I'm trying to write a short detective story (maybe a series, who knows?) taking place in my fictional world with magic and such. The story will feature a meeting between two detectives. Amita Frost, A short woman well versed in a variety of things (the Goren or Logan of the team (uh, Law and Order: CI reference)), and Bragen Hollander, a tall sharp eyed man with the kind of odd way of thinking that's quite helpful, but has a hot streak and a bit of cynicism (Stabler, Munch, Briscoe kinda guy (More L&O)). Unfortunately, I can't think of a good murder! There's no real reason a train room would be locked, so that's out, and you usually wouldn't know anyone on a train (and therefore no motive). That also get's rid of another idea: An ice cast of a knife belonging to someone else, to frame the other person. also, I can't think of a way to actually slow time of death, with high temperature the body heat isn't lost, but there's still rigor, isn't there? And being active before a death would speed up the rigor, making it seem like they've been dead longer.
I am not sure really what kind of death you could use in this but seeing as though you have magic and all, you could really use the magic to slow the death down or speed it up. Asphyxiation could work well with the whole magic thing. Even have a drowning and that he isn't physically being drowned in water but a spell over him drowning him. Just a few suggestions. But magic leaves a lot open to you really. You could do so much with it. Torana
Isaac Asimov wrote a series of science fiction mysteries, partly because someone asserted to him that SF and mystery couldn't really mix well, because the SF factor made it too easy to cheat on the plot. Asimove pointed out that the same kind of cheating was possible in conventional mysteries as well, so the key for SF mysteries was to make sure that all the relevant science or tech was well established in the story, so the reader knows the rules. The same logic applies to fantasy mystery. If the reader understands what the magic can and cannot do, that can be used to construct a solid mystery. J. K. Rowlings provides more examples. Consider Alistair Moody in the Goblet of Fire. The properties of Polyjuice Potion were very well established much earlier in the series, so when it was revealed that the Moody of that book had been an imposter throughout, and how, it all made perfect sense. No new magic was pulled out of the air. As in most murder mysteries, the key is to find a new way that something well established can be used to commit a crime, and then your protagonists must discover that methodically, sometimes getting stuck on misleading coincidences or other events taking place because of other characters' agendas. Hope that helps.
Try and make it different for sure something that hasn't been done before. I recently read a piee by a friend where the victim died through having a flower stuffed down his throat. Was a rose and it was very different and quite unusual indeed. Never read about anything like that before. There are alot of ways to kill off a character really, you just have to be inventive and think hard about what has been done and ways that you can make it different and believeable.
Yeah, I kinda like how she does that, the big twist at the end is probably going to be something from the first book I guess I was a bit misleading, I need a way for someone to get away with it... I mean, beyond just killing someone and walking away without blood on you. I've thought a few ways, but none of them seem convincing
