Common motives for murder include vengeance, personal humiliation, profit, ambition and betrayal. Consider this startling discovery regarding murder motivated by betrayal. Dr. David Buss at the University of Texas, author of The Murderer Next Door did an in-depth study of reasons people murder. One sobering fact he discovered is that a leading motive for a husband murdering his wife is the discovery that she is having an affair. What’s more, the murder is more likely to happen if the woman is considerably younger than her husband. This, according to the University of Texas, “leads to a disturbing theory—the more good-looking, healthy and fertile the woman, the more motivated the man will be to kill her upon discovering a sexual infidelity.” Mystery writers could wrap a good story around this fact alone.
Posted by: nancycurteman | May 1, 2010
Beautiful Women: More at Risk of Being Murdered?
Posted in murder | Tags: betrayal, motives for murder, sexual infidelity, The Murderer Next Door
Responses
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
Categories
- Africa
- America
- Animals in Mystery novels
- Asia
- Australia
- Blogging tips
- Canada
- character development
- character interviews
- Characterization
- clear and concise writing
- Clothing in Novels
- Comma Rules
- e-book format problems
- Edith Piaf
- Education
- Europe
- First Drafts
- Fisherman's Wharf
- Flash Fiction
- Format Your Novel
- Glens of Antrim
- Global Mysteries
- Global Mysteries: Travel the World in Mysteries
- How schools keep students safe
- How to add a poll to your blog.
- How to add twists to your mystery novel
- How to Conquer Writers' Block
- how to edit
- How to Foreshadow
- How to use clothing to develop characters
- How to write a mystery
- how to write backstory
- How to write character
- How to write character emotions
- How to Write Description
- How to write dialogue
- How to Write Minor Characters
- How to Write Novel Endings
- How to Write Novels
- How to write pacing
- how to write plot
- how to write scenes
- How to write setting
- How to Write Story Resolution
- How to write the middle of novels
- Hugh Jackman
- Humor in mystery novels
- Hw to Write Plot
- Hw to write setting
- Improve your Health
- Improve your Writing
- Ireland
- Lethal Lesson
- Market your Novel
- murder
- Murder Casts a Spell
- North America
- Northern Ireland
- Overwriting
- Pacing
- Peasant food
- Plants as weapons in mystery novels
- Poland
- Popular Novels and Authors
- Practice brevity in writing
- Publishing
- Readers Polls
- research
- Research for novels
- Russia
- Sexual Harassment of Boys
- Social Media
- Spain
- subplots
- The Bahamas
- The classics can inspire writing
- Travel
- Travel Mysteries
- Uncategorized
- UNESCO World Heritage Sites
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Vikings
- writers' block
- Writing and Writers
- Writing Awards
- Writing Craft
- writing is rewriting
- Writing strategies
- Click Languages
The murder this week on the Mentalist had infidelity as the motive . . . but the father killed his son who he believed to be sleeping with his much younger 2nd wife ~ rather than killing his young and attractive wife.
Two problems . . . (1) he got caught; and (2) he killed the wrong son.
Great post, Nancy!
LikeLike
By: nrhatch on May 1, 2010
at 6:38 pm
I’m a fan of the Mentalist as well as CSI, Criminal Minds and Law&Order. I saw that Mentalist program. A bit of irony wasn’t it.
LikeLike
By: nancycurteman on May 1, 2010
at 7:33 pm