Solving A Mystery Depends on Who’s Holding The Truth
One of the lessons I’ve learned about crime scene investigation is that the same crime scene can tell very different stories, depending on who’s standing over the body.
An investigator sees evidence.
A witness sees memory.
A family member sees revenge.
A killer sees justification.
And when you’re writing a mystery, you’re all four.
As storytellers, we hold the power to decide not only what truth to tell but whose version of it will be told.
The result? A story that pulses with tension, contradiction, and curiosity, because the reader knows there’s more than one side to every mystery.
In this post, I’ll share how to use multiple points of view (POVs) to create the kind of suspense that gets a reader engaged in solving the investigation.
Why Multiple POVs Work So Well in Crime Fiction
Criminal investigation has taught me that perspective is everything. Even evidence lies if you read it wrong. And that’s the heart of writing multiple POVs: every character reveals a different version of the truth and motive.
In real investigations, there’s rarely a single truth. Each piece of evidence and each person interpreting it, adds another layer to the story. That’s why multiple POVs work so beautifully in mystery fiction: they mirror the fragmented, conflicting nature of human perspective and memory.
A detective is looking through the lens of motive.
A victim’s friend can only see that lens through grief.
A suspect sets their focus on self-preservation.
By using different POVs (point of view) to tell your story, you let your reader experience the same event through different emotional and moral lenses. You invite them to play detective, piecing together truth from contradiction of perspective.
When I’m writing Emily Hartford in The Coroner’s Daughter series, I often think about how her view of a case differs from those around her, the local sheriff, the grieving families, even the killer.
I write my books in multiple POV because I want readers to know more about Emily’s world than just Emily can tell them. For instance, in book 5, What Darkness Does, I used the POVs of the killer, his mother, one of his victims, the sheriff, and Nick.
Each POV Must Serve the Story, Not Just the Structure
I’m not going to tell you how many POVs you need. The story will tell you. Some stories are begging to stay in one person POV. Other stories benefit from the blending of multiple perspectives.
However many POVs you choose, Each POV should:
- Advance the plot
- Deepen emotional stakes
- Introduce us to a new element of the investigation
- Reveal different ways of looking at the same event
- Allow the reader to believe (or at least give the benefit of the doubt) that that character’s logic rings true
Each of your POVs has to be confident in tone and line of logic. Think of each POV as witnesses in a courtroom, each one called to the stand for a reason. Each one truly believes they have a corner on the truth.
As a personal side note, I hate unreliable narrators because I often feel cheated and tricked by the end of the story. They leave me with a sense of disappointment and I feel I’ve wasted my time with a liar.
However, I love reading stories from multiple POVs. Here’s why. I want to journey with characters who present solid convictions about their thoughts and feelings. Then, by the end of the story, I can make up my own mind about who was right, who was a little off and what the truth is that stands in between.
Multiple POVs Boost Structure & Suspense
If you’ve ever watched a forensic reconstruction, you’ve seen suspense in action. Each detail, the pattern of bruising, the direction of a bullet wound, is revealed slowly, deliberately, until the full story emerges.
Using multiple POVs is a way to build your plot and suspense.
- Shorter chapters or alternating POVs speed up pace and leave readers wanting more!
- Longer, immersive scenes with your main POV gives readers time to feel with the heroine and let dread or fear or disappointment sink in.
- Cross-cutting (jumping between two unfolding events) creates cinematic tension, the literary version of split-screen storytelling. You can do this with multiple POVs so that a particular event (say, the climax action scene) is happening to two or three different POVs at the same time.
Common multiple POV Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)
- Too Many POVs Without Emotional Grounding
Readers have to care about the POV of the character they’re following. Anchor every POV in motive. What is this character bringing to the table that reveals something important about the overall crime story? - Inconsistent Voice
Each POV represents a unique character. Keep each POV distinct, grounded, and consistent. - Repeating Information Across POVs I like each POV to advance the story in some way. I hate repeating info in a story! Boring! But if you have to revisit an incident or plot point by two different POVs, the key is to keep the story fresh by allowing each POV to reinterpret that event with their own truth.
The Truth Thread
In both writing and investigation and life… truth is never singular. It’s an accumulation of observed details, lived experience, witness testimony, forensic evidence, and human memory. It becomes a patchwork stitched together by those willing to look deeper.
The truth is hard to get to. Many POVs may contribute to the various sides of its story.
As humans (live or characters) we have different ideas of how the same event went down. Our memories are faulty and weak. Lean into that! And as a writer, this is a super tool for building a story with multiple POVs.
As you plan your next mystery, don’t ask whose story is this? Ask instead, whose truth do we need to hear from?
What’s your favorite multi-POV mystery or thriller? Share it in the comments below.
And if you want to keep sharpening your writer’s instincts, stay tuned for next month’s post: “Plot Autopsies: How to Dissect Your Own Draft Like a Detective.”
Because the best mysteries aren’t just written. They’re examined.
