Hey Reader,

How are things going on your end? Last email, I mentioned about buying a whiteboard that's now hanging in my office. The whiteboard has been a HUGE help in me keeping track of my progress and playing catch-up. I''ve been able to draft some cover concepts for two projects, while getting back into drafting Mad Virus.

Thank you to those who reached out to me and expressed kind words on my mental well-being. You know who you are, and I appreciate you greatly.

In the meantime, I bought a suit for my cousin's wedding (A suit that ACTUALLY fits me good, couldn't have done it without Mrs. Vahl~)

So, looking to the subject line of this email...What's your role in a murder mystery? Mrs. Vahl had told me about this movie called Death on The Nile a couple weeks back. "Apparently the first half is pretty slow, building things up, whatever. And then the second half just BLOWS UP with insanity", my wife tells me while we sit on the couch relaxing from a day of work. (I should legally say that this isn't what she said verbatim, but the context is the same I swear)

"I guess we gotta see it for ourselves then," I said. "I'll make sure to get shitfaced for the first half."

I watched the movie with my wife on a sweet, casual Valentine's Day date. We left feeling that the film was done well, a solid whodunnit (no alcohol necessary). But it wasn't anything too crazy. I've also heard that Murder on The Orient Express is the precedent to this movie, although I unfortunately haven't seen it yet.

Maybe if my expectations weren't set high, I would've enjoyed the movie more. But it made me think on the fundamentals of what makes a great murder mystery so great. Yes, there's the clues and the build-up and that big TWIST. And then that other HEELTURN of a twist that makes your jaw drop.

In my opinion, Death on The Nile lacked that big jaw-dropping HEELTURN. But other than that, a murder mystery needs more to really stand out. I think of vivid characters and sharp dialogue that gets you engaged to see where each of these characters go, and what the subtext is that makes you really go "hmm" and start jotting down mental notes.

My mind wanders to two recent mysteries: Knives Out and Mare of Easttown. I think the latter does a spectacular job of making a really interesting mystery while crafting an immersive town filled with characters that have their own sense of purpose. It's a great series on HBO Max that I've shared on here as a past recommendation.

Knives Out stands out to me for great cinematagrophy, but also for the colorful cast of characters that really carry the mystery behind this movie. It's so fun, and I can't wait to see Daniel freaking Craig solve another mystery in his Foghorn Leghorn accent haha.

So, what do the elements that I've briefly said out of each of these shows intend to do? Well, they're for your role, my role, or our role as the audience. These elements are intended to immerse us into the role of the secondary detective. While the protagonist is in the nitty-gritty, we are there watching in the background, connecting the dots and visual cues in our mental corkboard knotted with red strings pinned to multiple photos, maps and mental notes of a characters time-flow. If the elements successfully immerse us, then we're in it until the end.

If not, then we could just be sitting in front of the screen, panning until the end where we go, "Ah, well okay then."

But, I'd love to know: What would be your role if you were actually in the middle of a murder mystery? Would you be the detective painstakingly trying to connect the clues? Or the red herring that's steering all eyes away from the culprit? Are you the one tending to everyone's needs and making sure they're mentally stable? Or are you the culprit, playing the game of your life to outwit everyone in the room and escape free of charge?

I had a lot of fun writing this email, and I hope you had fun reading it as well. And now, for a freebie!

I wanted to share with you a fun collection that I came across recently. Linked below, this focuses on some fun novel samples and full short story/novellas featuring different perspectives. In the latter, these different perspective branch from a potential main book series.

​Click here to access the free Short Story Additions promo. =)​

Until next time!
~Victor Vahl
​www.victorvahl.com​

P.S. A friend of mine told me that my last email ended up in her 'Promotions' folder (thank you, Sinead!!) - If this is happening to you, please move my emails from promotions to your primary inbox folder. This is a big help for me to not end up in promotions/spam constantly, and also to help you in not missing out on my emails. Trust me, you'll wanna keep an eye out and not miss the future emails this year. =) Thank you!!!