Mystery Words:

1. alibi - an excuse that an accused person uses to show that he/she

was somewhere else than at the scene of the crime

2. breakthrough - an advance or discovery that helps solve a crime

3. clue - a fact or object that helps to solve mysteries

4. crime - an act committed in violation of the law

5. deduce- to infer by logical reasoning

6. detective - a person who investigates crimes and gathers information

7. evidence - something, such as a witness statement or

object that is used as proof in a crime

8. hunch - a guess or feeling not based on known facts

9. motive - an inner drive that causes a person to do something or act

in a certain way Three common motives include: love, power, money

10. mystery - something that is secret and unknown

11. purloin - to steal or filch

12. red herring - something that is used to divert attention from the
basic issue

13. sleuth - another name for a detective

14. suspect - a person who is suspected of a crime

15. victim - someone who is harmed or suffers some loss

16. witness - someone who saw or can give a firsthand account of

something

17. Investigation – the process of searching for clues, examining

evidence and trying to discover the perpetrator of the crime.
18. 3-part detective story format:

Problem (exposition or background)

Investigation – includes clues, red herring(s), suspects, most of the

above terms. It usually takes up the vast majority of the story/movie/tv
episode.

Solution – the reader/viewer is given an explanation of how the detective

solved the crime – often by having the sleuth tell an assistant how
he/she figured out the crime.