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  • Writer's Digest

    THE VILLAIN IN MYSTERIES AND THRILLERS

    May 08, 2019 5 minutes
    BY HALLIE EPHRON

    As any mystery reader knows, today’s villain is no Snidely Whiplash, standing in broad daylight, twirling his moustache and sneering. Any character who looks that nefarious will almost certainly turn out to be innocent.

    Readers are delighted when the bad guy was hiding in plain sight, an innocuous-looking character who cleverly conceals his true self, luring trusting victims and then snaring them in a death trap. But “the butler did it” won’t wash in a modern mystery. Minor characters who are part of the wallpaper for the first 28 chapters can’t be promoted to villain status at the end just to surprise the reader. And you can’t give a character a personality transplant in the final chapter. Disbelief will trump surprise unless you’ve left subtle clues along the way.

    PLANNING AHEAD

    Some writers know from

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