UNVEILING THE MYSTERY IN WRITING SUSPENSE
Barbara Dawson Smith

Romantic suspense is more than a genre. It's the page-turning pace that keeps readers awake until three a.m. to finish your book. As much as they grumble, they'll praise you for creating a story that kept them so intensely involved. Every good book has elements of suspense. The reader wonders what will happen next, when the next plot surprise will spring out at them, how the characters will resolve their conflict. Your first sentence should grab the reader and pull her into the story.

My Avon historical, SILVER SPLENDOR, opens this way: "That man was still following her."  What man? Why is he stalking her? Is he friend or foe? What will he do to her? Is she in danger? End each scene on another hook so you're constantly luring the reader onward to the very last page. Watch your transitions from one scene or chapter to the next; these are the spots where the reader is most likely to put the book down.

In the prologue of my 1991 RITA finalist, DREAMSPINNER, Kent's wife falls from the castle parapet. As she lies dying in his arms, she chokes out one last word: "Dreamspinner!"  The scene ends right there. The reader must continue to turn the pages to discover the meaning of that intriguing word.

This cliffhanger technique works well in any type of novel. You might close a chapter with your character issuing an ultimatum: "'If you dare come nearer," she said, pointing the gun at him, "I swear I'll shoot.'"

Or you can withhold a key bit of information as I did in FIRE ON THE WIND (Feb. '92): "The man shifted position and Sarah saw the object of his interest. A lightning bolt of horror struck her heart."  The reader must go on to the next chapter to find out what Sarah saw. Your character might also make a decision without enlightening the reader until later. End the scene thus: "Suzy grinned. She knew precisely how to trick him into giving her the job."

High drama and emotion glue the reader to the pages. The closer you tie your protagonists to the mystery, the more intense the emotions will be. In FIRE AT MIDNIGHT (Avon, Sept. '92), the heroine's husband is the murder victim; the hero is an English lord who takes on the job of detective. The protagonists should be flesh-and-blood characters with faults as well as strengths. Through their loving influence on each other, both hero and heroine should face their flaws and grow into better people.

Readers like to test their sleuthing ability. In a romantic suspense novel, you need at least two suspects; the more the merrier. In DREAMSPINNER, I had five major suspects. To muddy the waters, several other minor characters trooped in and out of the story. I even cast a shadow of suspicion on the butler! Be aware, however, that a minor or peripheral character should never be the villain.

Get to know your villain as well as you know your hero and heroine. Nobody is all bad, with the possible exception of Saddaam Hussein! And even he had a rotten childhood and therefore a motivation. To make your villain come alive, allot him at least one redeeming trait. And give him a powerful reason for succumbing to the evil within himself. Greed, fear, ambition, grief, revenge, and betrayal are all excellent motivators. Get into the psyche of your villain and understand what's driving him. Why did the banker with the beautiful wife and two adorable children embezzle a million dollars? What tragedy in the slasher's past made him so inhuman he could kill twenty women?

Never introduce a brand-new character at the end of the book as your villain. You must give the reader a fair chance to guess whodunit or she'll feel cheated. Bury your clues in the middle of a paragraph or in the midst of exciting action. Have your hero and heroine speculate on the motivation of the suspects. Whenever possible, give each suspect a secret that will make him behave in a suspicious manner.

In DREAMSPINNER, all the suspects had a strong reaction to the word "Dreamspinner."  To Chantal, it was a bad luck charm. To Ravi, it embodied an evil curse. To Rose, it symbolized her noble heritage. To Gorden and Augusta, it sparked the fear of exposing a crime.

Spice your plot with "ahahs," or unexpected twists and flashes of insight. In DREAMSPINNER, a person unknown leaves the diary of Kent's first wife on Juliet's bed. Within the dusty pages, Juliet learns the dark reason why someone is trying to kill her and the secret behind why Kent married her. Thus, both the mystery and the romantic conflict take a dramatic leap forward. The reader eagerly awaits the scene when Juliet confronts her husband with the truth.

Avoid coincidences. Does your heroine fall in love with a handsome stranger who turns out to be her father's worst enemy? Does she overhear the villain divulge the mysterious circumstances of her birth? No fair! By having your heroine just happen to be in the right place at the wrong time, you strain the reader's belief in the story. You've taken the easy way out instead of challenging her to unravel the mystery along with the protagonists.

A strong, credible heroine takes an active role in tracking down each piece of the puzzle. Nothing should simply fall into her lap. Be especially cautious of coincidences that resolve the climax. Does a policeman appear by chance at the very moment the slasher holds a knife to the heroine's throat? Better that she should use her cleverness to thwart her attacker...or maybe have the sense to have summoned the law before she walked alone into the deserted building. Better still, involve the hero.

Build tension by placing your heroine in ever-increasing peril. If a killer stalks her, each murder attempt should be more frightening, more hazardous, more spine-chilling. The final, climactic danger should result in the hero and heroine solving the mystery together and giving the villain his comeuppance.

Last, remember to tie up all loose threads. Let your characters explain in dialogue every clue, true or false. There's no mystery to plotting suspense. Just hook the reader. Keep her guessing until the very last scene. Make her root for your protagonists and boo your villain. Then you can enjoy a good night's sleep while she stays awake until the wee hours.

--from a 1991 article in Romance Writers Report