Whodunnit? Thriller author Ruth McIver provides clues for budding crime-writers with workshop in Narrogin

Author Ruth McIver came to Narrogin to help local writers with their whodunnits — and to steer them away from endings where the butler did it.

Her crime writing workshop and author talk was well attended on September 11 at the Bob Farr Memorial Library.

McIver is the writer of killer thrillers, and her debut novel I Shot the Devil won both the Richelle Prize and the Affirm Prize in 2018.

Since then, the Dublin-born, Perth-raised author has released the sequel The Sound and the standalone audio novella The Blackout.

Called Crime Writing 101, McIver’s workshop focused on the importance of key aspects of the genre.

She shared her experience on how to build gritty characterisation and establish the right atmosphere and explained the role of pacing and tension in creating suspenseful stories.

Questions from those in the workshop included how to present clues to the audience, how to create a convincing narrative voice and how to hook the reader from the first page.

She also included targeted writing exercises which helped participants engage with fresh story ideas, improve their technical execution and turn a simple premise into a structured outline.

Also on the agenda was a talk about her own crime-writing journey which included a PhD in true-crime-inspired fiction.

She spoke about the challenges and pitfalls of turning true crime into fiction and shone a light on her research methodology.

McIver said on social media that she had been made welcome in Narrogin.

“I really appreciated all the participants showing up and asking questions, sharing work and being so engaged,” she said.

“I’ve never physically taught this workshop, it’s always been virtual and really while virtual can be amazing, and also inclusive, nothing beats in-real-life.

“Libraries are community, libraries are like churches to me — safe spaces since childhood.”