Peter Lovesey Insider Writing Secrets: Guest Post by Andrew McAleer

While writing the 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists: Insider Secrets from Top Writers (Simon & Schuster), I had the honor of corresponding with some of the best mystery writers in the business – Diamond Dagger winner and Grand Master Peter Lovesey among them. 

Lovesey’s inimitable characters include Sergeant Cribb and Detective Peter Diamond. He is regarded as the, “[M]odern master of the historical mystery story.” (Encyclopedia Mysteriosa). I sweated out my oversees request to Lovesey asking for even a couple of writing tips or habits he might offer to emerging authors. I couldn’t have asked for a more thoughtful reply. Rather than supplying a couple of writing tips, Lovesey generously contributed tips for nine chapters. 

Below are a handful of his superb tips – all certain to inspire your next great mystery story. 

 

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1. Being Creative and Original
 
PETER LOVESEY - Beware of the cliché. By this I mean not only the cliché phrase (“It’s an old trick, major, but it just might work.”), but the cliché plot (the murderer turns out to be the narrator) and the cliché style. Don’t try to be the second Raymond Chandler or J.K. Rowling. By all means learn from successful writers, but be yourself, and say it freshly.
 
2. Having Precise Goals, Not Just Wishes
 
PETER LOVESEY - Make your writing a regular duty. Remember that one page a day—say 300 words—each day for a year gives you a 109,500-word novel.
 
3. Being Open to Experiences 
 
PETER LOVESEY - Give your writing an authentic feel by using your own experience. Of course you don’t have to commit a murder to write about one, but you can give it a strong sense of place by choosing a setting you know. Dorothy L. Sayers worked in advertising and wrote Murder Must Advertise. Agatha Christie trained as a pharmacist and used her knowledge of poison in her books. P.D. James worked in the police department at the Home Office. Colin Dexter, the creator of Inspector Morse, is a champion crossword solver and a lover of real ale and Wagner. 
 
4. Getting the Basics Down
 
PETER LOVESEY - Don’t be afraid of breaking the rules of English you learned at school. Perfectly correct English can be a bore. So put the occasional sentence without a verb. Don’t worry if the sentence ends with a preposition. And start some sentences with And.
 
5. Plotting
 
PETER LOVESEY - This is a personal tip and may be controversial, but it saves me time and rewriting. Plot before you write. Make sure you have a satisfying story in outline form before you start chapter one. Using this method, I don’t put the book through a series of drafts. Each day’s output will appear on the printed page. I know plenty of writers who like the challenge of not knowing where they are heading, but this way works for me. 
 

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Peter Lovesey passed away on April 10, 2025; he was 88. As Diamond Dagger winner Martin Edwards noted, “Lovesey…was often described as ‘prolific’. Although this was true, in his case the term never became a euphemism for ‘formulaic’ or ‘predictable.’ Lovesey possessed the gift of entertaining readers while setting a diverse range of stories at different times in the past as well as in the present.” (The Guardian)
            Or, as Peter Lovesey might have said, “I avoid the cliché.” 

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Andrew McAleer is the author of the best-selling detective Henry von Stray classic British mystery series. The von Stray collection, A Casebook of Crime: Thrilling Adventures of Suspense from the Golden Age of Mystery was released in March 2025 (Level Best Books). Introduction by Edgar winner Art Tayor. Volume Two of A Casebook of Crime is scheduled for release in March 2026. Introduction by Derringer winner Stacy Woodson