If you’re writing a mystery novel or a book in a mystery subgenre, there are many popular mystery tropes for you to consider including in your story. Doing so will help to ensure your novel matches readers’ expectations for the type of mystery you’re writing.
Below we’ve included 21 mystery tropes. If you decide to include any, make sure to add your own twist to them.
The Investigator
1. The first timer gets the big case.
In this trope, the first case the detective investigates develops into the big case of the story. The protagonist must overcome, or in some case use, their inexperience and fresh eyes to solve the mystery.
2. The whole truth and nothing but…or is it?
Known as the ‘unreliable narrator’ trope, the story is told from the protagonist’s perspective but, by the end of the story, the reader questions whether everything happened as they described. A good example of this would be the detective story Shutter Island, where the detective turns out to be a patient in a hospital for the mentally impaired.
3. The investigator’s past comes back to haunt them.
This trope can be anything that disrupts the investigation. This could be as benign as a past romantic partner who won’t leave the investigator alone or as elaborate as the investigator coming to terms with some shady dealings they’ve committed in the past.
4. Crimes are easier to solve with help from the other side.
The psychic detective or supernatural crime is a common trope when you want to include paranormal elements. For this trope, the investigator finds their way to clues or revelations with the help of ghosts, spirits, or other supernatural beings. A popular version of this is the comic book detective hero John Constantine.
5. Two heads are better than one.
Buddy-cop stories are popular for a reason, especially when the partners are opposites in some way. They could both be professionals or one professional and one amateur. Whatever the circumstances of their pairing, this trope relies on a hard-nosed, devoted investigator getting paired with a laidback, less serious one.
6. The detective did it; or did they?
This is known as the ‘framed detective’ trope, where the clues all start to point at the protagonist as the criminal. The story becomes as much about clearing the detective’s name as it does discovering the real criminal.
7. The amateur becomes the professional.
This trope is the basis for almost all ‘cozy mystery’ stories. For whatever reason, someone who is in no way a detective or criminal investigator becomes involved in solving a crime, either through choice or Fate. They investigate the crime often despite the police (usually with better results) and ultimately solve the case.
The Crime
8. The wealthy and influential victim must be found or avenged.
The ‘missing person’ or ‘ransom’ crime is a common mystery trope. A well-known or well-connected person goes missing or murdered, and the story is about discovering who committed the crime. There is often a ‘ticking clock’ in these types of plotlines, as well, involving solving the case before a ransom or public event is due.
9. Can a crime be committed inside a locked room?
The ‘locked room’ mystery is one where the crime was seemingly committed in a room locked from the inside. No way in or out can be found initially and the crime seems impossible without the perpetrator remaining inside somewhere. Some secret (but obvious) way the perpetrator got away (like an air duct or during the confusion of the initial investigation process) is usually revealed at the end.
10. No crime is too good to be true.
The ‘perfect crime’ trope is a common one in mystery stories, where every clue seems to lead to a dead end or can be easily explained. For these stories, the resolution is a clever one that requires ‘out of the box’ thinking by the detective.
11. Exotic locations can feel less exotic when murder is on the menu.
A version of the ‘locked room’ mystery, this mystery trope involves a crime happening on a secluded island or high-end resort. Maybe the detective is on vacation and gets roped into investigating the crime because nobody else can. Another version is the detective is brought to the exotic location and must overcome their limited knowledge of the setting to solve the case.
12. The thing everyone wants has gone missing.
Better known as the ‘MacGuffin plot,’ the ‘victim’ in this trope is less a person and more an item of desire. Think The Maltese Falcon of pulp detective fiction fame. All murders or robberies that take place in the story are in the service of finding this item at all costs.
13. Overcoming amnesia can be a complicated endeavor.
The amnesia plot is a fun one because the person with memory loss could be the purported victim or suspected perpetrator, requiring the detective to backtrack with the person to uncover what happened to them. Or, for a psychological thriller, the detective themselves could be the one with amnesia and must uncover their own history while investigating the story’s main crime. Christopher Nolan’s Memento is probably the most well-known of this latter version.
14. Sometimes it’s easier to work in reverse.
The dual-timeline or begin-with-the-end mystery trope changes the investigation from ‘who did it’ to ‘how as it done.’ This mystery trope starts with the crime being committed then unravels through two timelines—the past and the present—to find out how the crime took place, with the ending joining the two together.
15. Crimes never really disappear.
This is the classic ‘cold case’ trope, where clues are discovered that lead to an unsolved case from the past. The detective must solve the old case in order to solve the current one.
The Criminals
16. Can the serial criminal be stopped before they strike again?
In this popular mystery trope, a series of crimes take place that are either obviously connected or eventually discovered to be connected. The story takes on a ‘ticking clock’ element where the criminal must be uncovered before they commit their next crime.
17. Friends become enemies; enemies become friends.
Characters the detective previously trusted are revealed to be the criminal or, at the very least, working with the criminal. This is a common twist element in mystery stories.
18. Don’t forget to look from within.
The ‘inside job’ trope is also a common twist element in mystery stories, where it’s revealed that someone has been hijacking the investigation the whole time from within. The investigator must then discover who in their team is responsible before they can carry on solving the case.
19. Will the real criminal please stand up?
‘Multiple suspects’ is a well-used mystery trope and works well with other tropes like ‘exotic location’ or ‘locked room.’ The detective must unravel the suspects’ alibis, as well as their potential motives, before discovering who committed the crime.
20. Secret societies often have secret missions.
For this trope, the criminal is discovered to be working for a larger secret society or conspiracy group. Mythical groups, like the Templars or the Masons, are often used for this trope as they are commonly known.
21. Copycat criminals complicate everything.
This trope works well as a twist revelation: the detective thinks it’s one suspect the whole time only to discover that person has a solid alibi and couldn’t have done it. The detective then has to seemingly start all over to find the real criminal, sometimes even enlisting the first suspect’s help to find them.