Date/Time
Date(s) - Thursday 3 Sep - Friday 25 Sep, 2026
6:30pm - 9:00pm
Bringing up the bodies: Using history as a canvas for crime and mystery narratives
Historical mystery fiction has never been more popular, with readers flocking to the combination of immersive history intertwined with entertaining crime plots. This course will examine key aspects of writing such fiction starting with how to take historical fact and bend it to the service of exciting, well plotted mysteries. The course will cover the building blocks of mystery fiction and investigative procedure; how a period setting employing fictional characters can be brought to life with relevant detail; and how real personas and events can be employed within fictional narratives. We will touch on readers’ expectations of historical mystery fiction, and why publishers love realism in such stories. The course will also discuss finding your historical voice. Case studies will inform the sessions, showcasing a range of styles and period settings, including books such as Snow Falling on Cedars, In The Name of The Rose and the Bernie Gunther mysteries.
Moniack in a Month: Writing Historical Mystery Fiction includes:
- a short introductory welcome session
- four stimulating online workshops, preceded by optional drop-in social time
- one 30-minute tutorial
- a final ceilidh session – sharing of work
- Contact and support from your community of writers via Google Classroom (optional)
- Drop-ins before each workshop to help you get to know your group (optional)
- Support from your Moniack Mhor host
Vaseem’s workshops will focus on the following themes:
Workshop 1 – The Building Blocks Of Mystery Fiction
This session will cover the key beats of a mystery plot, including the essential who, why, when, where and how of the crime. We will also discuss investigative procedure and how to weave these elements into a historical setting.
Workshop 2 – Using Research to Build Your World
This session will discuss how to conduct research and how to incorporate it into a mystery narrative. The session will further cover how to build the period setting and bring it to life.
Workshop 3 – Thinking In Themes: Why Big Ideas Matter
This session will discuss how to draw inspiration from history, how to find new stories within old, and the importance of grand themes as a canvas for a mystery plot.
Workshop 4 – Finding Your Historical Voice
This session will discuss the importance of style in historical fiction writing and consider how we want the reader to feel as they read what we are trying to communicate. In the second part of the session we will look at writing process and key elements of the plot such as openings, conflict and subplots.
Timetable
Week 1 Thursday 3 Sept 18:30–21:00 Welcome Session and Workshop 1
Week 2 Thursday 10 Sept 19.00-21.00 Workshop 2
Week 3 Thursday 17 Sept 19.00-21.00 Workshop 3
Week 4 Thursday 24 Sept 19.00-21.00 Workshop 4
Week 4 Friday 25 Sept 19.00-21.00 Ceilidh
Tutorials
Your one-to-one tutorial with Vaseem will be scheduled when the course starts and will most likely take place in weeks 2 or 3.
Tutor
Vaseem Khan is the author of the Malabar House historical crime novels, set in 1950s Bombay. Midnight at Malabar House, the first in the series, won the Crime Writers’ Association Historical Dagger. Vaseem has won numerous awards for his work, including, most recently, the Fingerprint Award for Historical Crime Novel of the Year for City of Destruction, the fifth in the Malabar House series. Vaseem’s other work includes the Baby Ganesh Agency novels, set in modern Mumbai. His debut, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, was selected by the Sunday Times as one of the 40 best crime novels published in 2015-2020, and has been translated into 17 languages. Vaseem’s latest novel is Quantum of Menace, the first in a series featuring Q from the world of James Bond. Vaseem is a former Chair of the UK Crime Writers’ Association.
Fees
The full fee for this online course is £360. A deposit of £100 is required to secure your place, which is non-refundable after a 14-day cooling-off period. The balance payment of £260 is due six weeks before the course begins.
Bursaries are available, and you also have the option to pay in instalments, please email online@moniackmhor.org.uk to enquire.
All activity takes place on Zoom, and workshops include a short break. Moniack Mhor staff will be on hand to support you during your course.
For more information please email online@moniackmhor.org.uk.
Access
Please let us know in your booking form if you have any access requirements when working online so we can do our best to support you. For more information about access to our courses, please visit our Access page.
Terms and Conditions
Please read our Terms & Conditions before booking.