Chapter 4: Classic Plot Twists
Thus far, we have been talking about plot twists as though each and every one of them has to be built from scratch. But this simply isn’t true. Later on, we will be talking about how to brainstorm completely original plot twists—but this is far from the only way that you can find twists for your novel.
In this book we’ll be talking about 32 specific plot twists that are widely used—not only in mysteries and thrillers, but in other genres as well. I call these twists Classic Plot Twists, and as you read through the list, you’ll certainly recognize a few. They are:
ABC Murders
Casualty of War
The Child Killer
Copycat Crimes
The Cut Out Man
Death of a Suspect
Distributed Conspiracy
Double Identity
Evidence Tampering
The False Murder
The False Premise
The Faked Death
Frame Jobs
The Frame’s The Thing
The Guilty Group
The Imposter
Locked Room Murder
The Mastermind
Mistaken Identity
Murder on Behalf of Another
The Not-So-Dead Villain
The Not-So-Mistaken Identity
The Not-So-Obvious Victim
The Perfect Alibi
The Second Solve
The Secret Score
The Sleuth Did It
The Suspect Rebound
The Tangled Web
Too Close for Crime
The Victim Did It
The Wrongful Conviction
Read a few novels, and you’ll start to see these twists leap out at you from between their pages. Some Classic Plot Twists are ubiquitous for the simple reason that they violate beliefs that are ubiquitous. If the mystery-reading public believes that each book has a single Villain, then every mystery writer has at their disposal a twist we’ll call And Then There Were Two. In this twist, it will turn out that there are a pair of Villains working independently. The Sleuth will have to figure out who is responsible for which plot events before she can begin to make sense of the crime.
Other Classic Plot Twists, such as The Perfect Alibi, violate beliefs that you will have to inculcate in your reader. To work this twist, you’ll need to convince your reader that the Villain’s belief is unassailable—then blow that belief out of the water.
A number of this book’s chapters will be dedicated to exploring these twists in action. For each twist, we’ll talk about:
The belief violated by the twist
Examples of the twist in action
Practical tips for executing the twist
Now, let’s get started with a twist I suspect you’re already somewhat familiar with: The Inside Job.
Chapter 5: The Inside Job
In my books and videos, I like to use examples from real-life mystery plots to illustrate the twists and plot devices we talk about. And over the years, I may have dipped my toe most often into the plots of Remington Steele, one of the first mystery series I fell in love with as a teenager. We’ve finally reached the point where I get to discuss the pilot episode, in which an unnamed con man sets out on a mission to steal six exquisite samples of royal lavulite.
This is a problem for Laura Holt, one of our series Sleuths, who has been hired to protect the gems by their owner, Gordon Hunter. Hunter plans to display the gems at the debut exhibition of his new car model, the Hunter Jet-Star 6000. He’s hoping the gems will draw big crowds and help the car become an instant success. But by drawing attention the the gems’ presence, he’s attracted a bevy of colorful characters who want to get their hands on them; our unnamed con man, a South African intelligence agent, and a pair of murderous thugs.
Hunter has hired the illustrious Remington Steele Agency to provide security for the gems. But he doesn’t know that the agency is merely a front. Laura invented the persona of Remington Steele—a secretive and debonair detective who never involves himself directly in a case—to draw in the kind of clients she couldn’t attract as a solo female investigator. Before long, the con man realizes Laura’s secret, and steps into Steele’s vacant shoes, representing himself to Hunter as Steele so that he can nose in on the security arrangements and make off with the gems.
But as sparks flare between Laura and the newly christened Mr. Steele, things become complicated. He makes her a promise: he won’t go after the gems until after they’re safely out of her care. She believes him—but when the gems are swiped by someone who seems to know all about her security plan, she’s certain he’s broken his word.
Laura goes after the thief, and catches him. But he isn’t Steele. He’s Hunter. The Hunter Jet-Star 6000 has flopped, and Hunter has decided to recoup his losses. By stealing the gems, he can resell them on the black market, and pocket an insurance payout as well.
At the end of the episode, the con man decides to return and assume the role of Mr. Steele indefinitely, setting up the central premise of the series: a con man works as a private eye. But it’s also a great example of The Inside Job twist, in which a member of an organization turns out to be the person who is stealing from it.
The reason The Inside Job operates as a twist is that we generally assume that members of an organization operate in the interests of that organization. Spies keep secrets; executives execute the company’s strategy; armored car drivers protect the cash. The role in which we meet a character defines, generally, how we expect them to behave.
But, of course, there are any number of reasons why an individual might work against the organization they’re a part of. Someone might pull an Inside Job because:
They expect an insurance payout, as in “License to Steele.”
Their personal interests are not aligned with the organization’s interests. It’s not hard to imagine plots where one member of an organization—the owner, the secretary, a lowly copy boy—is hard up for cash that might be liberated from the company coffers. But we can also imagine something a little more complicated: for example, how about a CEO who wants to tank the company’s value temporarily, so that other shareholders will be willing to sell him their stock?
They have become disillusioned with the organization. The Villain might find himself in deep philosophical disagreement with his organization—either because he has changed, or because the organization has. In another episode of Remington Steele, called “Tempered Steele,” the mother of a company’s CEO steals their company technology because she knows her son has decided to peddle it to America’s foreign adversaries.
They have been bribed or coerced into betraying the organization. Even if the Villain wants to be loyal, he may be drawn into an Inside Job if he’s offered something he badly wants—like, say, money or power. The same thing might happen if he’s threatened with the loss of something he greatly values—like, say, his family, or his reputation.
They joined the organization with the intention of undermining it from within. Spy thrillers are full of characters who do exactly this, joining foreign organizations with the intent of causing damage. Corporate espionage, too, gives a Villain a reason to embed himself with an adversary. But we could also look at emotional motives—a deep-seated desire for revenge could prompt your Villain to infiltrate an organization that has done him wrong.
The organization’s interests are complex, and not easily understood at first blush. Just because an organization has suffered an obvious loss—a theft, an act of sabotage, a murder—doesn’t mean that the organization’s long term interests have necessarily been damaged. We might construct a plot about a family who arranges for a member to be kidnapped, in order to get media attention and donations. Or how about a Villain within a presidential campaign, who wants to assassinate the candidate so that his more electable running mate can take center stage?
Using the Twist
Inside Jobs offer the Villain the advantage of an inside perspective. Often he’s in the know about the organization’s security measures, future plans, and secret assets. This information can give him the reason to act, or a way to do so that wouldn’t be available to the general public.
Because of this, it’s possible for a case to falsely resemble an Inside Job during the initial steps of the investigation. Let’s think back to the case from “License to Steele.” If the royal lavulite’s presence hadn’t been publicized—if it, in fact, had been known to only a few people—we would jump into the case with our attention squarely focused on members of the organization: Hunter and his employees. In that case, the writers could engineer a twist by revealing that the thief came from outside the organization—some person who had learned about the gems’ presence through unusual means. Remember, what we’re going for in any twist is a reader belief we can violate. Whether they believe the Villain was inside or outside the organization, we can overturn their belief to good effect.
Classic Plot Twist: The Inside Job
Summary: We believe the Villain must come from outside an organization that was targeted. In fact, he comes from inside.
Examples: Remington Steele, “License to Steele,” “Tempered Steele,” “Blood is Thicker than Steele”, “Dreams of Steele”; Monk, “Mr. Monk Goes to the Bank”; Murdoch Mysteries, “The Prince and the Rebel”; Psych, “Extradition British Columbia”; Castle, “Little Girl Lost”