Thriller 101
A podcast for readers and writers of thriller, mystery, suspense, and crime fiction.
Thriller 101
3-Part Formula for Writing Compelling Red Herrings That Mislead Without Cheating Readers with Author Eloise Corvo
Find out more about Eloise here.
In this interview, I talk to author Eloise Corvo about her debut novel OFF THE BEATEN PATH. Eloise reveals her practical three-part framework for crafting effective red herrings, which is a vital skill for any thriller, mystery, suspense, or crime fiction writer.
You’ll discover essential writing tips for balancing misdirection with reader satisfaction and gain insider insights into publishing options beyond traditional routes.
Whether you're drafting your first mystery or refining your tenth thriller, Eloise's practical advice on how to write compelling suspense will transform your approach to planting clues and creating satisfying twists.
This episode packed with actionable writing techniques is perfect for mystery authors looking to elevate their craft and engage readers from page one to the final reveal.
What Listeners Will Learn
- The Three-Element Formula for Red Herrings
- Mystery Structure and Pacing
- Publishing Journey Insights
So to any mystery, you really need three things. You need the motive, the means, like how they did it, and the opportunity.
David Gwyn:Welcome to the Thriller 1 0 1 Podcast. Today I'm really excited to bring you a conversation with Eloise Corvo, whose debut mystery novel off the Beaten Path is out now. I'm David Gwyn, a writer navigating the world of traditional publishing during the season of the Thriller 1 0 1 podcast. We're gonna continue our focus on building the skills necessary to write the kinds of thrillers that land you and agent and readers. During this season, I'll be sharing some of my own insights while also talking to agents, authors, and other publishing professionals about the best way to write a novel. If you want the Expert Secrets, thriller 1 0 1 is where you're gonna find them. Last time on the podcast, I talked to Steven Spotswood. He talked about a really cool editing mindset and process.
Stephen Spotswood:from a pure nuts and bolts craft perspective the first draft, I try and get the plot working. The general bones of things are, are elegantly shaped. Or at least have the, the potential for elegance.
David Gwyn:If you wanna listen to that episode, it's linked in the description. Also, Eloise mentions a previous episode where literary agent cl Geisler, reviewed the opening pages of the story that eventually got published here as Off the Beaten Path, for a series we were doing on Thriller 1 0 1, I've linked that in the description as well. So if you wanna check that out, you can find that easily down in the description. If you've ever struggled with creating compelling red herrings in your story, those false leads that keep readers guessing without making them feel cheated, then this episode is absolutely essential. Eloise breaks down exactly how she crafts her red herrings that mislead without frustrating readers she shares a really practical three element framework that you can implement immediately in your own writing. You'll also learn about why some red herrings fall flat while others keep readers turning pages. And you'll get an insider's perspective on navigating publishing options. This episode contains a ton of actual advice that could really, really benefit you and how you plot and write your next story. So grab a notebook and let's get to it. Eloise, thanks so much for being on the Thriller 101 podcast.
Eloise Corvo:Yeah, thanks for having me, David. So see you. Yep.
David Gwyn:been kind of been in each other's orbit for a while now. You wrote, wrote some articles for Thriller 101. We chatted a bunch via email. So it's really cool when this kind of happens where now you've got a book coming out and we get to chat about it, so I'm so glad we were able to set this up and you're able to be here.
Eloise Corvo:Absolutely, yeah. Thanks for having me. I'm excited to talk about it.
David Gwyn:Yeah, good. So let's, let's get right to it. So tell us a little bit about Off the Beaten Path. Yeah.
Eloise Corvo:Yeah, well, this actually might not be the first time your listeners have heard of it about Off the Beaten Path. It was featured in an episode, gosh, a year and a half ago now with Carlene Geisler, agent. You read my first couple pages and critiqued it, which is really helpful. So, since then we've gotten in three book deal with an indie publisher, which is really exciting. And Yeah, it's set to come out March 4th. Cozy Mystery, set up here where I live in northern Michigan.
David Gwyn:It is really interesting. I wonder if, if people remember, but also like. It's so, I think the timeline's so important here, right? Like, I feel like writers, especially newer writers, they often get into this like, okay, I'll write a book, and then like, it'll be published next year, and it's like, no. It's just, it's never gonna happen. Like, here you were with like a really solid manuscript that got, that got picked by an agent because she really liked it. And that was a year and a half ago. And here we are sitting and you're still what a month and a half, you know, as, as we're recording this, you know, people, when they're listening to this, the book will be out, but you're still a month and a half away from publication. So it's just, it publishing is such a long process. It really is something that just takes so long. But now here you are three book deal on the other end. What did it feel like to get that phone call and sign that deal?
Eloise Corvo:oh my gosh, so great. I was in a fantastic position of having a handful of publishers interested, of indie publishers. I queried for a while. Just, I know you have a lot of querying writers in your audience. So I queried for about six months, which I know is not long in the querying timeline but just sort of got a little beat up from it, which I think we all do, and I had a lot of success. I got really close with Carlene. She actually requested the full twice and just couldn't see a vision for like final edits so I kind of took a step back and was like, well, I'll do it. Where do people actually buy Cozy Mysteries? Where are they selling? And thought the indie world actually might be a really good fit for this. So I'm actually going to jump into querying again with my next manuscript
David Gwyn:Wow. Yeah, it's it is, I think too nowadays there's so many ways to publish and there's so many like, quality ways to publish where you have people backing you and that, that feeling, I think a lot of people feel like there's that one traditional route. But there really are a, a variety of ways to get, get a book published. And so I think that was smart. I think that's a good way, and I'm glad people are listening to this and listening to you talk about how. you know, deciding what was right for this book. And now you can make a different decision. Like it's not a lifetime career choice. Like if you want, and then you want to go back and do something different, you can, which I think is great.
Eloise Corvo:Yeah, absolutely.
David Gwyn:Cool. So tell us a little bit about off the beaten path. So people who are listening, get a sense of what the story is about.
Eloise Corvo:Yeah, so I would say it's like Clue meets Parks and Recreation, the TV show, right? So it's Cozy Mystery. It's kind of lighthearted and silly. You know, it's not gonna change the world, but hopefully offer a little bit of escapism for those that are looking for it. Set in the wilds of a huge park up here in northern Michigan. That's along the Lake Michigan coastline. We're talking like 40 square miles. Like, big park. The park ranger is our main character. Her name is Maudie Lorso. She's getting off of a hard breakup with her long term boyfriend. Kind of moved up here from the suburbs of Detroit. So, like, new rural lifestyle. loving it but is having some job security issues with like funding cuts, budget cuts, which is facing our country in real life. She finds the body of a dead tourist in her park right in a very precarious moment for her in terms of her job. And so she's really forced to figure out what happened in order to kind of keep this little lifestyle that she's really consciously built for herself. So follows that little mystery.
David Gwyn:Yeah, it is. It's such a, I feel like cozy mysteries are having a great moment. They're finding a lot of readers and a lot of readers are gravitating towards. Cozy Mysteries, and I, I think it is such a fun read and, and was such a, such a really enjoyable story. And so, now this is a three book deal, is this, is this, are all three books the same main character, or is it, how is that, is it going to be a series?
Eloise Corvo:It is a series, yes, we follow Maudie through the trilogy and they are connected, so a lot of cozies are just, you know, separate stories, same character, maybe with some minimal overlap. I would say this is a little abnormal in that cozy world in that there are individual murders, which is expected, right? Very trope y required almost of the genre, but there is a much larger overarching plot that does continue through the three. So, yeah, I'm really excited.
David Gwyn:Nice. And where are you on those projects? Are those also, they're done and ready to go, or where, are you
Eloise Corvo:my gosh, I wish. No, the second is drafted. I'm editing it right now, still in like developmental edit stages. And I plan to draft the third this summer. So, trying to stay like roughly a year ahead of time. Because you're right, it takes a while, right, to get a really polished, published book. Yeah.
David Gwyn:true. All right, cool. So I really want to dig in here on one thing that I thought, I thought you did a lot well with this book, but one of the things that I think it's true of the, of the the genre, which is the, the trope of the red herring. And I think you did such a nice job here of kind of balancing. Red herrings in a way that made it feel like you know, as a reader, I was like misled, but not cheated. I wasn't tricked. Like it was an enjoyable, like, Ooh, who is it? Kind of feel. And so I'd love to hear a little bit about how you think about red herrings and how you develop them. So do you plan them out from the start or is this something that kind of pops up organically as you're writing?
Eloise Corvo:You know, it's been different book to book, which I find interesting, but I do put conscious thought into them because I think it's really easy to kind of get cheap, either not satisfying or like tricks that are not fun to read, right? Like the last thing I want as a mystery reader is to be like, what the heck? This guy didn't even show up until the end. You know what I mean? Like you, you want to have that satisfying. like, aha moment, but also you don't want that too early on in the story. So I, there's, there honestly is like some formulas that are around that I, I personally don't subscribe to, but I think are really good as inspiration where you do want at least three viable motives floating around for a lot of the story. I think planting clues, not just to reveal the murderer, but also to show who couldn't have done it is just as important and often more subtle. So that is a really great way. It's almost like a reverse clue, right? Of like this person didn't have access or they were, you know, they were somewhere else or we knew that whatever it is, but like to prevent somebody from having done the crime are often really good ways to plant clues that are satisfying, but maybe not super clear. evident right away. But the book that I just finished drafting that is not a part of the series. I didn't know who did it until maybe like chapter six or seven so that I set up a handful of really interesting hooks that I then eliminated later on. So yeah, it just kind of changes story to story but worth worth conscious thought for sure.
David Gwyn:Yeah. So that's so fun. So one of the things I was thinking about, you know, and we'll talk about it here, which is, you know, some of your clues that you're dripping in are real clues that lead to who did it. And then some are clues that ultimately dead end somewhere along the way. Right. And that's kind of like how the red herring works. And so are you, are you, it sounds like at least in the book that you have now, like, those clues that led to the different people, like, probably started off as all real clues, like, you don't know necessarily which one's gonna be real clues and which one's gonna be red herring, is that, is that kind of how that worked For you?
Eloise Corvo:this latest book, that's exactly what happened, which is really fun to write. It, it's requiring a much heavier editing hand on the back end, obviously. So it was a little more, like, pantsy, so to speak, than I normally do. But it was a really fun way to write a mystery. And I think if someone's, like, trying to just explore that genre and just see what happens, that's a fun way to do it.
David Gwyn:that's cool. And so when you're going back, whether you, whether it's editing the one you're on now or editing the ones coming out when you're reading and you're thinking about your red herrings, do you have any checks in your head where you're like, okay, that's, you know, it's right on that edge of there, it goes on long enough, or it's, it seems, they seem guilty enough, but not so guilty that like a reader knows that they did it. Like. Do you think about that and how do you kind of navigate those conversations in your own head while you're drafting and editing?
Eloise Corvo:That's a really cool question. Again, each story sort of has its own necessities, but there are definitely, like, cycles to a cozy mystery that you can plot out. And you can essentially take any cozy off the shelf and it'll follow similar, you know, these cycles of interviews. So basically you have three or four legit suspects, right? Many of which are, most of which are red herrings and you eventually cycle through these interactions with your main character and those other, the cast of characters that are suspects and you sort of eliminate them as you go along. So it creates this really nice balance where you're narrowing. You're like starting to hone in, but you never want to go, at least I personally, never want to go into like the climax of the book with the murderer already being revealed. The main character probably knows who it is, but the reader doesn't yet. There's two folks left. So you narrow it down, you go through this like iterative process, and I think it's okay to let one or two linger on as long as you can, essentially. Yeah,
David Gwyn:I feel like as readers, you know, you're you have your own Guesses about who did it and it's sometimes just as fun to be wrong as it is to be right It's like just as satisfying to feel like I mentioned, you know You're misled, but not tricked. You're not cheated. It's just that you were wrong. Like, you guessed, and you guessed wrong, and I think that that's a really fun part of the mystery genre in general which just makes them such fun reads. And so, I have, I run this community for writers the Storyteller Society, and there's a, there's a writer in there who's drafting right now, and she wants to, input red herrings. And she's just like, she's like, yeah, but I keep struggling with like where exactly to, like, who's a red? And she's like, I know who did it. So like, how do I build that out? Do you have any suggestions for like retroactively putting in red herrings? Like let's say you have your story written and you get to the end and you're like, Ooh, I only have, you know, one red herring. And it's, it's kind of capped at this moment, but it would be beneficial. Like you're mentioning, you'd like to have two going into, the climax. Any suggestions for how to kind of build in red herrings through the editing process?
Eloise Corvo:yeah, for sure. So to any mystery, you really need three things. You need the motive, the means, like how they did it, and the opportunity. So the time, like timeline lining up, right? And so in order to plant red herrings, all you need to do is to present those three things with other characters. but just not all three for the same character. So any red herring, in order to be satisfying, in my opinion, needs to only have one or two of those things. If you have all three, just like the legitimate murderer or culprit or whatever sort of mystery you're telling, that's also not satisfying to the reader. Because then at the end, they're like, well, If I go back and pick apart all these clues, it is still possible for this person to have done it, and that doesn't feel like a great satisfying, like, closure to a story. There really should only be the one person who is possible to have committed the crime. So you just gotta seed those other things in little combinations and make sure that that third, whatever it might be, the opportunity or the motive, isn't strong, right? Not presented. So,
David Gwyn:Yeah, I love that. I think that's such a great way of thinking about it. And it makes it so manageable. I feel like the thinking about it that way, as opposed to thinking I have to go back and restructure the whole plot. It's like, yeah, maybe, maybe, but maybe you just really need to present one or two of these things. And it's enough for, you know, clever readers as mystery readers are, you know, the mystery thriller, this, this genre of readers are very careful readers because they know that the author is in some ways, you know, trying to mislead them or, or you know, present this story in a way that makes it tricky to figure out. So I think that's, that's such valuable information. advice for people. So thanks so much for sharing. And my last question for you is just where can people find you? Where can people look you up?
Eloise Corvo:Yeah, so I am on X a little bit, which I know is where we met, but in recent changes I'm less on there, but that's at Eloise Corvo. Same with Instagram and TikTok, is at author underscore. Eloise Corvo. So those are probably the best ways to get at me. My website is just eloisecorvo. com. Also happy to like collaborate, drop a line. The book will be available on Amazon, barnesandnoble. com, and hopefully a bunch of indie stores around the country. So keep an eye out.
David Gwyn:Yeah, super cool. So I get to be kind of the first one because we're, I mean we're recording this now and it won't be out for a couple weeks obviously, but to say congratulations, so congrats. Cause if you're listening to this her Eloise Corvo's book is out off the beaten path. Definitely go pick pick this one up, check it out. Really fun read, if you're listening to this and you're struggling with red herrings, what a great example of a book to pick up and learn how to do red herring. So Eloise, this was so much fun. Thanks so much for taking the time to chat.
Eloise Corvo:Always, David. Thanks so much.
David Gwyn:Okay, and that's it. So what I love about Eloise's approach to red herrings is how she boils it down in such a clear, actionable formula. Focusing on those like three essential elements of Motive, means opportunity. As she shared, the key is really ensuring that your red herring characters have one or two of these elements, but never all three. I found these insights really valuable because it gave me a framework for creating this misdirection without resorting to like those cheap tricks that readers can always see coming and they and they really don't enjoy. So today's challenge for you is for your manuscript, analyze the suspects that you have. Use Eloise's framework. Identify which characters have which elements. Motive, means opportunity. It's a simple exercise, but it can really dramatically improve how you structure the suspicion that your readers have in your stories. Remember, crafting satisfying mysteries isn't about tricking readers. It's about giving them a puzzle they can solve alongside your protagonist with just the right balance of challenge and satisfaction. I hope you enjoyed this advice as much as I did, and I'll see you next week.