Delay can create suspense, but only when the writer is successful and the reader can sense that the climax is coming, and feels split between a strong urge to skip the exquisite tension, but cannot quite tear himself from the page he is reading. Every element in the lead-in passage(s) must build on the tension, heightening the reader's anticipation. The delay should make the reader reluctant to rush on, tied to the developing scene. The mechanics for producing this anticipatory tension is to understand the reader's feelings in a similar situation and project those feelings (of fear, for example) back into the story. Another tension-building delay can be achieved by stylistic juxtaposition (forward moving narration, for example, mixed with a sudden surrealistic element). The highest anguish or tension building device, is achieved by conveying the implications of choice: dreadful, joyful, painful, fearful, whatever emotion -- but the action of choice will be profound, and the reader knows it.

Writers can gain emphasis by arranging ideas in the order of climax.  An example from Hodges, Whitten, & Connolly suggests a less emphatic sentence is: "We could hear the roar of canon, the shrieks of the wounded, and the crash of falling timbers."  Compare this to the following slightly re-arranged, and more emphatic sentence:  "We could hear the roar of canon, the crash of falling timbers, and the shrieks of the wounded."  The emphasis is on the shrieking wounded, and is more emphatic than the earlier presentation.

Mystery writers have found that a substantial amount of information is available to them on the Internet. Writers of mysteries, police procedurals, crime novels, etc., all need to have accurate information on the fundamentals of investigation, police agency organization and processes, rules of evidence, etc., in order to develop a believable setting and story. Whether using book references or surfing the Internet via search engines such as Google, Yahoo! or Edge, good writers must find the needed information to nail the facts down securely, or even the best story will not be believable.