| A | B |
|---|
| mystery | has all the components of realistic fiction including setting, characters, and plot, except there is a vital change in emphasis. In these stories, everything revolves around a puzzle or an unusual problem to solve. |
| motive | the reason why a crime was committed. In a mystery it is often greed, money, love, or revenge. |
| red herring | a FALSE clue which points the reader onto the wrong trail and puts off solving the mystery |
| alibi | proof of one’s location at the time a crime is committed |
| suspect | someone who may have committed a crime; someone who “could have done it” |
| proof | anything serving as evidence (that which establishes something to be true or false) |
| whodunit | a narrative dealing with a murder or a series of murders and the detection of the criminal; detective story |
| circumstantial evidence | indirect evidence; proof of facts offered as evidence from which other facts are to be inferred (contrasted with direct evidence, which is provided by a witness) |
| fact | something said to be true or supposed to have happened |
| suspicion | act of doubting or mistrusting |
| foreshadowing | when the author drops hints or clues about something that will happen or will be revealed later |
| symbol | something used for or regarded as representing something else; a material object representing something, often something immaterial; emblem, token, or sign |
| accomplice | a person who helps another in a crime or wrongdoing, often as a subordinate |
| clue | anything that serves to guide or direct in the solution of a problem, mystery, etc. |
