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70 Mystery Writing Prompts That’ll Keep Your Readers Hooked

From whodunits to unsolved crimes, here are over 70 mystery writing prompts that will keep your readers hooked from beginning to end. 

The mystery genre is all about gathering clues and evidence to solve a crime or mystery of some sort. Common mysteries to solve may include murder, kidnappings, theft and any other unsolved crimes. The thing that makes a mystery story so appealing is that no one knows who the true culprit is until the very end of the story. And the big reveal at the end is always shocking to the reader. The secret to a good mystery lies in the plot twist . You have to be two steps ahead of your readers – Get inside the head of your readers and think, “Who would your readers think the main culprit is?” Then switch it around, and pick someone who is highly unlikely to be the real baddie.

You can pick a random prompt from our mystery writing prompts generator below to practice your plot twist skills on:

In a mystery novel, characters are a huge part of the mystery. Common characters may include:

• Street smart detective – They ask all the right questions, but are the answers to be trusted?
• Bent cop – Known for planting fake evidence at crime scenes.
• Mysterious guy – No one knows anything about them, and therefore they could be an easy suspect in the case.
• The scapegoat – The one everyone is blaming.
• The obvious suspect – All clues point to this person.
• The unobvious suspect – No real evidence against this person, but somehow they link to the crime in question.

When writing your mystery story think about the characters you would include carefully before diving in. We even recommend creating character profiles for each character, and maybe even a mind map to show their connection to the crime in question.

Take a look at this collection of the best mystery books for teens for some more ideas! Or this list of 156+ thriller writing prompts .

70 Mystery Writing Prompts

List of over 70 mystery writing prompts, from unsolved murder cases to items that vanished into thin air:

• The richest man on Earth has a hidden vault filled with millions of dollars, expensive jewellery and gems. One night he goes to add to his collection of gems and notices a sentimental piece of jewellery missing.
• One-by-one random things keep on going missing in your house. First your watch, then a teapot. Who is taking them and why?
• One of your classmates mysteriously stops coming to school. It’s been nearly 2 weeks since you last saw them. What could have happened to them?
• A police officer finds a dead body at a barber’s shop in town. The cause of death was drowning. No one knows how the body got there and who did it.
• A person takes a game of snakes and ladders too literally. In random locations around the city, snakes and ladders have been placed. Where do those ladders go? Why are snakes placed in these random places? Can you solve this strange mystery?
• You wake up in a warehouse with no memory of how you got there. The warehouse office is filled with newspaper clippings of missing people from the past 20 years. Who is the kidnapper and why are you in this warehouse?
• Last night a series of supermarkets and warehouses across the city were robbed. The thief or thieves only steal toilet paper. Can you solve this case?
• Meet Benji, the cat detective. Benji is a feisty feline who is on a mission to capture the great tuna can thief. 
• At exactly 7.08 pm last night a scream was heard from 59 Pebble Lane. The neighbours knocked but no one was home. Later that night, the police arrived at approximately 2.13 am to find a cold dead body on the floor in a pool of spilt tea.
• You are a reporter for the Imagine Forest Times newspaper, you are writing an article on the missing bird eggs in the local forest.
• Imagine you are a security guard. It’s your first night shift at the local art Museum. The next morning a priceless painting goes missing, and you are blamed. You need to prove your innocence before you are sent to prison, but how?
• Write a time travel mystery story where the main character keeps going back in time to find out who really murdered their parents.
• You and your friends go to the fairground. You decide to ride the carousel. Round and round you go, and then the ride stops. When it stops you notice one of your friends is suddenly missing. Where did they go? (See our list of writing prompts about friendship for more ideas.)
• The main character in your story is caught red-handed with the missing jewel in their hand. But did they really steal this jewel?
• Write a diary from the perspective of a paranoid person who thinks their neighbour is stealing from them.
• Write down an action scene where the main character trails the secondary character to an abandoned warehouse. What do you think will happen next?
• Someone has been stealing mobile phones at your school. You think you know who it is, so you set up a try to catch the thief.
• A bent police officer has been planting false evidence at crime scenes for years. Who are they protecting and why?
• Write a script between two characters who are meeting in secret to discuss some new evidence in a murder trial.
• Imagine you are a detective interviewing a suspect in the crime of jewellery theft. Write down some questions that you might ask the suspect. If you have time, you can also write the possible answers from the suspect’s point of view.
• You discover a note in your bag. It says, “I know what YOU have done!” – Who can have left this note, and what are they talking about?
• Write a story about a young police officer who is solving the murder case of his best friend from high school. The twist is that this police officer turns out to be the murderer.
• For over 10 years, your twin sister was missing. But there she is – Suddenly walking in the middle of the street. Where has she been? What happened to her?
• Imagine you are an investigator examining the scene of a murder crime. What types of clues would you look out for? Can you make a list of at least 10 possible clues you might find?
• A police car is chasing a potential suspect in a murder trial. Halfway through the chase, the police car disappears. The suspect slows down their car, and wonders, “What happened? Why did they stop coming after me?”
• You come home from school one day and notice that your mother’s things are gone. Your first thought is that she left you and your father. But the truth is that she was kidnapped by someone.
• A mysterious person has stolen all your teddy bears and is holding them for ransom somewhere. Each day you get a cryptic riddle. If you can solve each riddle you will receive one teddy bear back each time. 
• It’s the year 3,000. Your main character is a lawyer for a robot. They must prove this robot’s innocence in a human murder trial. (See this list of sci-fi writing prompts for more inspiration.)
• Someone keeps stealing textbooks from your school. One day you go to school and see a huge statement art piece outside the school made from the stolen textbooks. Can you find out who did this?
• Cinderella has turned into a detective. She needs to solve the case of the stolen glass slippers. After all those glass slippers are super rare.
• The main character in your story must prove their innocence in a murder trial. How would they do this? What evidence would they need?
• The main character in your story discovers that their brother is the real killer. They then try to destroy all evidence linked to their brother to protect them.
• “Poppy! Poppy! Where are you, buddy?” Mindy searched for her pet Labrador everywhere. But she was nowhere to be seen. It turns out all the dogs in town have been missing since last night. What could have possibly happened to them?
• Someone has been leaving embarrassing photographs of various people all over town. Can you track down this person? Why are they posting these photos? 
• Write a mystery story titled, ‘Piece-by-Piece’ about a jigsaw puzzle thief who is stealing random puzzles pieces.
• You notice some muddy footprints leading into a thick forest at your local park. You follow this trail of footprints to a secret hatch in the woods. The door of the hatch has been left open. When you go inside you discover something shocking.
• Your dog digs up an old lunchbox in your backyard. Inside the lunchbox, you find a key, an address and some old newspaper clipping of missing people. You think you can solve this case of the missing people by just visiting that address. But things get a little more complicated…
• This is a mystery story about a boy named Billy who’s home alone and is playing with a toy truck when he finds a strange box. His mother, a lady with a past, is suspicious of this mysterious box, so she calls the police. Billy’s mother is a detective, and they find that the box is really a trap, and Billy is kidnapped.
• Write a crime mystery story about how a little girl’s dream of becoming a scientist led to her death. Why would anyone murder a young girl who wants to be a scientist? How did this happen?
• A small-town sheriff gets caught up in the biggest robbery in history. When over a million dollars just vanish into thin air, people are quick to blame the shifty-eyed sheriff from out of town. But is he really the culprit in this crime?
• When Sara was a young girl she was kidnapped by a strange man and woman who took care of her. But now Sara wants to know what happened to her real parents. Are they still alive? Are they still looking for her?
• The clock is ticking. Somewhere in the city, a group of hostages are locked up. With every hour that goes by, one hostage will be killed. The main character, a street-smart detective must solve the clues to find the location of these hostages in time.
• A police officer finds himself in a very unusual situation. It is just before 6 pm on a Friday night when police were called to a disturbance in the street. The call came from a man who was allegedly threatening a woman with a knife. The man was arrested at 6.05 pm and taken to the police station. However, it was later revealed that the woman left at home has been murdered by someone else, but who?
• A murder mystery party takes a dark turn when one of the guests is murdered for real.
• Write a mystery story titled, ‘Who Stole My Homework?’ The main character’s A* worthy English essay is stolen by someone, but who?
• Use this sentence as inspiration: Inspector Robins pulls out his notebook and writes down two words: Green fingers.
• “10 car windows broken in 10 days! What does it all mean? What does it mean?” Exclaimed Detective Riley.
• During a stop and search, a police officer finds a dead body in the boot of a car. But is the car driver really to blame?
• A lost bracelet ends up in your best friend’s locker at school, along with other precious items. Your best friend is wrongly accused of stealing these items.
• One girl must find her stolen prom dress before the prom. In the days leading up to the prom, more and more of her accessories for prom night are being stolen. Who is this thief?
• Write a mystery thriller titled, “Come and Get It”. It’s about an arrogant criminal who is stealing sentimental items from each police officer in the state, He leaves these items in random locations in the city, along with a note that says: Come and get it!
• Every night the car alarms for every car on your street turn on at exactly 2.03 am. why is this happening, and who is responsible?
• A mysterious hacker has hacked into the city’s power grid. They have the power to on and off electricity whenever they want. Can you catch them before they do any more damage?
• A secret admirer is leaving expensive gifts for your main character. At first, these gifts seem great, but then they soon take a dark twist (see our Valentine’s Day Prompts for more inspiration).
• Your main character is at their senior prom. Dancing the night away. Suddenly the lights go off. Pitch darkness for a minute. When the lights come on, your best friend is gone. And there’s a message in red paint on the wall: You’re next!
• Your teacher gives back your English assignment, and you got an F! Looking closer, you realise that this is not your assignment at all! The same starts happening in your other classes. Someone has been swapping your assignments – But who?
• For the past few days, you have been receiving anonymous emails from someone. The emails are telling you not to be friends with him. You don’t take any of these emails seriously until the police come knocking on your door.
• A family picnic at the park becomes unbearable when you open up the basket to discover every family members untold secrets.
• You are at a Chinese restaurant with your family. It’s time to open up the fortune cookies. When your mother opens up her fortune cookie, it says: “One of your children has been very naughty!”. Then your father opens his cookie up, it says: “Who’s been sneaking around behind mommy’s and daddy’s back?” All eyes at the table are on you. But what did you do?
• Your main character is a bent cop. Trying to manipulate the course of justice, and helping real criminals get away with murder. One day, someone plants evidence that gets this bent cop arrested for a murder they did not commit.
• Write down a scene between two characters. In this scene, the ‘real’ criminal is trying to convince a detective that someone else is guilty of the crime of stealing from a church.
• There are three potential suspects in the murder case of Phillip Green. You are the lead detective on this case. What questions would you ask these suspects to find the real murderer? Make a list of at least 10 questions you may ask.
• A health inspector arrives at a vegan restaurant to discover rotten vegetables, and raw, old meat. The owners know nothing about this and believe someone planted this as sabotage. Who can have sabotaged the vegan restaurant?
• Write a short mystery story for kids titled, ‘Why is the sky blue?’ One child’s curiosity about the sky leads them to discover a secret playground in the park.
• Your main character is a news reporter who is convinced that the killer of Rosie Moore is still out there. They know that the police have convicted the wrong person for this heinous crime. Can your main character find the real killer before the wrong person is sentenced to life in prison?
• Someone has been replacing all shampoos around town with a hair removal solution. When half the town’s hair starts falling out, it is up to you, a top detective to solve this crime.
• Write a mystery story set in the future where a secret cyber group called the ‘Merry Man’ are hacking the bank accounts of rich people and giving this money to the poor. Your main character is a police detective trying to hunt the members of this cyber group down.
• A mysterious person is playing a nasty game of hide and seek with you. They have kidnapped your friends and family members and hid them in various locations within the city. You have exactly 1 hour to find each person before something bad happens to them.
• Someone has left a note in your locker at school. The note reads: Help me, please! You ignore this note, but more notes start appearing in your notebooks, bag and even at home. Until eventually you get a package through the mail. You open this package and scream…
• Write an animal mystery tale about a dog who wants to find the original owner of a doll he found in the park.
• Can you solve this bonus mystery prompt: Someone has been stealing socks from the locals at night. Who could this be and why would they be doing this? (See video prompt below for more ideas.)

Did you find these mystery writing prompts useful when writing your own story? Let us know in the comments below!

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

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Best Crime and Mystery Writing Prompts of 2023

By Krystal N. Craiker

Readers love mystery stories because of the suspense, the puzzle, and the plot twists.

The mystery genre is a great genre to explore for writers who love writing suspense and enjoy learning about true crime.

Writing a crime or mystery novel can be a lot of fun, but it can be difficult to come up with fresh ideas.

Writing prompts are a great way to get your creative juices flowing. These writing prompts and story ideas can give you enough fodder for everything from a short story to a whole series of novels.

The great thing about writing prompts is they aren’t restrictive. The prompt will probably be unrecognizable by the end of your story because you changed it so many times.

Even if you stay true to the prompt, you can still write an original story. If you give five authors the same story idea, you will get five unique stories.

So, take these mystery writing prompts and make them your own.

Use them as inspiration and change them up. Write a whole novel based on one of them. Take bits and pieces from several prompts for something epic. Or just use them as writing exercises .

Historical Mystery Story Ideas and Prompts

Police procedural and detective writing prompts, cozy mystery writing prompts, general suspense thriller novel writing prompts, serial killer mystery writing prompts, how to use mystery prompts in writing.

• Bootleggers in 1920s Chicago keep winding up dead. Two detectives must partner together to solve the murders. One detective has dedicated his life to ending bootlegging, as his father was a raging alcoholic. The other is a homicide detective who dabbles in bootlegging on the side.

In World War II, an army nurse goes missing in the Pacific Theater of Operations. The disappearance is written off as a defection by superior officers, so it’s up to her nurse friends to discover what happened.

A dead body appears at a noble’s house party in Regency England. No one claims to know who the victim is, which leads to two mysteries: who is it and whodunit?

A town in the Mughal Empire falls victim to a serial killer. The victims are all middle-aged mothers. A young woman, whose mother was the first victim, works with a military general to find and stop the murders.

King Louis XIV’s favorite virtuoso is found dead. He tasks a reluctant lieutenant with investigating everyone at Versailles to find and stop the killer. Every witness tells the lieutenant a different version of the murder because they all have something to hide.

Someone has kidnapped the daughters of two prominent figures from both sides of the Mexican Revolution in 1912. Both leaders send a detective to investigate the kidnappings. The two detectives are from rival sides of the revolution, but they must put aside their differences to find the missing girls.

A detective in the Orlando Police Department must investigate the mysterious deaths of three Disney World princesses. The detective hates children but now spends every day at the most kid-friendly place on earth.

A Scotland Yard detective is at risk of being fired for her reckless behavior. She’s sent to a remote village to investigate the disappearance of a local baker. None of her superiors care about the case, but she quickly finds herself in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the killer—and no backup.

Coffee is delivered to the police station by an anonymous donor. One of the cups doesn’t have a name written in the cup. Instead, there’s a creepy note, and the cup is filled with something far more sinister than coffee.

A burnt-out police detective must work with his ex-wife, a renowned forensics expert, to solve the murder of a prominent member of the government.

A police officer is on a family vacation to an isolated mountain town with no active police department. When the owner of the lodge is found dead, and all the phone and internet lines are cut, it’s up to the officer to solve the case before the murderer takes another victim.

An investigative journalist believes that several high-profile thefts, spread over five decades, are related. The only person who believes them is a quirky small town sheriff.

An elderly small town librarian winds up dead in her own library. It appears to be from natural causes, but the day before she emails her most bookish patron with the subject line: Clue for my murder. The body of the email contains only a library call number for a book.

A star athlete on a full-ride scholarship and a studious aspiring scientist must solve a series of mysterious deaths in their dorms before their dream university is closed forever.

The grumpy owner of a local pub (who hates children) and a young girl from the local elementary school pair up to solve the disappearance of an elementary teacher who moonlights as a bartender.

A successful businessman returns to his coastal hometown for the holidays. After drinking spiked eggnog, he wakes up in the boat of his high school girlfriend, who is now a professional fisherwoman. He has no memory of the night before, but now he’s the prime suspect in a murder investigation. With the help of his ex, his overbearing mom, and his former chemistry teacher, he must work to clear his name.

The murder of the resort’s entertainment director rocks a peaceful resort town on a tropical island. No one particularly liked the victim, but the head maid and a quirky bellboy feel obligated to solve the murder to avoid losing guests and, therefore, hotel income.

An accountant has always believed that her mother died in a car crash. When her grandmother passes away, she finds a half-finished investigation in the old woman’s basement. Her grandmother suspected murder for almost two decades and never told a soul! She picks up her grandmother’s investigation to discover what really happened to her mom.

A sweet 90-year-old woman enters a police station and confesses to a series of murders spanning 70 years. The problem is she is fuzzy on the details due to her age—or is she? Detectives must investigate the murders as she remembers the names and locations of her murder victims.

Fed up with the bureaucracy and corruption of the criminal justice system, an assistant district attorney fakes their own death to enter the seedy underbelly of the organized crime world. They want to bring down the killers who keep getting away with murder—and their mysterious top boss.

A criminal psychologist helps profile an unknown murderer in a brutal triple homicide. But as she completes her profile, she notices some shocking similarities to her washed-up brother, who lives with their elderly father.

All over the country, people are dying of arsenic poisoning. They all had one thing in common, they took the same vitamins. An investigator from the Food and Drug Administration visits the manufacturer, only to find a sinister conspiracy that goes much deeper than just a few factory workers.

The office gossip winds up dead after a company retreat. Multiple people had a motive. The main character let their dark secret slip that weekend, and now they must solve the murder to avoid the truth getting out.

A series of bank heists occur on the same day in four different countries. The next week, several heads of crime organizations descend on Monaco. An Interpol agent must go undercover in the high-stakes world of organized crime and gambling to solve the mystery.

Prisoners keep winding up brutally murdered at a penitentiary. Several of the imprisoned serial killers are suspects. A federal investigator, with a hatred for even the most petty criminals, is sent to investigate the murders. He must work closely with inmates and learn that they are only human. Bonus: the serial killer is a prison staff member, not an inmate.

A serial killer terrorizes a major metropolitan area, but officials can find no common link between the victims except how they’re killed. When her sister is murdered, an Uber customer service representative takes matters into her own hands. The murderer is an Uber driver who saves addresses and waits months before returning for the victims to avoid suspicion.

Ten people, from across the country, wind up dead. They’re all killed in exactly the same way, and they all have a page from Shakespeare’s Complete Works pinned to their shirt. A detective pairs with a literature professor to solve the case before the Bard Killer can claim any more victims.

A series of murders occurs in the Midwest. All the victims fit the same profile: young with dyed hair. Every victim visited a busy truck stop the day they died.

Someone is murdering L.A. food truck owners, leaving only their charred remains behind. The protagonist is a forensic anthropologist who is married to a food truck owner.

The first victim enters a crowded store wearing a bomb. They are clearly under duress, but they steal a cheap item, only to be blown up remotely, causing many deaths. Organized crime and terror units investigate this, only for another victim to go in exactly the same way a few weeks later. By the third victim, it’s clear there’s a sadistic serial killer at play.

Using mystery prompts can help get your story flowing. It’s a great way to challenge yourself as a writer.

Prompts are open to interpretation, so it’s up to you to find the next great story within them.

Want to write your own spine-tingling mystery? Register for Crime Writers' Week, April 24-27.

Learn from bestselling authors like janice hallett, ajay chowdhury, and sophie hannah., sign up today. it's free register now.

Be confident about grammar

Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send.

Krystal N. Craiker

Krystal N. Craiker is the Writing Pirate, an indie romance author, editor, and book mentor. She sails the seven internet seas, breaking tropes and bending genres. She has a background in anthropology and education, which brings fresh perspectives to her romance novels. When she’s not daydreaming about her next book or article, you can find her cooking gourmet gluten-free cuisine, laughing at memes, and playing board games. Krystal lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband, child, and basset hound.

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31 Crime Thriller Writing Prompts

By Brittany Kuhn

Are you writing a crime thriller novel ? Do you need some inspiration? Check out the 31 crime thriller writing prompts below!

General Crime Thriller Prompts

1. a ransom note arrives with only 48 hours to pay. but who’s been kidnapped.

The thrill of this story prompt is in the high pace of having only 48 hours to discover the crime and prevent from getting worse (through murder or injury). This will move your story quite quickly but also opens up to doing a lot of flashbacks to explain connections or discovered clues.

2. A criminal partner has been captured by a rival gang. Can they be rescued before it’s too late?

Like the prompt above, there’s a time pressure in this story prompt to prevent the partner (be it family, friend, lover) from getting hurt. Depending on the crime, you can really ramp up the thrill by forcing the main character to complete other crimes in exchange for their partner or as a way of getting to their partner (think of the films Taken or Gone in 60 Seconds )

3. After standing up to the local mob, a man must protect himself and his family from their vengeance.

The thrill here comes from the reader wondering whether the man will succeed in saving himself from the mobsters. The crime comes from not only the mob but also whatever crimes the man will have to commit to keep his and his family’s safety.

4. Having just returned from prison, a notorious safe cracker is called upon to help with another big heist.

The crime in this story prompt IS the story, so the thrill comes from whether or not they succeed in their heist. That might come from deciding whether the safe cracker wants to continue on with a life of crime or if they want to retire at the end.

5. A hoard of drugs has gone missing, and the local criminal must find them before he’s blamed for their disappearance.

Put your main character in peril from the start: the mobster threatens their life even though they had nothing to do with the disappearance. This raises the stakes from the start and gives your main character investment in discovering something they wouldn’t normally care about. For a bit of a twist, you could always have them double-cross the mobster and become the new drug lord.

6. After three low-level goons rob the casino of an upper-level mobster, the mobster’s second-in-command must track them down and make them pay.

This is a bit like a detective story but because the investigator isn’t a police officer, there’s scope for way more crime. You could do a lot with this one by exploring character motivations: why did the goons need the money; why did they choose that mobster; what will happen when they are found.

7. A man walks into a police station claiming to be a missing child from twenty years before. He escaped his captor and wants to stop the kidnapping from happening again.

This is a good prompt if you want to work with flashbacks or unreliable characters. Is the man telling the truth? If he is, what child or children are due to be kidnapped next? How can the kidnapping be stopped?

8. A local police detective must go deep undercover to stop a host of recent bank robberies. But does he go too far?

This prompt is good if you want to write about criminals as people and focus more on their relationships than the crime itself. The thrill comes from whether the police detective will stay true to himself as a police officer or if he will prioritize his new friendships.

9. The police station has been receiving cryptic notes referring to a series of murders. But no murders matching the description have been discovered.

What makes this prompt so interesting is both the code-breaking element of the cryptic clues and the discovery of the murders themselves. You could also potentially have the clues referencing murders that are about to happen so that the story eventually becomes about them preventing murders rather than discovering them.

10. A man goes missing but the clues to his disappearance are not what they seem.

What makes this an open prompt is the reason the clues to his disappearance don’t match up. Did he fake his own death? Did he get involved in something secret? Are his family suspects or are they at risk? Making the family in danger might add a bit more ‘crime’ to this crime thriller.

11. During a family reunion on a secluded island, family members start turning up dead. Why? And who’s next?

A bit like a ‘whodunit,’ this story prompt focuses on the family working together to solve the crime of who’s next and how to stop it. Be sure to keep having family members pop up dead or injured to keep the ‘thrill’ alive throughout.

12. After a new couple moves in down the street, a neighbor discovers a note seemingly from the wife of the new couple, crying for help. Except she denies it.

The thrill here is both criminal and psychological as the main character (ideally the neighbor who discovered the note) must decide two things: if the wife is telling the truth and what is happening to whoever did write the note. There is potential for a lot of intrigue and red herrings.

13. An airplane pilot who has been smuggling drugs for a drug lord discovers they’re being framed for missing drugs and money.

For this prompt, focus on the pilot delving into the drug world in order to prove their innocence. Have them initially work on discovering who is framing them and uncovering their guilt to the drug lord before the pilot themselves gets killed.

14. A teen is the sole survivor of a gangland hit on their whole family. They must fight back or risk being murdered themselves.

If you really want to ramp up the ‘crime’ element of this prompt, have the teen start training to seek revenge on those who murdered the family. They must find their way into the dark underbelly of their city to get advice and training. The question then becomes will they commit the crime or die trying?

15. Only one member of a gang of criminals is left alive after a mass execution. Who ordered it and are they next?

This crime thriller can be told as it unfolds or through a series of flashbacks by the survivor. In either case, the thrill should be in discovering what they were doing together and why they were all murdered in the first place.

16. Trapped into helping an assassin, a man must decide if and how to stop the hitman from murdering again.

How you trap these two people together will determine how the story unfolds. Make sure the assassin is committing crimes throughout the story so the thrill for the reader comes in wondering which crime will be that step too far for the man.

17. A group of criminals have had an unexpected run-in with the cops and now must work to discover who ratted them out.

The thrill of this crime story comes in discovering there’s a mole in their midst and figuring out who it is. Have your characters commit further crimes (kidnapping, torture, etc) to find this mole, then make the discovery a real twist at the end.

18. A girl is found murdered in a ritualistic manner. It’s clear that she’s not the first, nor will she be the last.

To add to the reader’s suspense, explore the supernatural element to make this more of a thriller. Have your main characters be investigating the murder and the ritualistic clues lead them ever deeper into a strange cult nobody knew was operating before.

19. Two criminals have made a bet over who can commit the most heinous and public crime to become famous. Can they be stopped?

This can start out as a garden variety police procedural until the bet is discovered. Then, the thrill becomes wondering which one can be stopped first before it gets out of control.

20. A band of criminals come together for one last heist: a casino.

Spend a few chapters at the beginning of your story building the band of criminals and exploring why they want to rob this particular casino. Spend the rest on the thrill of the heist and whether they’ll succeed.

21. One job. Fifty assassins. Who will win?

Exploring the motivations and methods of all fifty characters would really make this an interesting and thrilling crime story. Why are they all battling for this one job? Who wins and why?

22. People start going missing after the new neighbor moves in next door.

Why the neighbor is abducting people will really set the tone for the rest of this story. Spend a good chunk of your story trying to discover that then the second half needs be whether your main character can stop them.

Historical Crime Thriller Prompts

23. in 1920s louisiana, bootleggers across the state are coming up murdered. who’s next and will they be stopped.

If you choose to have the police investigate this, then you can include a sense of ‘should we really help save the criminals’ that a lot of police had at this time. This will add a sense of purpose to your main character (who should want to discover the answer) and give them a reason for diving into the dark world of Prohibition-era bootlegging.

24. A series of seemingly unrelated deaths in Victorian England all start to seem strangely related, with hints of future deaths to come.

This prompt is less ‘whodunit’ and more ‘discovering the gritty underworld of Victorian aristocracy.’ It’s not the murders themselves that should be the focus but where investigating leads your main character to explore: secret societies, fetish clubs, black market trades. Think Jack the Ripper but bigger.

25. It’s the 1960s, and a rich, young heiress falls to her death during a raucous party in New York City. What seems a harmless accident results in the discovery of a strange and interwoven world of drugs, sex, and murder.

This is a lot like the prompt above but with a focus on the art world of the 1960s. You could also choose to explore some of the ‘old money’ families that might be losing their grip on society and the economy as the world changes.

26. During the 1980s Cold War, a Russian operative is arrested and admits a nuclear bomb is heading towards a major city. But which one?

Start with the Russian operative already arrested and have them state this fact to the investigators. Then, spend the rest of the story with your characters under high pressure, trying to get more information out of them while also trying to find the bomb before it goes off.

Romantic Crime Thriller Prompts

27. after discovering the body of a woman in the woods, two small-town amateur detectives fall in love while avoiding danger and intrigue in discovering who the murderer is and who’s next..

Have the two detectives only realize their love for each other as they discover some major break in the case, which leads to them being targeted by the murderer. This will raise the stakes by having the love and their lives at stake while they work to solve the crime.

28. While trying to protect a prostitute from being killed, a man falls deeply in love with her and goes to the depths to protect her.

To keep this a ‘crime thriller,’ make sure the focus of the story is keeping the woman from being killed by a criminal of some kind. Just add bits of romantic intrigue and flirtatious dialogue here and there to show their connection and why they fall in love by the end.

29. A couple falls in love and goes on a nationwide crime spree.

This story focuses more on whether the couple gets away with the crimes they commit (because of their love) or whether they are stopped at some point. How romantic you want your story will largely depend on how you want it to end: they both get away, only one of them gets away (and forever misses their love), or they both die tragically together, doing what they love (like Bonnie and Clyde).

30. While investigating a murder, the investigator falls in love with the only witness. And only suspect, too.

What makes this such a thriller is in keeping the reader in the dark about whether the love interest is the killer or not. And if they are, does the investigator choose them or their duty to the law at the end?

31. A man marries a corrupt businessman’s daughter. Is it love or is it revenge?

The crime element of this prompt is around whether the man is planning some sort of attack on the businessman. The thrill is in whether he will get caught. The romantic subplot comes from exploring whether he will allow himself to truly fall in love with the woman he married or whether his revenge will win.

BRYN DONOVAN

tell your stories, love your life

50 (or so) Fabulous Resources For Crime Writers

Writers Write creates and shares writing resources. In this post, we share 50 (or so) fabulous resources for crime writers .

Crime fiction will always be one of the most popular genres for readers and writers.

If you’re thinking of writing a thriller, a mystery, or a police procedural, you will appreciate some of our previous posts on the subject. I’ve put together a list of all our writing resources for crime writers in one place.

• 13 Questions To Ask Before You Turn Your Idea Into A Crime Novel
• 5 Fabulous Tips for First Time Crime Writers
• 5 Reasons To Write Crime Fiction
• 7 Important Crime-Writing Guidelines
• 9 Examples of Sub-Genres in Crime Fiction
• Crime Writing For Beginners – An Infographic
• Why People Read Detective Novels
• Why Revenge is Such a Brilliant Plot for Beginner Writers
• Thriller Book Title Generator
• The 5 Pillars Of Thrillers
• How Much Blood Do You Need In A Crime Novel?
• Mystery, Horror, Thriller – What’s The Difference?

Characterisation

• 10 Essential Tips for Writing Antagonists
• 10 Ways To Create Dangerously Nuanced Antagonists
• 3 Dastardly Different Villains & Why We Love To Hate Them
• 4 Ways To Get Your Reader To Identify With An Unsympathetic Character
• 7 Deadly Rules For Creating A Villain
• 9 Anti-Social Fictional Characters We Can’t Forget
• 9 Useful Character Questionnaires For Writers
• 9 Ways To Make Readers Care For An Amoral Protagonist
• How To Use Your Antagonist To Define Your Story Goal
• Personality Disorders –  DSM-5 Resource for Writers
• Resources For Writing About Troubled Fictional Characters
• The 9 Types Of Unreliable Narrator
• The Antagonist As A Literary Device
• The Least You Should Know About Your Protagonist And Antagonist
• Torture Your Character – The 3 Most Effective Types of Inner Conflict
• Use The 7 Deadly Sins To Strengthen Your Antagonist’s Motives
• Use These 7 Gaslighting Phrases To Make Your Antagonist More Manipulative
• When Crazy Is Good – 9 Good Reasons For Your Character’s Bad Behaviour
• 10 Deadly Poisons – A Crime Writer’s Resource
• 20 Things A Crime And A Novel Have In Common
• 32 Ways To Write About Fear
• 37 Ways To Write About Anger
• 50 Ways To Say ‘Villain’
• 6 Things Alfred Hitchcock Can Teach You About Writing
• 7 Invaluable Lessons For Writers From James Patterson
• Cheat Sheets For Writing Body Language
• Crime Writer’s Resource – The Human Body After Death
• Dashiel Hammett’s 24 Rules For Detective Writers
• Professions With The Most Psychopaths
• Famous Fictional Detectives
• The Man With The Golden Pen — 5 Writing Secrets From Ian Fleming
• 10 Elementary Tips For Writers From Sherlock Holmes
• How To Write The Death Scene

Techniques And Devices

• 10 Cliffhangers That Make Readers Turn The Page
• 5 Tips To Help You Write A Gripping Read
• 7 Awesome Foreshadowing Tips For Fiction Writers
• 7 Ways To Create Suspense In Your Memoir
• Adding Suspense To Stories
• Creating Tension In Characters, Plot, And Setting
• Literary Devices For Crime Writers – A MacGuffin And A Gun
• The Locked Room – A Simple Way To Test Your Plot
• What Is A Plot? – A Writer’s Resource
• What Is A Red Herring?
• What My Six-Year-Old Taught Me About Storytelling
• Getting Away With Murder: A 5-Point Plan On How To Kill A Character

Top Tip: If you want to learn how to write a book, sign up for our online course .

If you enjoyed this post read:

• The Writers Write Book Reading Challenge
• A Checklist For Beginner Bloggers
• Practical Hacks For Planning Your 2018 Blogging Calendar
• How To Think Like A Writer Every Day
• 3 Things Your Characters Should Not Be Doing
• Crime Writing , Featured Post , Genre , Writing Resource , Writing Tips from Amanda Patterson

© Writers Write 2022

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EveryWriter

Empowering Writers Since 1999

50 True Crime writing prompts

December 7, 2023 by Richard 2 Comments

Do you love true crime? Here are 50 True Crime writing prompts that can help you turn your hobby into a passion. Write the next great crime novel with these 50 true crime sounding writing prompts. (Writing prompts are not real crimes, no one was harmed during the making of this list). These true crime prompts can get you writing with ideas that sound like they were ripped right from the headlines!

True crime continues captivating masses as one of the most popular genres, with avid fans endlessly speculating on unsolved mysteries, criminal psychology, and masterful investigative work unfolding in news reports and headlines. Audiences love dissecting enigmatic cold cases, theorizing serial killer motives, and imagining how they’d outmaneuver corrupt officials evading justice.

Now arrives an imaginative blog series fusing this prevalent fascination with suspenseful true crime tales and creative writing. Readers can expect fictional vignettes and character studies directly inspired by the most bold, shocking and macabre cases occupying our national obsession.

Over 50 riveting posts, expect to encounter short stories featuring secret smuggling rings infiltrated by tenacious journalists, wrongly imprisoned citizens unraveling vindictive conspiracies after daring prison escapes, detectives decoding visual clues left by elusive murderous siblings spreading fear, and ordinary individuals pulled into dangerous criminal webs while investigating deceased loved ones’ hidden lies.

Combining a lifelong love of suspense literature with more recent true crime intrigue, this blog presents fascinating “what if” spins on the ever-intriguing true crime stories currently dominating headlines and feeding society’s undying macabre curiosity.

Here are 50 True Crime writing prompts

• Even forensic experts were baffled – how did an intruder bypass advanced security systems to steal priceless artifacts without leaving a trace? His daring heist would come to be known as The Case of the Ghost Thief.
• Shannon thought she found happily ever after – until private investigators uncovered her new husband’s murderous past lives hidden under aliases. She was now the hunted.
• Jimmy always skirted the rules growing up – but law enforcement must finally bring his car theft ring screeching to a halt before more hot vehicles vanish.
• They thought moving to an elite gated community guaranteed protection. That belief shattered violently the night a serial squatter left a trail of bodies inside their barricaded paradise. Safety was now the illusion…danger the new reality.
• Emotions running fiery-hot – that was Chief Inspector Davis’s initial theory when a beloved community elder and her family wound up slain in a remote cabin amid the ashes. But science would soon reveal cold calculations behind the vengeance.
• If walls could talk inside Cell Block D. What the guards can’t contain and the razor wire fences can’t cage are the secret worlds unfolding through whispers and stashed notes between unlikely allies. The true power dwells inside…
• “We were the last ones to see little Susie alive…” Three witnesses hold clues that don’t line up when piecing together the 10-year old’s final joyful afternoon – before her devastating fate just 10 miles outside town.
• They assumed reports were exaggerated – until their humanitarian mission encountered the child trafficking ring thriving right under the world’s nose. Now ensuring justice requires playing chess against ruthless warlords and corrupted politicians.
• When the mysterious copper box appeared atop the police chief’s desk sealed in wax imprinted with a serpent insignia, he knew this case would brand his career – and likely claim lives before shocking town secrets finally crawled into the light.
• Criminal masterminds often slip up with small oversights. So when Jake noticed the pharmacy robber’s odd accent slipped slightly, detecting the imposter became his lone chance to solve the undiscovered crime network hiding statewide.
• Even behind the fortress of Sing Sing’s reinforced walls, ruby red secrets passed illicitly through inmates’ cunning hands held the power to silence snitches and elevate new criminal royalty – if ever whispered to cunning ears on the outside.
• They were the most savage contract killers Chicago ever produced – until two detectives decode the murderous siblings’ visual calling card and broadcast their identities citywide under a simple symbol printed on matchboxes and tucked into victims’ pockets.
• My journalism mentor once said chasing truth often demands unlawful maneuvers. But infiltrating the smuggling ring as an undercover boat hand to uncover their offshore operations proves my breaking point might meet the ocean floor instead.
• As lead prosecutor, I must sway the suspicious jury to convict the charismatic, cutthroat Wall Street tycoon guilty of swindling millions from innocent pensioners. Little do they know we shared steamy history I’ve done everything to bury – but if it guarantees he finally pays…
• Bumping off low-level street dealers was child’s play for Vincent’s upstart cartel. But rubbing out a top enforcer from the old-guard narcotics gang as a brazen power move would ignite all-out war across Miami – and likely redraw the city’s trafficking empire.
• Master burglars live by simple rules – disable alarms, grab valuables quick, torch remnants that might identify. But when one veteran thief’s signature arson accelerant technique links a startling number of cold cases together, findings short-circuit investigator’s expectations.
• We expecting riveting war stories interviewing Sylvia for our documentary on little-known heroes. While the plucky French freedom fighter certainly dazzled describing sabotaging Nazi supply lines, something about her cagey manner hinted at buried secrets too dark for celluloid.
• As the trial’s ringmaster directing lawyer lines of inquiry, all knew DA Preston Brooks owned the courtroom – unless the defense somehow exposed his Achilles’ heel, an affliction even his savviest opponents currently remain unaware.
• While the mysterious Poison Pen letters mailed to wealthy elite seemed relatively harmless at first, the handwritten death threats and secrets exposed about powerful figures suggested an elaborate web of vengeance – with citywide implications if culprit isn’t quickly collared.
• They considered clever Checkbox Carl’s suburban spree an anomalous blip explaining the rash of burglaries targeting only worthy 18th century maps and globes worth millions as strange midlife crisis. But when a body surfaced matching his contexts, authorities shifted focus to more sinister theories.
• Investigators traced the assassin’s origins when scans of his forged passports and covert communications revealed subtle regional spelling slip-ups, blowing his dangerous cover.
• Jason’s prison escape plan counted on inmates providing distractions while he climbed fences. But overnight the convict code turned against outing snitches, leaving him solo against the spotlights.
• While Pickpocketing Peggy’s hotel robberies proved harmless at first, when an elderly guest died from heart failure after the sneak thief invaded his room, her petty crimes turned deadly.
• When “The Nun” kept showing up at mob hits wearing a habit over her signature red dress, police struggled tracing her identity through networks of lookouts ever covering this phantom’s lethal tracks.
• They were the Bonnie and Clyde of cyber hacking – until global intelligence agencies decrypted the romantic partners’ secret online communications revealing the tools behind their digital heists.
• Metro Crime’s finest joined forces following a tip declaring Sherlock’s Gentleman’s Club the perfect money laundering front. But bringing down its network of corrupt officials backing this secret den proved far more scandalous.
• Mesmerized by her handsome biologist tutor since freshman year, star student Valerie stole rare toxins to spike his nagging wife’s gin and win her dream man – at least until suspicious scratches appeared on his arms.
• As the tenacious small-town reporter investigating corrupt sheriff kickbacks, Sam never expected to be tied as a traitor and dumped unconscious into the bayou’s hungry jaws. This time the story itself might just devour him.
• While the Cavendish Museum gala promised glitz showcasing Imperial Russia treasures, when assassins took patrons hostage demanding access to the Tsarina’s jeweled Faberge egg, the dream night soured into a tactical nightmare.
• Tracking South Boston’s elusive smuggling gang leader “Lucky” felt near impossible given his triple bolt deadlocks and savvy camera maneuvers avoiding identification – until a bright drug sniffing police canine brought new tricks locating his hidden vault.
• Even struggling as an ex-con and recovering addict, Nina’s counseling youth and penning cautionary addiction memoirs earned community respect – at least until criminology students correlated timing between her relapses and local pharmacy break-ins.
• As lead archeologist unearthing ancient funerary treasures, Scarlett knew tomb raiders and black market dealers craved the priceless icons we discovered. But mummifying a traitorous dig team member as a brutal warning seemed extreme escalation.
• While rural police wrote off the campground stalking incidents as harmless wildlife, Cryptozoology professor Artie Adler’s personal encounter suggested more sinister theories – perhaps explaining certain missing person cases spanning decades too…
• Having trained vicious attack hounds for high profile clients wary of kidnappers and assassins, canine security consultant Bruno knew never to ask names or motives. But the bounty hunter currently tailing him indicates one guard dog may have switched allegiances, to dangerous personal cost.
• As the reigning “Queen of Illegal Poker” in shady casino circles, lady luck let players assume Bianca’s wins came through chance alone. When bitter rivals with brutal reputations arrive to compete, however, her skill and charm may no longer protect the card empress.
• Seeing another inmate sneak away into solitary always elicited curiosity what rules were violated. But when Charise recognized the visitor’s Italian loafers and signet pinky ring slipping inside, she knew Omerta’s code now demands her silence… under penalty of a more permanent isolation yet to come.
• While the Faceless Butcher evaded capture leaving no traces at gory slaughterhouse crime scenes, newly promoted Lt. Aaliyah Nasser discovers surveillance tapes showing a masked figure without gloves at the stainless steel sinks.
• Coded ledger entries tied clean cut broker Elliott Hays to the lucrative art theft ring fencing stolen Warhols and Rembrandts via Swiss accounts. But could his surprise release on lack of hard evidence trigger a brazen museum robbery the very same night?
• Turning rats usually reduced prison sentences substantially. But Norris failed to realize the sharp consequences after he snitched to the DA about the Aryan Clan’s gun running operation from behind bars – consequences now hunting him on the outside.
• While the mysterious Poison Pen letters seemed relatively harmless at first, the handwritten death threats exposing dark secrets about powerful city figures suggested an elaborate insider campaign of coercion and vengeance brewing on anonymous elite typewriters.
• When beloved Father Pat’s troubled past came to light after an exposé revealed the once admired clergyman fabricated his entire identity and background with the Church, investigators shift focus to unraveling what other altar boy secrets “Patrick” hides behind the holy cloth…
• As lead prosecutor, all expected ADA Alexis to steamroll the violent empire of a ruthless drug kingpin whose muscle intimidated witnesses citywide into silence. Little did observers know she shared an intimate past with the golden-toothed dealer – one with photos to prove it.
• While Metro PD anti-corruption squads wiretap organized crime fronts, under scrutiny Judge Terencesynchronizey Terence subtly communicates his sway over closeted city officials through coded dinner menus dropped at usual dead drop takeout joints. But can anyone decipher the orders?
• When his daughter Allison disappears walking home from calculus tutorials, gut instincts tell pop psychologist Dr. Malcolm one of his unstable clients now targets his own family. As encrypted therapy session tapes trickle in taunting his powerlessness, outsmarting a diabolical psychopath becomes Malcolm’s only recourse to ever see Allie again.
• No one expected Ferdinand to survive San Quentin much less keep his humanity given the horrors there. But salty convict poems he secretly scrawls beyond night sticks and constant shakedowns reveal how creating art and probing society’s gaps helps imprisoned minds find fleeting freedoms within confining walls.
• While curating the soon-to-open National Museum of Organized Crime fulfilled Susan’s academic dreams, when a mysterious fedora-wearing patron keeps appearing alone on off hours obsessively gazing at exhibits featuring one display-encased tommy gun in particular, Susan realizes nightmare history shrouded in legend threatens her and possibly others bound by blood oath.
• The framed photograph of their supposedly estranged mother arrives in nine year old Nina’s mailbox without explanation days after they buried their devastated father. But her name signed on the back in familiar feminine script suggests the deceased parent they knew was tangled in criminal deceit – pulling Nina into the dangerous web.
• As lead detective haunted by the serial child killer somehow always vanishing moments before cops arrive to grisly suburban scenes over two states, Vinny notices through photos that one familiar middle school guidance counselor grayscale vehicle sits parked in multiple old crime scene backgrounds…
• While intrepid student sleuth Kendra didn’t expect unmasking her prep school headmaster’s hidden DUI manslaughter past would catalyze his resignation, the threatening late night voicemail referencing her “meddlesome nature” suggests this Walter White shirt-wearing teacher harbored even darker secrets yet to unravel.

And so concludes our chilling collection of 50 true crime writing prompts pulled straight from the headlines. These fictional snippets aim to ignite your creative sparks and have you penning the next gripping thriller. With tales covering everything from alluring art heists to scandalous poison pen letters tormenting elites, this series allows your imagination to run wild theorizing “what-if” scenarios about the ever-intriguing world of crime. Use these creative launches to develop short stories, expand into novellas, or even inspire full-length novels filled with the intrigue and complex characters that make true crime tales irresistible page-turners. Wherever these prompts lead you, embrace your fascination with the genre and let the writing take hold until “The End” arrives. Just be careful if you find yourself identifying a little too closely with the criminal masterminds…We hope you enjoyed these writing prompts. If they were not your cup of tea, we have many other prompts on our site . Also, please leave us a comment, we’d love to hear from you! 

About Richard

Richard Everywriter (pen name) has worked for literary magazines and literary websites for the last 25 years. He holds degrees in Writing, Journalism, Technology and Education. Richard has headed many writing workshops and courses, and he has taught writing and literature for the last 20 years.  

In writing and publishing he has worked with independent, small, medium and large publishers for years connecting publishers to authors. He has also worked as a journalist and editor in both magazine, newspaper and trade publications as well as in the medical publishing industry.   Follow him on Twitter, and check out our Submissions page .

Reader Interactions

December 7, 2023 at 8:49 pm

I loved this list. I got some great ideas from it.

Eshal. says

October 19, 2024 at 5:56 am

I didnt like the ideas. Ugrade them-for my next book-so I will give you some credit for your (to be) brilliant ideas!

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