I’ll admit it: I have a favorite part of writing a book, and it’s the beginning.
The first act is where I shine. Ideas come fast, the story can go in so many directions, yet it feels like something big is taking shape, and the possibilities feel endless. It’s not quite drafting and it’s not quite planning – it’s both, happening at the same time. I’m writing scenes with one hand while I’m still building the story with the other, figuring out who these people are as I put them on the page.
It’s a little chaotic. But it’s fun. At least until I hit the middle. (We don’t need to talk about the middle today.)
Right now, what’s keeping me entertained is my suspects.
In my current work-in-progress, my suspects are a tangle of social media influencers – each with their own secrets, their own tangled connections to each other, their own very good reasons for being exactly where they were when everything went sideways. And building that group is one of my favorite parts of writing a mystery, because here’s the thing about suspects: the good ones aren’t just people who could have done it.
They’re people with something to hide that has nothing to do with the crime.
That’s the trick, I think. A suspect who’s only there to be suspicious isn’t a suspect – they’re a prop. But a suspect who’s hiding an affair, or a financial mess, or a decade-old lie they told to protect someone they love? That person feels real. They have a reason to act nervous around the detective, a reason to lie about where they were, a reason the reader’s radar goes off – and none of it has to do with the actual murder. That gap between why does this person seem guilty and what they’re actually guilty of is where a lot of the fun of a mystery lives.
And the real art, the stuff that takes the most work, is weaving all those secrets together so they feel connected. Not coincidentally connected. Inevitably connected. So that by the time the truth surfaces, the reader has two reactions at once: I never saw that coming, and of course it was always going to be that.
That’s the sweet spot. Too obvious, and there’s no mystery. Too disconnected, and it feels like a cheat. Like the answer arrived from nowhere instead of growing out of everything that came before it. The secrets have to earn their place. Every red herring needs its own internal logic, its own stakes, its own reason to exist beyond misdirection.
Right now, with a fresh cast of suspects and their secrets spread out in front of me like puzzle pieces, that’s exactly the puzzle I’m building. I don’t know yet exactly how all the threads will connect. That’s part of what Act One is for. But it feels so fun to have the blank canvas in front of me to figure it out.
Ask me again when I hit the middle. I’ll have a very different column for you then.
About Cate Conte
Liz Mugavero/Cate Conte is a bestselling mystery author, creativity coach, and devoted believer in all things magical. As Liz Mugavero, she writes the beloved Pawsitively Organic Mysteries. As Cate Conte, she writes the Cat Café Mysteries and Full Moon Mysteries. Her 20th novel, Purranormal Activity, will be out in July 2026.
When she’s not plotting fictional murders, she helps writers find their voice and bring their books to life through her membership community, The Creativity Lab, and her podcast, Get Writing.
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