<div>Edgar award nominee James N. Frey, author of the internationally best-selling books on the craft of writing, <i>How to Write a Damn Good Novel</i>, <i>How to Write a Damn Good Novel II: Advanced Techniques</i>, and <i>The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth</i>, has now written what is certain to become the standard "how to" book for mystery writing, <i>How to Write a Damn Good Mystery</i>.<br><br>Frey urges writers to aim high-not to try to write a good-enough-to-get-published mystery, but a damn good mystery. A damn good mystery is first a dramatic novel, Frey insists-a dramatic novel with living, breathing characters-and he shows his readers how to create a living, breathing, believable character who will be clever and resourceful, willful and resolute, and will be what Frey calls "the author of the plot behind the plot."<br><br>Frey then shows, in his well-known, entertaining, and accessible (and often humorous) style , how the characters-the entire ensemble, including the murderer, the detective, the authorities, the victims, the suspects, the witnesses and the bystanders-create a complete and coherent world.<br><br>Exploring both the on-stage action and the behind-the-scenes intrigue, Frey shows prospective writers how to build a fleshed-out, believable, and logical world. He shows them exactly which parts of that world show up in the pages of a damn good mystery-and which parts are held back just long enough to keep the reader guessing.<br><br>This is an indispensable step-by-step guide for anyone who's ever dreamed of writing a damn good mystery.<br></div> <div>Edgar award nominee James N. Frey, author of the internationally best-selling books on the craft of writing, <i>How to Write a Damn Good Novel</i>, <i>How to Write a Damn Good Novel II: Advanced Techniques</i>, and <i>The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth</i>, has now written what is certain to become the standard "how to" book for mystery writing, <i>How to Write a Damn Good Mystery</i>.<br><br>Frey urges writers to aim high-not to try to write a good-enough-to-get-published mystery, but a damn good mystery. A damn good mystery is first a dramatic novel, Frey insists-a dramatic novel with living, breathing characters-and he shows his readers how to create a living, breathing, believable character who will be clever and resourceful, willful and resolute, and will be what Frey calls "the author of the plot behind the plot."<br><br>Frey then shows, in his well-known, entertaining, and accessible (and often humorous) style , how the characters-the entire ensemble, including the murderer, the detective, the authorities, the victims, the suspects, the witnesses and the bystanders-create a complete and coherent world.<br><br>Exploring both the on-stage action and the behind-the-scenes intrigue, Frey shows prospective writers how to build a fleshed-out, believable, and logical world. He shows them exactly which parts of that world show up in the pages of a damn good mystery-and which parts are held back just long enough to keep the reader guessing.<br><br>This is an indispensable step-by-step guide for anyone who's ever dreamed of writing a damn good mystery.<br></div>