10 Mystery Writing Prompts

Spooky season is around the corner and what better way to get into the mood than some good ol’ mystery?

So, we put together 10 mystery writing prompts to get you writing the next whodunnit.

I woke up to my wife screaming that our son was missing. As I ran out the door to see where he went, I saw a teddy bear on the front porch. He had a red bow and a note that said, “Fair trade”.
The detective received a letter on her desk that morning. It had no address or name. In blood red ink it read, “Catch me if you can”.
The coroner opened up the body bag to begin his autopsy. The body inside was not that of the murdered victim, but of the victim’s husband.
“I thought you were dead.” “I promised I would haunt you from the grave, didn’t I?”
I continued to sip my coffee as he choked to death. It was bitter – both the coffee and the look on his face.

Your protagonist was adopted and their name was changed. They begin to receive letters addressed to their birth name.
Your protagonist gets a new neighbour. They never see them, their lights are never on, and the house looks deserted, but every night at 2am there’s someone in the backyard digging.
Your protagonist receives flowers every year on their birthday from an unknown sender. One year, instead of flowers, they receive directions to their childhood family cabin.
The house on the corner had been abandoned for years. Two kids dare each other to go in. One comes out, but the other is never to be seen again.
One day your protagonist is walking and is handed a sketch by a stranger. The next day a woman is found dead in a nearby river. She matches the sketch.

Did you find these prompts useful? If so, which one is your favourite? Stay tuned here for more prompts.