Until recently, I've never given much thought to how I select the murder victims in my mysteries. I don't usually go along with the popular cozy trope of killing off the character everyone loves to hate because part of maintaining suspense is keeping readers wondering who will be the first victim. But I will confess I couldn't wait to do away with my most recent murder victim because he has harmed so many innocent people.
There are many reasons why characters become homicide victims. In some of my books, the murder has occurred before page one. The first victim in Death Overdue, the first book in my Haunted Library series, died fifteen years ago, and the second victim is murdered to prevent him from announcing the killer's identity. In Giving Up the Ghost, my ghost Cameron Leeds wants Gabbie Meyerson to find out who murdered him in the previous year.
Very often a murder victim has no idea why she's been targeted. In Death on Dickens Island, Missy Faraday's killer hears Missy asking questions about her family background and feels threatened enough to murder her.
Jealousy is often a reason why a killer offs his or her victim. In A Murderer Among Us, Claire Weill has no idea that her killer's in love with her husband.
Blackmailers sometimes fall prey to their victims. That's what happens to Ilana Reingold in Checked Out for Murder, the fourth Haunted Library book, when she sees the murderer kill someone and tries to blackmail her.
Lastly, some victims are simply unlucky and are murdered by accident. Which is what happens in Murder a la Christie when poor Sylvia Morris drinks the poisoned refreshment meant for someone else.
A final word: I have killed off a few characters I'd grown to love, but I never murder my sleuth or anyone close to her.
How do you decide who will be murdered in your mysteries?
For me, it's usually someone who doesn't live in town.
ReplyDeleteThat keeps the town's population a good size.:)
DeleteThe characters decide and I write it down.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good way of choosing, Jim.
DeleteEither I start with a murder victim and build the story around that, or the story itself dictates who was killed. I have to admit that I once wrote an entire novel and at the end, realized I'd been wrong the entire time about who was the killer.
ReplyDeleteOh, that happened to me, too! So strange when I went back and studied the text to discover that I'd laid the groundwork for the correct killer and had very few changes to point to him.
DeleteI've changed my killer a few times during the course of writing a book, but never the victims.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes base my victim on someone who has made me mad in the past…lol. Much cheaper than therapy.
ReplyDeleteHah! You're not the only author who's done that.
DeleteI once was faced With having a nice young woman the victim iin order to further the story. It really bothered me, and I even asked some of my writer friends whether readers would accept that in a cozy. It worked for the story, but I was still sad to do it.
ReplyDeleteSo far, I have always known my first victim when I begin the book. That’s the first scene I write, and the second scene I write the sort of climax. Sort of because it’s more a laundry list of why the death had to happen, but not the who dunit because I don’t have the information yet.
ReplyDeleteGrace, It's interesting how we all write so differently. Sometimes I'm amazed that I manage to work out all the wrinkles and possibilities that lead to solving the murders in my books.
ReplyDeleteLike others above, I do sometimes fashion the victim on someone from real life, but more often, I like to make awful people I've known the killer. Sometimes the victim is beloved, but the killer isn't after he/she is revealed. The reason I write murder mysteries is to explore how anyone could ever get to that point, of committing such a horrible crime, so I do have the reason in the beginning. Then I just have to fit the characters where I think they'll belong. Sometimes they rebel! Good topic!
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