This time I want to hone in on one of the biggest challenges in writing an amateur sleuth mystery:Why isn’t the police department solving the crime? Additionally, many mystery fans, including myself, have friends or family in law enforcement. Those relationships create opportunities for an amateur sleuth to uncover pieces of the puzzle that aren’t sitting in an evidence locker. I think the best mysteries treat law enforcement with respect while still allowing the amateur sleuth to make meaningful discoveries, as in The Marlow Murder Club, with Judith Potts and DS Tanika Malik. That’s when an amateur sleuth becomes believable—and when a mystery becomes impossible to put down (we hope).