As a mystery author, I get to decide which of my characters will be murdered. I also get to decide who will do the murdering. The big payoff for mystery readers is discovering the killer's identity at the end of the novel. Equally intriguing is learning why he or she committed the crime.
Murderers in traditional and cozy mysteries are not always the most obvious characters. While some are inherently malevolent and carefully plot their misdeeds, others are ordinary except for the reason why they see killing someone as the necessary solution to their problem.
Why does a character murder? A simple list might be reduced to revenge, jealousy, money, and the fear of being exposed. But unless the murderer's a serial killer or a hired assassin, his or her reason for killing is personal and driven by strong emotions, misguided information, or despair. Or possibly madness. Then there are characters who become murderers through so-called accidents and explain: "I didn't mean to hit him so hard," or "I only meant to teach him a lesson."
Sometimes a character murders for reasons that have roots in the past. The impact of an earlier murder affects the present and another victim is murdered. This occurs in Death Overdue and Checked Out for Murder in my Haunted Library series as well as in Death on Dickens Island.
I make sure that my murderers play an active role in my mysteries. I once stopped reading a well-known author because in one of her books the murderer rarely appeared. Not fair. Readers should have the opportunity to get to know the murderer as well as he reveals himself to the other characters. And he'd better have a darn good reason for killing.
How do you decide who your murderers will be?
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