murderer is seen quite clearly after the first crime, but the audience doesn't realize they've seen it until the climax of the film!)

[Royal]

aawwww dookie! Buzz played the Profondo Giallo card!

[JohnPopa]

A good mystery should make everything make sense once it's explained. All the clues and tidbits should then fit together in a logical and pretty simple manner. If revealing the culprit makes things more confusing, it's a crappy mystery.

[Calamas]

Nobody should be safe,anybody could die at any moment.I read this and at once thought Elmore Leonard. Though I haven’t read all his work, on more than one occasion he's killed one of his protagonist in the middle of the novel.

[Chiasm]

Believable and likeable (or sympathetic) lead characters. Too often the story fails because one of two things happen: the lead character is so fake and unrealistice you can't help but hate them and root against them or the lead character is too unlikeable and you again root against them. Either way when the resolution happens you end up disappointed if the lead character isn't horribly eviscerated.

[Calamas]

Also, one thing that ruins a book for me is when the hero makes stupid mistakes. Make mistakes, by all means; it shows character flaws and gives you a chance to later reflect regret or guilt. But don’t be stupid. Writers, attention please. As John D. MacDonald once pointed out: “The readers knows a great deal . . . or he wouldn’t be reading.” Unless by circumstance there is no other alternative, don’t have your protagonist do things that we readers know to be at best ill-advised and at worst moronic. There’s nothing worse than to discover that the guy who I’ve been following for 150 pages is at heart an idiot.

[blackdragon6]

Also, one thing that ruins a book for me is when the hero makes stupid mistakes. Make mistakes, by all means; it shows character flaws and gives you a chance to later reflect regret or guilt. But don’t be stupid. Writers, attention please. As John D. MacDonald once pointed out: “The readers knows a great deal . . . or he wouldn’t be reading.” Unless by circumstance there is no other alternative, don’t have your protagonist do things that we have readers know to be at best ill-advised and at worst moronic. There’s nothing worse than to discover that the guy who I’ve been following for 150 pages is at heart an idiot.alot of writers think it adds suspence when characters make stupid decisions,but all it does is piss people off.though i must admit people do tend to make dumb ass mistakes.

[Kaiju]

A good mystery/thriller shouldn't insult the audience's intelligence but by the same token it can't be too "cute" for it's own good or have too many twists.

The audience should be able to follow the film's logic and the big reveal should be a punch to the gut. One of the worse things that can happen to a film is to reveal the big bad or the twist and the audience reaction is apathy or have them scratching their heads wondering how did that person get involved with the plot.

The central mystery shouldn't be cut and dried. I hate to watch a movie and figure out the mystery or twist during the first reel. There are movies that can get away with this by involving you in the how and whys of the mystery but that seems like a hard task to pull off.

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

I read this and at once thought Elmore Leonard. Though I haven’t read all his work, on more than one occasion he's killed one of his protagonist in the middle of the novel.
damn thats probably too soon.

[malephoenix]

Characters whom you care enough about to see what happens to them -- but, hey, that's what makes any good story!


Seriously.

For me, it's all about the characters.

To cheat a little and make an all-too-over-simplified analogy; I feel for the characters in the comic book The Walking Dead because of how they are developed. (Not so sure about the last few arcs, but the first dozen issues just punched me in the gut when a turn happened that I didn't like. I'll have to see where everything goes concerning this prison setting.

On the other hand, when the recent cast member was killed in Exiles - even though I really like the series - I just don't care. Because the way the rest have handled the death is so minimal. There are perfect times for a scene about how the death has effected people, but it doesn't happen. (Which makes me sad because I really enjoy Bedard's work; I just don't get the characterization out of mainstream books that I can out of indies*...)

The same holds true for me in respect to a thriller.

*I REALLY hope I don't turn into an indie snob elitist...

[blackdragon6]

Seriously.

For me, it's all about the characters.

To cheat a little and make an all-too-over-simplified analogy; I feel for the characters in the comic book The Walking Dead because of how they are developed. (Not so sure about the last few arcs, but the first dozen issues just punched me in the gut when a turn happened that I didn't like. I'll have to see where everything goes concerning this prison setting.

On the other hand, when the recent cast member was killed in Exiles - even though I really like the series - I just don't care. Because the way the rest have handled the death is so minimal. There are perfect times for a scene about how the death has effected people, but it doesn't happen. (Which makes me sad because I really enjoy Bedard's work; I just don't get the characterization out of mainstream books that I can out of indies*...)

The same holds true for me in respect to a thriller.

*I REALLY hope I don't turn into an indie snob elitist...
hey those aren't thrillers those are action adventures.:eek:

[Comic_Mobsta]

Nuetral characters


Or if its a series make once "good" characters seem shady.But not in a out of character way though.Another thought what if said murder victim/s wasn't dead after all?

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

well theres a internet mystery brewing about the suppose death of adult internet model Angela Devi.go to the wikipedia page,and her official page to see what i'm talikg about.now thats a great mystery:p

also the tupac,biggie,LAPD curruption triangle is a great real life mystery.

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

Or if its a series make once "good" characters seem shady.But not in a out of character way though.interestingly enough i was thinking this should have happened with scully from the x-files around season 4 or 5.

[Shellhead]

Aside from a likeable protagonist, I like to see realistic motivations for other main characters, especially the suspects. If that piece of the puzzle is in place, the odds are good that the plot will play fair and not insult my intelligence with lame coincidences or plot holes.

[Cephus]

A good mystery should make everything make sense once it's explained. All the clues and tidbits should then fit together in a logical and pretty simple manner. If revealing the culprit makes things more confusing, it's a crappy mystery.

I agree, you need to have all the clues early on and have a chance to solve the mystery yourself. There are far too many really bad mystery writers who withhold clues until the very end, introduce characters in the last five pages, etc. that make it utterly impossible to guess whodunit. The best mysteries are the ones which put in tiny clues that most people miss, but that become important later on when all the pieces fall into place.

[Buzz Dixon]

Aside from a likeable protagonist...
I think the protagonist needs to be compelling, not necessarily likeable. Mike Hammer is a prime example.

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

i think it should also be dark and noirish.

[blackdragon6]

Aside from a likeable protagonist, I like to see realistic motivations for other main characters, especially the suspects. .i really agree with this.