The Big Three Crucial Elements in a Mystery

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courtesy David Benjamin

Author David Benjamin with a Paris backdrop.

David Benjamin

media release: David Benjamin knows a thing or two about books that include whodunnits and murder mysteries. 

His Jim Otis detective series, set in Wisconsin, draws readers who love solving a mystery along with the story’s protagonist. Dead Shot, the fourth book in the riveting detective series was recently published.

Benjamin noted, “The murder mystery, since its emergence in the 19th century, is a formula. Beyond the requirement that there should be a murder, three elements are common, if not obligatory in every murder mystery.”

Book lovers at the May 15th program at the Madison Senior Center will learn how the “3 Ms” are key to story development. 

Join the free program at the Madison Senior Center; a parking garage is adjacent to the Center. Registration Details: Email seniorcenter@cityofmadison.com or call 608-266-6581, to register

The Author’s Big Three Crucial Elements in a Mystery 

Maguffin: “The thing that dreams are made of.” The object or person that obsesses the characters in the story. It is the driver of the plot. Its actual nature or value is far less important than its pursuit, and the consequences of its pursuit.

Moriarty: The antagonist, a bad guy or gal, often a criminal mastermind but sometimes just a crook, who wants—or already has—the maguffin. They will do anything to possess it.

Marlowe: The sleuth, or cop or unwitting bystander who assumes the mission of unraveling the mystery that shrouds the maguffin.

In his book talk, Benjamin explains each of these elements, their origins and sources and the myriad variations that can be spun. He offers examples from literature and from his own novels.

Regardless of how the author manipulates, varies or defies the formula, the astute reader can use the 3 M’s as a key that unlocks the structure of the narrative and opens—at least partly—the mind of the mystery writer.