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Carol Potenza

Carol Potenza

New Mexico Mysteries

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Demystifying the Beats Uncovers the Secrets of Mystery…

By Carol Potenza | September 29, 2022 | Category: New Books, WritingTag: Carol Potenza, Demystifying the Beats, New book, Releasing soon, writing mysteries

Demystifying the Beats: Dire Disruption

The Dire Disruption will be at the end of Act 2, right at the midpoint climax. And like the midpoint climax in any story, it’s a watershed. After it occurs, everything changes. It’s the point where the sleuth is on the downward slope to solving the case, and the villain knows it.

For a Whodunit, the Dire Disruption will probably be focused on the sleuth. In my Nicky Matthews mystery series, when you reach the Dire Disruption, you will DEFINITELY know it. It’s a slap in the face for both the reader and the sleuth. Check out any of my books: Hearts of the Missing, The Third Warrior, Spirit Daughters. I don’t fool around. I love shock and danger and surprise, and I put it on the page. I almost feel sorry for Nicky. Almost.

Cover of Hearts of the Missing
A book cover for the murder mystery Hearts of the missing, a Tony Hillerman Prize winning mystery
Book cover for The Third Warrior
The book cover for the second Nicky Matthews mystery, the Third Warrior.
The cover for the book Spirit Daughters
The cover for the third in the series of Nicky Matthews mysteries, Spirit Daughters

But for a Howcatchem, a nice twist is to plant the Dire Disruption on the villain’s doorstep. And no one does that better than Columbo. In the 1971 episode, Murder by the Book, Jack Cassidy plays the smarmiest, slimiest villain, and he does it beautifully. The victim’s wife even protests that Ken (Cassidy) could NEVER kill anyone, much less his best friend and murder mystery writing partner (played by Adam 12’s Martin Milner). That’s about the most unbelievable thing in the whole script. The guy’s a snake.

But he does murder his partner, and, under cover of darkness, dumps the body on his own front lawn. He calls the police immediately to report the murder. A warning, he tells Columbo. A message from the mob, who his partner was researching for a new book.

And when Columbo asks him to go through the timeline once more, there’s something bothering the Lieutenant.

“It’s your mail.”

“My mail?”

“Isn’t it funny how people are different? Now, me. If I found my partner dead, I would never think about opening my mail.”

He points to a big pile of open mail by the phone. And the look of Jack Cassidy’s face is priceless. That’s when he knows Columbo is on to him. Dire Disruption with a twist.

You can watch Murder by the Book here: https://columbophile.com/2018/03/25/full-episode-columbo-murder-by-the-book/

If you feel so inclined, buy @columbophile a cup of coffee.

And don’t forget my newest book, Demystifying the Beats. It will give you the secrets of crafting a perfectly satisfying mystery on your own. Because if you know how the beats work, you can write a KILLER book.

Demystifying the beats Book Cover for a How to write a mystery
If you know how the beats work, you can write a KILLER book
Previous Post:The Secrets of Demystifying the Beats: Whittle Suspects
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  1. Working at Target

    November 20, 2022 at 4:06 am

    Thx!

    Reply

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Nicky Matthews Mysteries

The Third Warrior

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