Let's Read Classic Who-Dun-Its & Write a Cozy Mystery Novel Step-by-Step!

It's a rainy day and there's only one thing to do! Make some hot chocolate and curl up with a cozy little murder mystery. Match your wits against the detective and see if you can discover who did it.

Does that sound fun to you and your high school student? Have you dreamed of writing your own mystery?

Every high school student should write a novel sometimes during their high school years. It’s a valuable learning experience and most students end up enjoying the process and the finished product (your very own book!) In our house, since we love cozy mysteries, we decided to write our own “Who Dun It” in the pattern of the “Golden Age of Mystery.” With examples like Hercule Poirot, Miss Jane Marple, Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown, and Lord Peter Wimsey, we created our own detective. By reading Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Mary Higgins Clark, G.K. Chesterton, Sir Conan Doyle, and other classic mystery authors, we created our own pattern to write our very own cozy mystery novel.

Who Dun It? Murder Mystery Literature & Writing, a one credit high school English course, teaches literature and writing with the murder mystery/crime fiction drama genre. Teens read classic golden age mysteries and discuss them (while learning the elements of literature!) in a group setting (co-op or with family). The first half of the year, students create their detectives, assistants, suspects, plot, setting, theme, clues, red herrings, and murderer, as well as write a short story. Then, the second half of the year, they write their own murder mystery.

Would you like to focus one year of high school English on reading and writing mysteries?

Then, take our English course this year at home with your family or with some homeschooling friends!

Who Dun It? is a 1 Credit High School English Course.

Who Dun It Assignments

Students Will Participate In: 
•1 or more Book Club discussions per month
•Reading stories and assignments aloud
•Evaluating other students writing
•Create 1 story with a group of friends or family members
•Make a comic strip
•Write a Short Story
•Write a Novel

Students will learn about
•History of murder mysteries & Golden Age murder mysteries
•Sleuths
•Baffled Friends/Assistants, Family 
•Plot, Setting, Characterization, Point of View, Theme, Tone, Mood, World View
•Detective reveals & explains
•Children's detective stories
•Tools, Disguises, Clues, Red Herrings
•Locked room plots
•How to write a short story
•Outlines
•Hooks/Opening paragraphs
•Creating scenes
•Editing, Crafting, & Publishing 
•And More! 

Who Dun It
​Reading List 

Four Classic Short Stories Included In This Book:

​“Murder in the Rue Morgue” by Edgar Allan Poe
“The Ordinary Hairpins” by E. C. Bentley
“The Archduke's Tea” by H. C. Bailey
“A Singular Abduction” by Rodrigues Ottolengui

You Will Need to Purchase, Borrow, or Download the Following Books:
•The Red House Mystery by A. A. Milne 
•The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Conan Doyle
•Favorite Father Brown Stories by G. K. Chesterton
•Murder On the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
•And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
•Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers
•Where Are You Now? by Mary Higgins Clark (or another one of her novels)
•The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen
•Two Children's Mystery Novels (Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Trixie Beldon, Sugar Creek Gang, Mandie, or Encyclopedia Brown)

Where to Purchase Print & E-books

You can purchase the print version of Who Dun It Murder Mystery & Writing  at Amazon. 

You can purchase the E-book at 
PayHip
or 
Currclick.

Series: Homeschooling High School to Glory of God
Author: Meredith Curtis
Publisher: Powerline Productions
Paperback: 308 pages
Age/Grade: High School