Plot Twists Through Dialogue Misdirection: Misleading through dialogue can occur at any point in your cozy mystery and can be effective if not overly obvious.
Writers can introduce the first misdirection early to help embed the falsehood as a truth in the reader’s mind.
Plot Twist Through Clues: I like to embed clues within descriptions, but only one or two, if any.
Practice selectivity in these choices, and your impact will be stronger.
Red Herrings: I like planting false clues or paths that lead to dead ends (pun intended) because that makes me feel impish.
How can the pebbles in the vase be made of only glass?
Did the green ink stains on work coveralls really happen when a pen exploded inside their pocket?
Plot Twist Solves the Puzzle:
”Ah-ha moments…”
Exterior Plot Twists: I’ve included a chart below to serve as a springboard for adding exterior plot twists.
These are natural fears that generate empathy for the central character.
