by Writing Workshops Staff
2 weeks ago
Lisa Levy has spent decades immersed in the thrilling world of crime fiction. From her pioneering work as a co-founder of CrimeReads and her trend-spotting columns in The Washington Post Book World to her editorial contributions to Lit Hub, Lisa has read, reviewed, and championed more crime novels than most detectives crack cases. Her reputation as a literary sleuth with an unmatched eye for gripping narratives and flawed-yet-fascinating characters has made her one of the most sought-after mentors for aspiring crime writers.
Now, Lisa brings her insider expertise directly to you in her mentorship program, Solve Your Writing Mysteries: One-on-One Mentorship for Crime Fiction Writers. This is more than a course—it’s a partnership designed to turn your raw manuscript into a polished page-turner that crime fiction fans won’t be able to put down.
In this mentorship, Lisa gets to the heart of your story, asking the tough questions: Does your pacing keep readers hooked? Are your characters believable, flawed, and human? Is your dialogue sharp enough to cut glass? With an unparalleled understanding of what publishers, editors, and readers crave in a crime novel, Lisa guides writers through tailored developmental edits, candid feedback, and a detailed roadmap to publication.
In this interview, Lisa delves into what separates good crime fiction from unforgettable stories that linger long after the final page. She discusses the craft of balancing tension and exposition, writing authentic characters, and creating prose that pulses with urgency. More importantly, she reveals why a finished manuscript is only the beginning—and how this mentorship gives writers the tools to elevate their drafts into something extraordinary.
If you’ve been searching for the right mentor to guide your journey from draft to publication, Lisa Levy is your ultimate accomplice. This is your chance to work with a crime fiction expert who knows the twists and turns of the genre better than anyone else—and can help you solve the mysteries in your own writing.
Writing Workshops: You’ve been called one of the most insightful crime fiction readers today. Can you take us behind the scenes and describe that moment in your reading process when you first realize a manuscript has true potential—and how you help writers nurture that spark?
Lisa Levy: I get a lot of pitches from publicists, and I will request a book if the pitch intrigues me. I also know a lot of people working in crime fiction who tell me what books they love, and I take their opinions seriously. It's ultimately down to my taste and the issues I'm thinking about, as my column in the Washington Post is idea-driven.
I do three books in a column and screen around 10-15 books. If I get more than 20 pages into a book I'm interested. At 50 pages, I'm committed. This adds up to making sure your opening is strong and distinctive. The former makes a book readable; the latter is what makes a book worth covering.
WW: Your mentorship tackles ‘balancing exposition and action.’ What’s the most common mistake you see crime writers make in that area, and how do you guide them to strike a compelling rhythm that keeps readers on the edge of their seats?
LL: The mistake that drives me crazy is holding back information that would help a reader navigate the world of the novel. Crime fiction doesn't work if the reader has no point of entry and no sense of setting. A point-of-view character will only know so much, but the magic of crime fiction is figuring out what that character doesn't know. It's no fun if the writer keeps all the relevant information to themselves. Red herrings don't work unless there are real clues to sort through.
WW: As someone who has championed countless authors, you’ve probably seen every type of detective, villain, and red herring under the sun. How do you encourage crime novelists to push past the usual tropes and craft characters and plots that feel fresh and original?
LL: Most of the crime fiction stars of recent years--I'm thinking of S.A. Cosby, Kellye Garrett, Alex Segura, and Caroline Kepnes--have written books no one else could write. Cosby brings an African American perspective to rural noir with super sharp dialogue. Garrett is a first-rate plotter who also has a real gift for character: Missing White Woman is a book I still think about. Segura has combined his deep love of comics with his equally deep love of crime fiction to create a compelling character he's used in two books, a female Latinx comics writer trying to break into the comic business in the free-for-all 1970s. And Kepnes's "You" series is a wildly popular critique of dating and romance centered on a self-proclaimed nice guy who happens to be a serial killer.
These writers all have original takes on the stock characters and usual milieu of crime fiction. I freely admit there are some kinds of books I don't love: you probably won't catch me writing about military thrillers, and I'm super selective about historical crime fiction too (one anachronism and I'm out). As the elements of crime fiction are constant, the originality usually comes in the setting, the characters, the situations, and the relationships within the book. Writing good crime fiction means knowing the formulas, playing with expectations, and being confident enough to subvert them. That's the mark of originality.
WW: Your forthcoming book, Funeral in My Brain, is a biography of migraine. How does this highly personal project inform your editorial approach to crime fiction? Are there unexpected parallels in how writers can depict pain, fear, and psychological tension?
LL: Migraine is the primary mystery in my life. It is painful, frightening, and a constant reminder that your world can be transformed--or destroyed--in a matter of minutes. I don't know that anyone could write that kind of tension, but I am trying. I think a lot about the case as a unit of measurement which carries over throughout our major institutions: both law and medicine measure work in cases.
I started working in crime fiction when I was deep into migraine as it was the only thing I could read through my brain fog. Noir had restored my faith in reading when I was in grad school and burnt out on words and ideas, so it was natural to return to it in another time of crisis. I tore through the backlists of current crime writers and, because I am a genre nerd, I dove into some of the pivotal series and authors I hadn't read. I slipped into the darkness of David Goodis and adored the zing of Charles Willeford. I was blown away by the Martin Beck series, which is set in Sweden in the 1960s and is considered the forerunner of the socially conscious crime novel. I also read Sarah Weinman's anthology of female crime writers and loved their critiques of the family and cheerful nihilism.
WW: In your mentorship, you talk about ‘rethinking and revising.’ From your experience at Lit Hub and CrimeReads, what are the biggest misconceptions writers have about the revision process, and how do you help them move from dreading it to embracing it?
LL: Writers who are underconfident think revision is useless because their books are perfect. Writers who are confident know that revision what makes the book go from good to great.
WW: Crime fiction is notorious for its exacting fan base, where readers pick up on every clue and misdirection. What unique pitfalls have you seen writers fall into when crafting intricate plots, and how does your editorial approach help them avoid these traps?
LL: Crime fiction is a lot like sports: there are only so many ways to win a game, and yet fans will continue to watch and relish in the variations in play. I dislike sports, but I love stories about sports because there are recognizable concrete stakes. Friday Night Lights, Shoresy, Hoop Dreams: all of these dramatize how players both go rogue and work together to win. Too often crime fiction is about the star player and not the team. But if you have a group of people working together the stakes ratchet up, and you can always switchback and question the motives of each of your characters.
I like a plot that grows naturally from the characters and the situation they are grappling with. I'm not a fan of the twist for its own sake, which is unfortunately very common. I should be able recount the gist of the book a few weeks later.
WW: You’ve mentioned you do a deep developmental edit of the entire manuscript. In your view, what’s more challenging for emerging writers: grappling with big-picture structural issues or refining the finer points of style? And how do you guide them through both?
LL: When I was in grad school, I studied the rise of the novel with a brilliant Marxist who liked to discuss the macro and the micro. The macro is big picture thinking and worldbuilding. If you have a lot of inconsistencies and illogic that is a macro edit where you need to rethink the world of the novel. The micro is the line, the word choice, the verb, the rhythm of the sentences. I can edit for the micro right in the document, and writers usually have repetitive errors or bad habits I can point out and they can correct. It's much easier to help a writer with micro issues.
WW: You’re also plugged into the crime fiction market—writing about trends and themes for the Washington Post. How do you balance nurturing a writer’s individual voice with the realities of commercial publishing, especially in such a competitive genre?
LL: One of the qualities I bring to these evaluations is a deep knowledge of the market and the history of crime fiction. Voice is everything: I will make corrections and query what is unclear, but I respect the voice of the writer and am careful not to edit out what makes a writer happiest and most distinctive. The market is the market and is not something a writer can control. Aspiring crime writers should know what's happening now--it's critical when you get to the query and submission phase--but shouldn't worry about it. Books are a long game, so what's popular now might be over by the time your book is published.
Remember the vampires? There was a time when vampires were everywhere, but now Anne Rice and Twilight and the Vampire Diaries feel old and tired. After a pandemic, who cares about vampires?
WW: Finally, your mentorship ends with a ‘path to publication.’ In an era where self-publishing, traditional publishing, and even hybrid models co-exist, what do you see as the biggest opportunity for crime writers? And how does your program prepare them to seize it?
LL: It might sound trite but the best path to publishing is the one that suits you. Crime fiction is thriving--there are robust publishing programs throughout the Big Five and many interesting small presses producing terrific books. The self-publishing route is available too, but what you gain in editorial independence you lose in distribution and publicity. However, look at Colleen Hoover and Freida McFadden: both self-published and then got picked up by major houses. Publishing can be a mystery too.
You can sign up for Lisa Levy's upcoming class Solve Your Writing Mysteries: One-on-One Mentorship for Crime Fiction Writers, and avoid the waitlist.
Mentor Lisa Levy is a 25-year veteran book critic, editor, and essayist. She writes a monthly column about crime books for the Washington Post Book World. She is also a contributing editor at Lit Hub, a founding editor of Crime Reads, and the former Mystery & Noir editor at the LARB. She is working on a book called Funeral in My Brain: A Biography of Migraine, a narrative nonfiction book that looks at the long history and storied lives of migraineurs from Freud and Darwin to Sylvia Plath and Joan Didion; new advances in the treatment of headache disorders; and a memoir of her sudden and debilitating descent into chronic migraine which sold in a pre-empt to St Martin's. You can read her work in the New York Times, Lit Hub, the LARB, Brevity, and The New Republic.
