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Task

Recipe for a Murder Mystery

What are the essential ingredients of a great murder mystery story? Can you identify them and turn them into a recipe for success?
Produksjonslinje – gjærbakst. Fotomontasje.
Image: Hege Røyert / CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Before you start this creative task, you should:

  1. Read at least one great murder mystery story.
  2. Know what a standard recipe looks like? You can take a look online at websites like Allrecipes.
  3. Make sure that you are familiar with the following terms:
Vocabulary

an ingredient

a procedure

to measure

to add

to mix

to stir

to season

to garnish

to sprinkle

suspense

appealing

Step 1. Write a list of ingredients

An example of a to-do list. Photo.
Image: Shutterstock 1845884 / CC BY-NC 4.0

If you were to write a recipe for pancakes, your list of ingredients would probably include ingredients like: flour, eggs, sugar etc.

However, this challenge is a little bit more tricky. We want you to write a a recipe for a murder mystery. Start by writing a list of ingredients that could be found in a great murder mystery story. Here is an example of an important ingredient:

- A victim

Step 2. Describe the cooking (or: writing) procedure

Person som skriver på laptop. Foto.
Image: Berit Roald / CC BY-NC 4.0

Now that you have your ingredients, what should you do with them? Try to give step-by-step instructions.

Try to use words and phrases that you would typically find in a recipe i.e. measure, add, mix, stir, season, serve, garnish etc.

Here are some examples:

Start with a description of the future victim and add half a teaspoon of suspense.

Take the murder weapon and sprinkle it with fingerprints.

Add a strange but charming detective.

Step 3. Turn it into a recipe for success!

Muffin
Image: Bon Appetit, NTB scanpix / CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Every good recipe needs at least one appealing illustration and a user-friendly and easy-to-follow structure.

Turn your writing from steps one and two into a one page recipe. Choose your own style of writing and design.

Do you want to create a spooky mood with dark colours and scary images? Or do you want to camouflage it as a pretty combination of pastel colours and cute baking images?