Unlike many other "How to write" books, this one hits the mark and leaves writers and aspiring writers with something to take away from nearly every contributing chapter. Even writers who don't write mysteries can gain insight with this book, making it a must-have for any shelf.

Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

This is an excellent resource no just for a beginning or practiced mystery or suspense author, but any author seeking to improve their craft. It’s a great anthology of well written advice by well known, successful authors. The wide variety and number of included writers makes this a great deal and a perfect resource on the reference shelf. Even if you disagree with some of the advice, I believe anyone can find something to enjoy with this book. Thank you NetGalley and Mystery Writers Of America for letting me read an advance copy of this book. I am looking forward to buying a physical copy upon official release.

How to Write a Mystery is a great resource for all writers- especially of course mystery and thriller writers. Everything a mystery writer needs to know is covered in this book. I love mysteries and have read tons of them but when it comes to writing my own this book covers things I have struggled with as well as gives invaluable advice- things like plotting, that are a lot harder than they seem!

I truly think writers of all genres can benefit greatly from this book!

Lots of wonderful advice delivered in the indelible style of each author. Loved that the book was broken down into themed areas of importance.

This is a comprehensive guide on how to construct and market a mystery novel. Anyone interested in a career (or hobby) in writing mystery fiction would benefit from reading this. I enjoyed learning how many of my favorite authors approach their craft. One underlying theme is that writing is WORK. No matter how you approach it--and everyone does it differently--writing a book requires a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.

While most of the essays just skim the surface on a particular theme, the collection of essays provides an excellent survey of mystery writing from a high level. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn about the behind-the-scenes work that goes into creative a crime novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Scribner for a copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

How to Write a Mystery is an excellent source of writing know-how and advice geared to the mystery writing crowd and written by well-known mystery authors. I skimmed and skipped around to the sections of personal interest, so I can't attest the individual value of every contribution. I should probably read what I didn't because what I read had not only good advice for specific topics (such as historical fiction writing), but also good advice for writing in general.

Some writing guides regurgitate or skim common advice without ever really getting into the marrow. This book, however, goes deep into specific topics of mystery writing (types of mysteries, setting, outline, etc) to give both a wide-range and a deep-dive of experienced knowledge. It's not a lazy writing guide, for certain.

When I'm reading writing guides, I highlight passages that tell me something I didn't know but find useful or something I know I need to work on. Sometimes I don't have many highlights after finishing a book. In How to Write a Mystery, I made a lot of highlights.

The only thing that aggravated was a tone of on-the high-horsiness in couple of the short-sections (one page of musing? Advice? It varied). Two of the authors claimed there is no such thing as writer's block or that writer's block is just an excuse for laziness. Some authors may not get writer's block. Some do. I think it comes down to what your process is. Some people are comfortable writing anything just to write something. Some aren't. The best advice in this book wasn't specific to writer's block, but it said that if what you're doing isn't working, try something else. It acknowledged that writers can get stuck and gives practical advice.

I'd recommend this book to primarily mystery writers, but also to any fiction writer. There's solid advice for every writer in How to Write a Mystery.

I've been dabbling in mystery writing for a while now and after reading this book I'm eager to dive back into it! I appreciated all the tips and found them to be very practical. It's definitely motivated me to get writing and has me feeling like I'm set up for success.
Many thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the advance copy.

An excellent guide for aspiring crime writers. A recommended first purchase for collections where writing craft books are popular.

This is a great resource for mystery and thriller writers. Everything a mystery writer needs to know is covered in this book, including defining genres, writing mysteries for children and young adults, outlining or no outlining, plotting, setting, characters and villains, self publishing, publishing law, and more.

I will definitely recommend this book to mystery and thriller writers, although I think writers of all genres can benefit from reading this resource book. I will also be adding this compilation to my writing resources list.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance copy in return for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of How to Write a Mystery.

I'm so happy my request was approved because I love all things mysteries.

This was a great compilation of the most popular and respected authors in the genre, offering blunt, honest, no-nonsense advice on what makes a mystery.

Everything mystery and thriller related is covered here including (just to name a few):

What is the difference between a mystery and a thriller
The sub genres and sub sub genres. I've never heard of weird west. How interesting!
How to make a living as a writer: write, write and oh yeah, write!
Self-publishing
The business side of writing

This book is practical, easy to read and understand and ideal for not just would-be mystery writers but for publishing professionals and authors already in the business.

An excellent resource for writers. I think writers of any genre could find some insight here. Of particular interest to me was the chapter regarding legal matters (as in copyright). I will absolutely rec this book to my editing clients and put it on the Resources for Writers page on my website. I imagine I will be referring back to it quite often.

A big thanks to the authors, publisher, and net galley for a copy of the ARC.

A terrific handbook for anyone starting out in fiction. As a teacher of writing, I appreciated that the book includes different viewpoints on outlining, from the "outline everything" school to Lee Child's own advice--outline nothing. Nice breakdown of the various elements of mystery writing, including character, point of view, and plot, with plenty of nuggets for teachers and writers.

I really enjoyed this book and am happy to add it to my other books on writing. As an author I love different perspective and styles from other authors. This book spent disappoint. It ended with my learning a few new things and I think that's the take away from non-fiction. If you learn one thing, it was worth your time.

This is very well organized with a lot of good advice on writing a mystery. It covers all the angles. Covering different types of mysteries and different way to write a mystery.

How To Write A Mystery is a true collaborative work of art.

Several well-known authors have come together to share with us their idea of what it entails to write a mystery. It is written in a way that is quite interesting. Each other is given a voice. You will hear about character development, what makes a novel a mystery, and even about traditional publishing vs self-publishing.

This how to was interesting and definitely a fresh way of showing readers that writing is not as difficult as you would have imagined.

Very well done.