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Abstract
This content analysis validates how writers construct commercially or critically successful literature in the mystery genre. The produced data and analysis seek to ground writers creative intuitions by educating them on what has worked before, as well as helping delineate the upper limits of innovations on and deviations from genre conventions. Due to the high sales figures of the mystery genre, as well as a theoretical domain transfer when applying the methodology to other genres, this research will focus on the mystery genre. Though Uses and Gratifications theory would have provided ample foundation for the study, a more appropriate theoretical base came from the Narrative Paradigm, which condenses audience needs into two core concepts: Narrative Fidelity and Narrative Coherence.