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It's not at all cheating. The narrative "camera" can't be in all places at all times or your book will be a thousand pages long and only cover an hour. In fact, part of the joy of a mystery is th...
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#4: Attribution notice removed
by
System
·
2019-12-13T12:00:24Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/12782 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T03:43:48Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/12782 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
It's not at all cheating. The narrative "camera" can't be in all places at all times or your book will be a thousand pages long and only cover an hour. In fact, part of the joy of a mystery is that the reader _doesn't_ know what Person A did offscreen, and has to work it out. The detective/cop/agent/etc. (whoever is solving the mystery) can't be in all places at all times with all characters, so the detective him/herself isn't going to have access to all the information. The key is not to frustrate your reader to the point where the reader has to put the book down. You leave clues (Person A and Person B are talking; Person A realizes afterward that her brush is missing; later on Person A's DNA is found at a crime scene and she has to spend the rest of the book figuring out how she was framed, and the answer is that Person B pickpocketed her brush) which an alert reader can figure out or can be recognized on a second reading. What you shouldn't do (unless you intend to do it as a gag) is [Murder by Death](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00005RDRO) plotting, where you _don't_ ever reveal the clues which the reader (or protagonist) could use to figure out the mystery. It's fine to hide some actions; that's what makes it a mystery.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2014-09-05T10:15:14Z (over 10 years ago)
Original score: 2