Is six killings enough in a crime novel?

[LaurieFairyCake]

Or do I need more

It's going to be about 90000 words. One killer, one person trying to catch them (fruitlessly, want to write a sequel )

[MonnaLIza]

Gosh that 's overkill :) I am a crime drama reader and I'd say up to three.

[MonnaLIza]

But I do not think there is a hard and fast rule. You do your story.

[DeadDoorpost]

I've just read Blood in the Water by Gillian Galbraith and that has 5(?) killings in it. Not sure how many words though.

[Temeraire]

Plenty.

[LaurieFairyCake]

Great ! That's really helpful

I'm just doing some editing and I've decided it's better not to have the cop trying to catch her in this novel.

It's just more fun having her kill without consequence 🤷‍♀️

There's a lot of description about life in this city (it sort of explains the killings) but I do wonder if people will find it boring

[LaurieFairyCake]

Was 'blood in the water' good? I've just borrowed it from the (online) library

[Helpmestartagain]

I love a good pile of dead people.

[DeadDoorpost]

@LaurieFairyCake I enjoyed it, yes, and you might find that it's similar in that it describes city life, albeit how it's related to the characters at the time. Considering I'm not a fan of murder mysteries or murder stories in general, (prefer fantasy) I'd say it's a good 'un

[LaurieFairyCake]

Cheers for that. Good to hear about the city life.

Mines London. Just writing my second killing now (first one an accident)

[PreparingForDisappointment]

It's not the number of killings but the quality of killings that counts.

[HollowTalk]

I remember seeing a film about Ted Bundy. Because he'd killed so many women and the film makers obviously didn't want to leave anyone out, it meant that literally every 1.5 - 2 minutes there was a murder.

[LonginesPrime]

Gosh that 's overkill

[LaurieFairyCake]

I've decided to send the first 6 chapters off to an agent today 😱

I'm feeling lucky and thought fuck it ! Worst thing that could happen is they think it's arse juice 🤷‍♀️

[TrafalgarSquare]

I'd finish it before sending chapters. I did this once and the agent replied next day wanting the rest!

[LaurieFairyCake]

Did they love it Trafalgar

[Smidge001]

6 sounds a lot to me!

[Redshoeblueshoe]

6 sounds plenty.
I also really like books where they don't catch the killer, or get the wrong person.

[TrafalgarSquare]

It was somewhat rushed