The Twisted Tale of Murder, Mansions, and Skylights

In 1971, John List committed a horrific crime that would shock the entire United States: He murdered his mother, wife, and three kids inside their New Jersey mansion. The List family was somewhat reclusive, however, and with no regular visitors to the mansion it wouldn’t be until a month later that their bodies were discovered. John List, in the meantime, had skipped town, and the ensuing police search would prove fruitless. List managed to disappear for 18 years, and had even remarried, but was eventually found thanks to an episode of America’s Most Wanted.

After being captured, List claimed that he murdered his family due to their crushing debt, a product of both their lavish mansion and their numerous medical expenses. According to a psychiatrist who testified in the trial, List only saw two choices: Go on welfare to support the family, or send them to heaven. List was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences without parole, and would die in prison in 2008.

There’s a twist to the story, however. As it turns out, List’s mansion was adorned with a skylight rumored to be an original from Tiffany. The skylight alone would have been enough to pay off any debt List may have incurred and then some. It was unclear if List was aware of the skylight’s origin or of its value when he committed the gruesome murders.

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The father of the mystery genre

The mystery genre is something that we take for granted now, but there was a time when it didn’t exist. In fact up until 1841, there was no such thing as the mystery genre; its first inception was as a locked door mystery by the great American poet and novelist, Edgar Allen Poe.

Edgar Allen Poe

Poe is mostly known for his poetry and gothic works such as the poem “The Raven”, but his detective, C. Augustine Dupin, was the influence behind Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes; and though Sherlock Holmes is considered to be the detective responsible for popularizing the genre, he wouldn’t exist without Edgar Allen Poe.

The Murders in La Rue Morgue

Not only is The Murders in La Rue Morgue the first modern detective story, it is the mystery short story that spawned the genre. Set in Paris in 1840, the narrator (not unlike Watson) tells the story of how he met the detective, Dupin and how they shared shabby quarters together. Dupin’s analytical deductions are astounding (not unlike Holmes) and it is with great interest that the pair read the newspaper story about the murders of Madame L’Espanaye and her daughter who were found dead at the home in La Rue Morgue.

The door was locked, no money was taken and all that was left in the room was a straight razor and some tufts of grey hair. Yet through deduction, Dupin solves the mystery and in doing so launched one of the largest and most popular reading and viewing genres the modern world knows.

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Rules for Writing Mystery

Ready to take the plunge and write your own mystery novel? Here are some rules to follow from award-winning author Susan Spann.

1. Make it about murder. While some authors manage to pen a good mystery surrounding a non-lethal crime, the best of the best, according to Spann, center their tales around a good old fashioned murder.

2. Designate your detective. Before rushing into murder most foul, plan out your crime, and plan out your detective. Your readers will be far more interesting in who’s solving the case than they will be in the case itself.

3. Damage your detective. Heroes aren’t perfect, and your detective shouldn’t be either. Make them emotionally damaged, physically impaired, perhaps even otherwise addicted. In short; make them interesting!

4. Your detective needs a backstory, but don’t write it out directly. An intriguing backstory is one that’s delivered in bits and pieces throughout the novel, rather than in one great big chunk.

5. Make some people before you murder them. Your story takes place somewhere, during a certain time period. Take the time to develop that world, imaginary or otherwise, to give your murder and mayhem a proper backdrop.

Armed with these tips you’ll be writing a great mystery in no time, and as your plot progresses you may just come up with some rules and tips of your own. Happy writing!

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