[ShirleyH Posts: 874 Status: Offline WWW]

What non fiction craft books would you recommend for writing mysteries? I have a ton of writing craft books but nothing specific to mysteries.

[Laura D Posts: 189 Status: Offline Stop. Hammer Time!]

I have one called, You Can Write a Mystery by Gillian Roberts. There's also a chapter devoted to the subject in Lee Wyndham's book, Writing for Children and Teenagers.

[Verla Kay Posts: 4,638 Status: Offline Invite Verla Kay to speak in your area WWW]

Writer's Digest has a lot of great books.  One I particularly like is called Mystery Writer's Handbook.  (It may be out of print, but you can probably get a copy through ABEbooks.com) 

Writer's Digest also has a whole series of terrific resources for getting information for writing mysteries. Their titles are:

Deadly Doses (guide to poisons)
Armed and Dangerous (guide to weapons)
Missing Persons (finding abducted and missing people)
Murder One (guide to homicide) 
Private Eyes (guide to private investigators)
Malicious Intent (guide to how murderers, robbers, rapists, etc. think)

You can't tell I'm interested in writing a mystery myself someday, can you? 

[Verla Kay Posts: 4,638 Status: Offline Invite Verla Kay to speak in your area WWW]

Oh! And I almost forgot to include two more great books --

How to Write a Damn good Mystery by James Frey and
The Writer's Complete Crime Reference Book (by Roth, via Writer's Digest Books)

These are both new enough you might be able to get them through your local library.

[Quzi]

Elizabeth George's Write Away:One Novelists Approach to Fiction and The Writing Life has some great insights
Kristi Holl dot com has great mystery writing tips for kids books

[ecb]

I really enjoyed Hallie Ephron's WRITING AND SELLING YOUR MYSTERY NOVEL.

[ShirleyH Posts: 874 Status: Offline WWW]

Thanks for the suggestions!