See you next time

That’s it for the lesson. Detective stories are usually about the mystery; finding clues, following leads, and building tension. When action does happen, it tends to be short, sharp, and shocking. It usually tells our detective they're getting closer to the truth.

...It also doesn't hurt to put some in early to give the reader a sense of the the excitement that's to come if they keep reading!

Do you remember the fun we had when you poisoned me?

Action in detective stories tends to be short, sharp, and shocking.

Continuing your improvised story from the previous lessons. You’re the detective, your surroundings are your workplace, an interesting person you’ve seen is your client, and the nearby item you’ve chosen features in your job. How can you add implied danger to your scenario? What’s an action sequence that fits in with your story that could play out?

Action sequences take writers a lot of time to prepare and are hard to describe in ways that keep readers engaged and keep track of what's going on. Think of a book you’ve read that has action, such as a chase or a fight, or similar. What do you like about it from a reader’s point of view? Now try to look at it from a writer’s point of view. How does the writer keep you interested in the scene? What words and descriptors help you picture the scene in your mind?

The Falcon's Malteser by Anthony Horrowitz is the first in a series of stories about the world's worst private detective (Source)

The Falcon’s Malteser by Anthony Horowitz is the first of 8 novels in The Diamond Brothers series, which tells the adventures of the world’s worst private detective.

Set in London, it features Nick Simple and his older brother Herbert (who works under the name ‘Tim Diamond’ because he thought it sounded better). As this group of lessons covers, they’re approached by Johnny Naples who employs them to look after a box of chocolates. It contains all the staples of a good detective story - mystery, intrigue, arrests, nightclub singers, shady figures, kidnappings and diamonds.

The story has also been adapted into a stage play and a film called Diamond’s Edge or Just Ask for Diamond, depending on where you live.

Here is a promo that was created for New Old Friends for their stage production of the story.

And this is a section of the film that matches the passages we're looking at in these lessons!

One more to go! In the last lesson in this series, we'll wrap things up and talk about one more detective story trope.

See you then!

Detective comedy 4: Some action!