Forgetting about the victim and the need for their murder to be resolved * Intermittently inject the story with flashbacks or snippets from the victim’s life — don’t forget the goal of the mystery is to solve the mystery, and the reader wants to care about the victim whose murder is being investigated. Too many suspects * More than 4 or 5 suspects becomes difficult to follow — the reader will be scrambling to recall who is who, and why each person is a potential suspect if there are too many. Too few suspects * The story will be too thin, not enough complexity, if there are not multiple suspects. Each suspect needs to be investigated and ruled out to see who has means, motive, and opportunity— this is how the story is layered and made enjoyable for the reader! Misuse of red-herrings * A diversionary strategy can delight a reader. Being fooled or diverted falsely once can be fun, but multiple times will annoy the reader, or make the story tedious. Spending too much time on trivial details or context * Set up a strong context and relevant details about the sleuth or victim’s past, but not in excess. Ignoring the larger community * To create a believable event, the murder should affect multiple facets of society, or be reported/relayed in a few scenes: newspaper, church, workplace, housing complex, family, significant other. Using a simplistic setting * To bulk up the imagery and details of the story, get out of the office— the sleuth should follow clues to people’s homes, businesses, out in a forest, into a drain tunnel. This adds variety and intrigue. Making the detective too put-together * Even though a sleuth should be someone the reader empathizes with and cheers for, they need to be human— occasionally hungry, exhausted, unhygienic; they could have a conflict with a colleague, or have some quirky tendencies that make others uncomfortable around them. Suspects not cleared * Tie up loose ends, otherwise the reader will feel unsatisfied and frustrated that the story ends without all lines of inquiry followed through.