Asking The Question right from the start

[John Dean]

I make no apology for returning to one of my big themes for this blog because the subject is so important in any kind of writing. Getting the start right.

However you start your crime story, the beginning should have The Question, preferably more, something that hooks your reader. You need to grab them from those first lines. Get them thinking. Intrigue them. However you do it, you need to reach out of the page and grab them by the collar.

I hope the opening lines of my latest book, the DCI Jack Harris mystery Error of Judgement (The Book Folks), do just that: who is Passenger Eleven? Where is he? How long has he been there? Is he alive? Whose are the voices?

    Strapped into his aeroplane seat, Passenger Eleven stared wordlessly ahead. There was little sound in the gloom, which was punctuated only by a pale glimmer of light that filtered through to where he was sitting. The only noises were murmured voices that echoed from afar but seemed to be getting louder and closer. Not that Passenger Eleven reacted to their approach. He had not reacted to anything for a long time. Instead, he sat and waited to be discovered and for his secret to be revealed.

You can find out more about the book at

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ERROR-JUDGEMENT-gripping-Detective-Inspect...