Recipe for a Murder Mystery
Before you start this creative task, you should:
- Read at least one great murder mystery story.
- Know what a standard recipe looks like? You can take a look online at websites like Allrecipes.
- 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
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
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!
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?