I‘d add, though technically not a murder, varieties of fake-out locked room murders. Those usually come in two flavours: 1. Nobody is the murderer - the victim committed suicide, but set it up to look like a murder. 2. Nobody was murdered - the „victim“ is alive but needed, for whatever reason, to look like they are dead. Bonus points for a doctor who’s in on it. Extra bonus points for vanishing body. (Spoilers ahead) A very clever combination of both can be found in „And then there were none“ by Agatha Christie.
An outstanding example of a classic locked-room mystery can be found in Death of A Solitary Chess Player (also titled A Room to Die In) by Jack Vance (writing as Ellery Queen), written in 1965.
Honestly I would use these four: 1. Time Shift 2. Secret Egress 3. Hidden Person 4. Mechanical Trick There was a famous COLUMBO episode in which a man called the victim, tricking him into saying a command word for the victim's two dogs to attack and maul him to death. Hence #4
Great video! Love Monk too. Another incredible series (with every episode an Impossible Crime) is the hugely popular British show 'Jonathan Creek', about a creator of elaborate magic tricks who also solves unfathomable mysteries.
Great video. I just found your channel... Subscribed! Have to offer one small correction: The character in the last clip was named Dexter Larson (Not "Dexter Morgan" as you were calling him). Dexter Morgan is the title character of the hit TV series Dexter, and I thought it was odd the Monk writers would use that name when it's so strongly identified with a different, well-known series. In fact, when you first said the name, I assumed the writers did it as a conscious nod to the Dexter show for some reason. So of course I looked it up, and discovered the character's true name. I'm guessing either you never saw the Dexter show -- or conversely, were a huge fan and had Dexter on the brain when you wrote your notes, lol.
Thank you, this is excellent! It's great to have some ACTUAL more concrete suggestions as to how to write mystery as opposed to vagueness like 'have clues' or 'make a red herring'.
Okay I just have to say Thank You! I have been bouncing around various writing channels for a long time and most focus on an outlines, personal vlogs, or motivational stuff which I have little need of. The mechanics, deep diving into the gears, and seeing how things work has been what I have been craving. And now I have found your channel and I am so happy. Thanks again.
Love your channel! But I also feel good. I wrote a locked door reverse mystery novel that used a 5th type of locked door method. The victim was killed in a locked room, and killed after the murderer left, in fact she was not even in the building when the victim died. No patsy, but an innocent person did trigger the murder weapon that was never found or taken out of the room. Just to make it harder for me to write, the murderer wore only a skimpy dress and heels, and went through a metal detector and was escorted by a security in and out of the locked room. It was so tough, even the detective could not figure it out; the murderer told him after the two fell in love. So there is a 5th way but a tough novel to write I admit.
The skimpy dress was actually a HUGE part of the novel. Seeing her go through security, the detective knew she was dressed that way as proof she could not hide anything on her. She actually was. A slit cut in the lining of her minidress allowed her to conceal a 3D printed ghost hun of sorts that used a non-metallic bullet.
The Danganronpa franchise, which I heavily enjoy, has 3 locked room mysteries; one per game (Chapters 4, 5, and 3, respectively). While I found that the ones in the first and third games were rather simple in terms of the basic premise, the one in the second game is one of the most clever, interesting, and unique murder mysteries I have ever encountered and I would highly recommend checking out the franchise purely for that case. EDIT: Just saw that you liked this, so I'll give you a little hint; it feels like a combination of 2 of the ways you mentioned with a very, VERY unique character based twist.
@@janekalmes It's a trilogy of anime styled visual novels dealing with whodunnit murder games, and while the dialogue is....not the greatest....the cases are always interesting. They have 5 cases each, and then a final one where they figure out the secrets of the murder game.
Great video. Thank you. Have you read Johnathan Dickenson Carr, master of the locked room mystery of thec1930s to 1960s. A wonderful method for a locked room mystery (forgot book title). The murderer killed the victim. Jacked up a corner of the roof from the outside. went back in, locked door, left key and climbed out opening, then lowered the roof. He went to a planned alibi.
After watching you, I felt encouraged to write a detective story otherwise I was just thinking that I have gone mad in quarantine who is plotting impossible crimes and watching bloody detective shows and anime. Shows are my inspiration, and I always try to do something different i.e. I try not to cheat even if it was not intentional and I came up with some extreme ideas for writing. I also think that exploring different places and learning about science helps in discovering new scenarios and tricks.
I wouldn't call that a locked room, since it has so many people in it, and does have a lot of potential exits. I suppose I'd call that a "traditional mystery--" which is a very good thing!
@@chickenfate5235 ahh, gotcha! I’ve been calling plots like this “Place-shifted Murders.” Usually these take place either (1) to move the body out of an intimate location, like the villain's home, and into a more public location that allows the suspect pool to widen or (2) to establish a Distance Alibi. It sounds like in the example you’re talking about, the villain is place-shifting the murder in order to restrict the suspect pool to people who might have been able to access the locked room. Very, very interesting! Is this from a particular story, or your own invention?
Want to learn more about writing Howdunits? Watch this next! ruclips.net/video/IHn26nviHlM/видео.html
I‘d add, though technically not a murder, varieties of fake-out locked room murders. Those usually come in two flavours:
1. Nobody is the murderer - the victim committed suicide, but set it up to look like a murder.
2. Nobody was murdered - the „victim“ is alive but needed, for whatever reason, to look like they are dead. Bonus points for a doctor who’s in on it. Extra bonus points for vanishing body.
(Spoilers ahead)
A very clever combination of both can be found in „And then there were none“ by Agatha Christie.
Good points! I love And Then There Were None.
I just want to say, that you are the most helpful and informative mystery novel writing RUclipsr
Thank you so much!
Why is it that EVERY time I watch you I cant help but smile???
Thank you so much!
This segment required a lot of research & analysis. Thank you for presenting us with this unique information & take! Good job, Jane!
My pleasure! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for these videos! I love Monk, lol. Your explanations and simple graphics to "see" the steps.
An outstanding example of a classic locked-room mystery can be found in Death of A Solitary Chess Player (also titled A Room to Die In) by Jack Vance (writing as Ellery Queen), written in 1965.
Thank you, I will look that up!
Honestly I would use these four:
1. Time Shift
2. Secret Egress
3. Hidden Person
4. Mechanical Trick
There was a famous COLUMBO episode in which a man called the victim, tricking him into saying a command word for the victim's two dogs to attack and maul him to death. Hence #4
Great video!
Love Monk too. Another incredible series (with every episode an Impossible Crime) is the hugely popular British show 'Jonathan Creek', about a creator of elaborate magic tricks who also solves unfathomable mysteries.
Awesome, I’ll look for that one!
Yes! I love Jonathan Creek!
Superb. I hope other people can appreciate how much research went into putting this together.
Thank you so much, Lee!
Great video. I just found your channel... Subscribed! Have to offer one small correction: The character in the last clip was named Dexter Larson (Not "Dexter Morgan" as you were calling him). Dexter Morgan is the title character of the hit TV series Dexter, and I thought it was odd the Monk writers would use that name when it's so strongly identified with a different, well-known series. In fact, when you first said the name, I assumed the writers did it as a conscious nod to the Dexter show for some reason. So of course I looked it up, and discovered the character's true name. I'm guessing either you never saw the Dexter show -- or conversely, were a huge fan and had Dexter on the brain when you wrote your notes, lol.
Ack, you’re right! I must have had Dexter on the mind. Glad you’re enjoying the channel!
Thank you, this is excellent! It's great to have some ACTUAL more concrete suggestions as to how to write mystery as opposed to vagueness like 'have clues' or 'make a red herring'.
Glad it was helpful! If you’re interested in writing red herrings, this might help: ruclips.net/video/Jm7UIJF9wp0/видео.html
Okay I just have to say Thank You! I have been bouncing around various writing channels for a long time and most focus on an outlines, personal vlogs, or motivational stuff which I have little need of. The mechanics, deep diving into the gears, and seeing how things work has been what I have been craving. And now I have found your channel and I am so happy. Thanks again.
Awesome, welcome aboard!
Such an interesting video! I'm definitely looking forward to the alibi video.
Thank you so much, Jill! I’m having a lot of fun putting Perfect Alibis together.
Love your channel!
But I also feel good. I wrote a locked door reverse mystery novel that used a 5th type of locked door method. The victim was killed in a locked room, and killed after the murderer left, in fact she was not even in the building when the victim died. No patsy, but an innocent person did trigger the murder weapon that was never found or taken out of the room. Just to make it harder for me to write, the murderer wore only a skimpy dress and heels, and went through a metal detector and was escorted by a security in and out of the locked room.
It was so tough, even the detective could not figure it out; the murderer told him after the two fell in love.
So there is a 5th way but a tough novel to write I admit.
Wow, Scott, that sounds amazing!
The skimpy dress was actually a HUGE part of the novel. Seeing her go through security, the detective knew she was dressed that way as proof she could not hide anything on her.
She actually was. A slit cut in the lining of her minidress allowed her to conceal a 3D printed ghost hun of sorts that used a non-metallic bullet.
This is sooo helpful! It makes me want to scratch what I have written or start a new project! Thanks for this video!
Thanks, Jes, I’m so glad you found it helpful!
Very helpful formalisation of the locked room murder. Good luck with your book!
Thank you so much!
Excited for the new book! As a West Michigander, I’m pumped about the setting! Great video!
Marybeth, thank you so much! I loved writing it!
Great video, i´ve just worked on a locked room novel and was thinking on a sequel and this video is very helpful. Have a nice day
Thanks, you too!
I love all the Monk references
Haha, awesome!
The Danganronpa franchise, which I heavily enjoy, has 3 locked room mysteries; one per game (Chapters 4, 5, and 3, respectively).
While I found that the ones in the first and third games were rather simple in terms of the basic premise, the one in the second game is one of the most clever, interesting, and unique murder mysteries I have ever encountered and I would highly recommend checking out the franchise purely for that case.
EDIT: Just saw that you liked this, so I'll give you a little hint; it feels like a combination of 2 of the ways you mentioned with a very, VERY unique character based twist.
Thanks, I will put it on my list!
@@janekalmes
It's a trilogy of anime styled visual novels dealing with whodunnit murder games, and while the dialogue is....not the greatest....the cases are always interesting.
They have 5 cases each, and then a final one where they figure out the secrets of the murder game.
@@girlwarriorx5536 Sounds cool!
I am actually here because of Danganronpa and the locked room mysteries xD
thank you!
You’re so welcome!
Great video. Thank you.
Have you read Johnathan Dickenson Carr, master of the locked room mystery of thec1930s to 1960s.
A wonderful method for a locked room mystery (forgot book title). The murderer killed the victim. Jacked up a corner of the roof from the outside. went back in, locked door, left key and climbed out opening, then lowered the roof. He went to a planned alibi.
Very nice! I suppose I’d call that a Gains Access murder (or “Gains Egress?”) Sounds like a good book!
Your videos are the best! Is there a list of the order to watch?
Thanks so much! I’d watch this list: ruclips.net/video/L9cwWw8D_vo/видео.html
or this one: ruclips.net/p/PL3KL6Jqx65Dh0AjbnhwQ6roDNuQyriWHj
Really good. Thank you
Glad you liked it!
Thank you for your content
You're so welcome!
Great video
Thank you so much!
After watching you, I felt encouraged to write a detective story otherwise I was just thinking that I have gone mad in quarantine who is plotting impossible crimes and watching bloody detective shows and anime. Shows are my inspiration, and I always try to do something different i.e. I try not to cheat even if it was not intentional and I came up with some extreme ideas for writing. I also think that exploring different places and learning about science helps in discovering new scenarios and tricks.
I’m so glad you’re feeling inspired!
Can a locked room be a small town? Or does that evolve into another form of mystery?
I wouldn't call that a locked room, since it has so many people in it, and does have a lot of potential exits. I suppose I'd call that a "traditional mystery--" which is a very good thing!
@@janekalmes thank you for the response! I didn’t think id get one so soon 🙏🏾🙂
Yes to the alibi video. 👍
I hope to have it up next week!
What about the body being planted after the fact? Which is that?
Hmm… sounds as though it might be a time-shifted murder? But it’s possible you’ve caught onto a new solution I haven’t seen.
@@janekalmes Oh, like a location-shifted murder? It wasn’t in the room at all.
@@chickenfate5235 ahh, gotcha! I’ve been calling plots like this “Place-shifted Murders.” Usually these take place either (1) to move the body out of an intimate location, like the villain's home, and into a more public location that allows the suspect pool to widen or (2) to establish a Distance Alibi.
It sounds like in the example you’re talking about, the villain is place-shifting the murder in order to restrict the suspect pool to people who might have been able to access the locked room. Very, very interesting! Is this from a particular story, or your own invention?
😮
❤️
Thank you!
@@janekalmes ❤️ your work!
did columbo ever solve a Locked Room Mystery
Hmm… not sure, I’m only in season 2 right now.
Hehe
Danganronpa brought me here.