Found-document mysteries you can read online
Some of the best mysteries don't have a storyteller. They have a file.
A witness statement. A GP's referral letter. A text exchange at 11pm. A support ticket that nobody answered properly. On their own, each one is ordinary. Put them side by side and something starts to show through.
That's a found-document mystery, and it's one of the most satisfying ways to read. It's an old trick, too: Dracula and The Moonstone were told this way in the 1800s. For the history of the form, see our guide to epistolary novels.
What makes them work
You're the detective. Nobody tells you who's lying. You notice that the husband said he'd "make sure the house was checked", and then you find out where he actually was.
The small details carry the weight. A time that doesn't add up. A booking that disappears. A glass of water in the wrong place. In an ordinary novel those details would be explained. Here they're just sitting in the paperwork, waiting for you.
They feel real. Documents are how real cases are built. Anyone who has watched a crime documentary knows the moment the police log or the voicemail appears on screen is the moment the room goes quiet.
They're quick to read, and hard to stop. Most documents take a minute or two. You tell yourself just one more.
Where to read them
On Fictra, these stories are called Disclosures. Each world is a collection of strands, and each strand is one complete story told in around ten documents.
- Verdant: a crime world. A police investigation into a domestic services company finds people's lives being quietly rearranged: a cleaner who's never met the homeowner, a nanny in a smart house that won't behave, a schoolgirl moved from table to table by an app.
- The Old Ways: folk horror in documents. Village customs, parish letters and the traditions nobody explains to newcomers.
Every Disclosure is written by a person. New strands come out every Friday, and they're free to read.
Write one
Disclosures are collaborative. If you'd like to write a strand for an existing world, or pitch a world of your own, email disclosures@fictra.co.uk.