I saw a thread like this in the romance forum, and thought--we need one! So, here it is...post your opening lines, fellow mystery writers! ^__^
Here's mine:
He didn’t notice the rain falling on his bare skin.
The 'he' is my serial killer. *evil grin*
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There's a fine line between genius and insanity.
Let's cross the line.
Check out my fanfiction!
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50,098 / 50,000
Nov 11, 2007 - 04 51
“What’s his problem?” Asked Lenny Davis standing at the window of his dealer’s old BWM M3. “You think he’s a cop?”
Not quite a sentence, but you get the point.
----------Paranoid? Yes, but they're watching you as well.
2,732 / 50,000
Nov 11, 2007 - 09 16
It was 2 am on a cold October morning when Will Foling almost ran over the naked girl lying in the middle of the road.
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And if you look at my word count, I don't have much more than that! Ack!
25,000 / 50,000
Nov 11, 2007 - 17 13
"The sound of shoes scuffing across the hot, black asphalt was the prevalent sound as the sunlight reflected into golden circles, causing sweat to run down the faces and into the eyes of the two hundred young adults standing out there."
----------I write what I know. In this case, I know band.
52,754 / 50,000
Nov 11, 2007 - 18 26
The police station looked more like a threat than somewhere safe as I stepped towards the door.
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Helen Blakemore: If he insists on coming in here, we'll have to shoot him.
52,376 / 50,000
Nov 11, 2007 - 18 35
Cori rolled over and pulled the comforter farther over her head with a moan. She hoped the thick fabric would do something to drown out her brother's voice.
Yeah, it's pretty nondescript.
----------NaNo 2006: The Outside (Urban Fantasy/Sci-Fi | 51,228/50,000)
Screnzy 2007: A Tale of Warnings, Envelopes,Transformations and Magic (20,339/20,000)
NaNo 2007: Not Even Coffee Breaks? (Mystery/Suspense | 52,376/50,000)
27,707 / 50,000
Nov 11, 2007 - 18 39
The Champ paced anxiously in the lobby of the high rise office building.
50,035 / 50,000
Nov 11, 2007 - 20 27
I really, really like that line!
My novel isn't technically a mystery suspense novel :( That's been my genre for the past two years. This year is different *sighs*
The first line does seem a bit serialkiller-ish though any way, so might as well post
Killing people can get a little boring after a while— particularly if you’ve been doing it for a good ten thousand years.
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Why am I posting instead of writing my novel? XD
----------Why am I posting instead of writing my novel? XD
5,019 / 50,000
Nov 11, 2007 - 22 09
If this were a newspaper article it would begin with the most important information first, which is that Lottie Griffin, 19, began her first year at Grayton University having no idea that it would be the most thrilling year of her life so far.
50,091 / 50,000
Nov 12, 2007 - 13 27
"It wasn't a phone call in the middle of the night while a rain storm poured slanting rain over a sleepy city. It was someone at my f***ing apartment door, which in my experience, is never a good thing. "
The funniest thing about this pair of opening lines, is that by the second paragraph, I had forgotten about these lines and written a completely different start to the case. Oh well. Maybe I'll use them in another story somewhere. I still think they're good lines. =)
----------Bo is a sexy and smart female private eye who hates everything and everyone. Starting with her speech impairment. She can find the dark lining to every silver cloud and knows how to use her brain, body and fists. Visit her at www.bofexler.blogspot.com.
2,239 / 50,000
Nov 12, 2007 - 13 32
As soon as the night security guard opened the door Dade shot him in the left eye.
50,083 / 50,000
Nov 12, 2007 - 18 18
Err, well I haven't written the first sentence yet. I thought I'd leave that for later.
But just as a random aside and hopefully for a laugh, my favorite opening line of a book of all time was from a John Varley scifi novel (Steel Beach).
"In five years the penis will be obsolete."
God, the book was terrible, but I finished it on the basis of the opening line alone.
0 / 50,000
Nov 14, 2007 - 06 23
"My life was dull, boring, and predictable - until a stranger jumped into my car, bleeding and begging for me to drive and not look back or we would die. "
50,261 / 50,000
Nov 13, 2007 - 11 24
"Rusty Mains didn’t call out for help like other people did. Rusty Mains was like a stone. Toss him into a pond and the ripples spread out. One of them lapped up gentle against me. Rusty Main’s call for help came special delivery, when Detective Albie Halligan knocked on my door and then opened it any way."
The bit about the stone and the pond and lapping ripples will be cut.
The whole first scene is just two wiseguys riling each other, hard-boiled style. Great fun to write, plot relevance? Very little.
80,277 / 50,000
Nov 13, 2007 - 19 39
Lena woke slowly to the sound of a fan whirring noisily somewhere to the left and behind her. She hated waking up. At least when she was sleeping she dreamed. Well, she thought she did anyway. She couldn’t be completely sure because in the heartbeat of time between sleep and wakefulness she remembered snippets of her dreams or, perhaps, her memories.
OK. OK. It's a first few lines but the first line wouldn't really mean anything without the others. :)
75,201 / 50,000
Nov 14, 2007 - 03 39
Remington B. Madison stopped to catch his breath.
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----------Copper Cockeral
Need To Publish Your NaNoNovel?
So You Want To Play Vampires?
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity." - Albert Einstein"
278 / 50,000
Nov 14, 2007 - 07 36
'C’mon now, do it now. Follow her, stalk her, slice her up!'
:D Voice in my villan's head.
----------[IMG]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y88/Blue_Collar_Babe/Essick.jpg[/IMG]
50,092 / 50,000
Nov 14, 2007 - 11 10
Boooring. Well, yes, but she is actually the lady that was beaten up by her husband and later murders him, so that's interesting.
----------50,251 / 50,000
Nov 14, 2007 - 14 43
As the sun blistered the desert air, she felt the warmth pulling her in, causing her to be even more sleepy then normal. With each breath, as she laid on her chase lounge, she could feel her heart slowing down. Even though she knew something was wrong with her, she honestly could not make herself care. She finally could admit to herself that she is done with the lies, the backstabbing, the silly fights that just cause more drama. She wondered how her friends could still act like they were in high school. Slow she shakes her head, almost laughing, thinking to herself, “high school no, more like junior high school.”
With one last breath, her heart stops. Her body lays there on her chase lounge chair for hours, not moving. Since most people on vacation do not pay attention to the others around them, nobody seems to notice a dead body laying there.
~~~~ okay more than a line, but hey it's one of my fave starts... She is the first victim as you can tell
53,530 / 50,000
Nov 14, 2007 - 15 56
"The first thing that Maria found unusual that Sunday morning is how she woke without any need to go to the toilet."
....Note To Self: change 'sunday' to 'friday'. Whew, that could have been a continuity blunder !:P
50,093 / 50,000
Nov 14, 2007 - 16 29
"I don't think you've ever met my best friend; but if you did, you wouldn't like her. Not many people do."
It's...well, yes, it's the best I could do under the circumstances.
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Obligatory Writer's Blog
The Magwitch Murder -- sixth NaNo, fifth win?
50,082 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2007 - 08 40
"So, here's the deal, they are dead already."
Yep, I'll probably edit that later. But that's how it begins :D
50,063 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2007 - 09 47
Warning: Mine is *really* boring...but I'm trying "not to worry" about it, because if I sweated too much over a "perfect first line", I never would have gotten to 24K words today.
*sigh*
Here it is. The most boring first line in the history of literature.
" 'Slide please?'"
50,120 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2007 - 11 58
oooh, this is a fun thread!
"I admit it, when I found out that Pixie was dead, I giggled."
50,529 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2007 - 12 24
Leona did not kill Reinhold Nash, but the things she did to his poor corpse made her feel guilty all the same.
----------I used to drink excessively, smoke, cuss, and kick the dog, all for no apparent reason. Now I write, I have a reason. Who stole my rose colored glasses?
50,120 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2007 - 12 48
OMG i *love* your first line!
3,968 / 50,000
Nov 19, 2007 - 12 44
Gentle water lapping around her baby thighs, the three year old looks up at her grandmother and smiles. Her blonde hair is wet and she smelled vaguely of sunshine and dirt.
“What ever you do, girl, don’t you turn out like your mama.” Grandma exhales smoke toward the ceiling of the trailer bathroom, and looks back down at the baby; half with pity and half with fear.
66,641 / 50,000
Nov 19, 2007 - 15 54
"You know, Adrian, you're a real bastard."
51,752 / 50,000
Nov 19, 2007 - 18 02
I ran for a lot of reasons; for health, the game, to win a race and sometimes I ran just for the hell of it. That Thursday in October I ran for my life. Or for hers. Well maybe not. Her life had escaped through the slits in her wrists.
My first lines of my first mystery. Hurray for NaNoWriMo!
(hey, at least it wasn't "It was a dark and stormy night.) ***grin***
----------2005 "And Justice For All" --- Win
2006 "Redemption" --- Win
2007 "10-41 David" --- Win !!!
50,123 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2007 - 09 48
To Phrog: "Leona did not kill Reinhold Nash, but the things she did to his poor corpse made her feel guilty all the same."
Love it. That first line would definitely make me sit down and keep reading.
50,032 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2007 - 09 55
The room was like a prison, the bars on the window seemed to be there to keep her in the small apartment.
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