Welcome to Litsy!

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! 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) 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? is a one credit high school course."