murder mystery
Detective fiction subgenre
A murder mystery is a story—novel, film, play, or game—centered on solving a killing.
The genre typically features a detective uncovering clues, interrogating suspects, and revealing the murderer in a climactic scene.
At parties, a murder mystery is an interactive game where guests play characters and work together to identify the killer among them.
Intentional misleading distraction
- alibiDefense of location
- motiveReason for action
- evidenceFacts supporting truth
- fingerprintFriction ridge impression
bloodstain · footprint · cipher · hidden passage · secret door · locked room · timeline · witness
Private investigator
- SherlockIconic Victorian-era investigator
- PoirotFictional Belgian detective
- HolmesFictional London investigator
- gumshoeInformal term for detective
private eye · inspector · amateur sleuth · armchair detective · hardboiled · noir · procedural · whodunit
Person found guilty
- perpetratorOne who commits wrongdoing
- guiltyResponsible for wrongdoing
- innocentFree from moral wrong
- accompliceCrime's willing helper
mastermind · butler · scorned lover · houseguest · family member · servant · confession · accusation
Stretched or strained state
- twistRotating motion or surprise
- plot twistSudden narrative redirection
- revealMake something visible
- suspicionSense of unease about motives
foreboding · ominous · intrigue · dark secret · unreliable narrator · dramatic irony · cliffhanger · foreshadowing
Deceased human body
- bodyPhysical structure, living thing
- deceasedNo longer living
- bloodshedKilling and wounding
- strangledKilled by throat compression
poisoned · stabbed · bludgeoned · sprawled · lifeless · discovered · revenge · vendetta
Landed gentry's residence
- country estateLarge rural landholding residence
- drawing roomFormal reception space
- libraryBook collection or building
- studyDeliberate learning effort
train · Orient Express · foggy London · snowbound · locked room · dinner party · remote island · village
red herring
Intentional misleading distraction
fingerprint · bloodstain · footprint · cipher · hidden passage · secret door · locked room · timeline · witness · testimony
sleuth
Private investigator
- SherlockIconic Victorian-era investigator
- PoirotFictional Belgian detective
- HolmesFictional London investigator
gumshoe · private eye · inspector · amateur sleuth · armchair detective · hardboiled · noir · procedural · whodunit · deduction
culprit
Person found guilty
- perpetratorOne who commits wrongdoing
- guiltyResponsible for wrongdoing
- innocentFree from moral wrong
accomplice · mastermind · butler · scorned lover · houseguest · family member · servant · confession · accusation · misdirection
tension
Stretched or strained state
- twistRotating motion or surprise
- plot twistSudden narrative redirection
- revealMake something visible
suspicion · foreboding · ominous · intrigue · dark secret · unreliable narrator · dramatic irony · cliffhanger · foreshadowing · atmosphere
corpse
Deceased human body
strangled · poisoned · stabbed · bludgeoned · sprawled · lifeless · discovered · revenge · vendetta · quarry
manor house
Landed gentry's residence
- country estateLarge rural landholding residence
- drawing roomFormal reception space
- libraryBook collection or building
study · train · Orient Express · foggy London · snowbound · locked room · dinner party · remote island · village · English countryside
- mystery fictionwhodunit, whodunnit, sleuth, detective novel, detective fiction
- Mystery GamesCluedo, crime solving, case files
- true crimetrue crime, cold case, crime docs, homicide, serial killer
- crime filmsheist film, crime drama, crime thriller, film noir, police procedural
- crime literaturetrue crime, crime fiction, detective novels, crime thrillers, police procedurals
- sleuthingclues, detective work, evidence gathering, fingerprints, footprints
murder mysteryslice of life
Realistic everyday depiction
stream of consciousness · ambiguous ending · thriller · linear narrative · literary fiction
murder mysteryromance
Love and its excitement
romantic comedy · love story · wedding story · coming-of-age story · comedy of manners
mystery, murder, murderer, murderous, murderously, murderers, murderess, murderousness, murderesses