Vanessa Westermann
When it comes to reading and writing crime fiction, I love a character-driven story. I’m there for the emotional arc, the internal conflict, and the empowerment. I’ll know who I want to write about before I know what mystery they will solve.
I write the Charley Scott mystery series. The appeal doesn’t come from the cottage country setting or the thrilling murder methods (a death by chocolate and death by dry drowning, respectively), but from Charley herself. The artist, who is determined to fulfill her dream of earning a living from her paintings, steals the show from the killer as she solves the crime.
Let’s talk about technique. How do you write the amateur sleuth? There are many approaches to get to the same result, but I’ll share a couple with you that I find most useful.
amateur sleuth (noun)
An amateur sleuth is someone who participates in crime solving but does not pursue it professionally. The word “amateur” is derived from the French amateur, meaning “one who loves”.
An amateur sleuth investigates mysteries because they are passionate about uncovering the truth. This ordinary person, who is neither a cop nor a detective, normally has a compelling reason to investigate the crime and expertise or inside knowledge. The amateur sleuth has a special skill: a talent that enables them to solve the crime.
A Talent for Crime Solving
A talent is anything that the character is especially good at. Sometimes, this talent is connected to what the sleuth does for a living. This is often the case in cozy mysteries since the sleuth’s area of expertise is part of the ‘hook’ that sells the story.
Charley Scott is a portrait artist. A good portrait captures personality, who the person is, inside and out. To create her artwork, she has to look into the deepest, darkest depths of another person’s soul. She is exceptionally perceptive and empathetic. She truly sees people. It’s easy to look at something or someone and not see them or see only what we want to see. Charley notices the details and can interpret them.
Being perceptive is a dangerous thing. All it takes is a shift in perspective, to empathize with a murderer, to understand the motives, the mistakes, that lead someone to take another person’s life.
Conflict
A sleuth’s special talent can also be a weakness or a source of conflict. Charley relies on her sense of sight, so what happens when she can’t see? Darkness — losing her ability to see — triggers a deep and unsettling fear in her. To bring the murderer to justice, she must venture into the dark, despite her phobia.
In the second book in my series, Shudder Pulp, Charley is putting on an immersive Halloween pulp art installation based on a local lake monster legend. But life imitates art when Laura, a mercenary newcomer with a controversial agenda for the dam, claims she was attacked by the lake monster she accuses Charley of raising. Hours later, Laura is found dead by dry drowning. To find the truth, Charley will have to risk it all to look the monster in the eye.
Discovering Your Sleuth
Some writers discover their sleuth during the rough draft. Others, like myself, prefer to discover their sleuth during the planning phase. In case you hadn’t yet guessed, I’m a plotter.
I like creative writing teacher James N. Frey’s suggestion of using journaling techniques to explore the sleuth’s physiology, psychology, and sociology. In other words: their physical appearance, personality, and background. Each of these three aspects affects the other. An optimistic, petite character who grew up in a small lakeside village will behave quite differently than a pessimistic, brawny character who grew up in downtown Toronto. A thorough understanding of your sleuth’s background can help to create a three-dimensional character.
Consider these questions:
- What is your sleuth most afraid of? What holds them back?
- What do they long for? What motivates them?
- What is your sleuth good at?
- Are their strengths obvious to others or are they hidden, even from themself?
“Remember: Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations.” — Ray Bradbury
Brainstorm on sticky notes, draw a mind map or explore the possibilities in your rough draft. Let yourself be surprised. Charley Scott still astonishes me, and that’s part of the fun.
website: www.vanessa-westermann.info
Instagram: @vanessawestermann_
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18861715.Vanessa_Westermann
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