tier-ranking the best + worst mystery twists🕵️🩸

I think by this point I am a certified mystery expert so let's rank the best and worst twists in mysteries. Hello friends, welcome back to my channel. I was joking about being a mystery expert by the way. I think I often say things and I'm being sarcastic and people don't realize I'm being sarcastic and take a lot of things I say seriously. Half of what I say is a joke. You know what it never was? That serious. It was never that serious. I don't want you to be like Megan said this but I'm like it was a joke. So hello, I was on my old discord, my patrons the other day and we have a section on there where people can suggest video ideas. I've done videos in the past, I did that five star reading challenge that someone suggested to me and I had a suggestion on there not too long ago that was like, why don't you tier rank mystery twists? I was like... So today I have gathered together mystery twists. Now I've tried to keep it fairly like not too much overlap between the twists. We could have got super into the weeds but all of these twists probably have like five like sub levels of twists. From that I've tried to keep like the most like, you know, basic top level of the twist. Does that make sense? Because we could have had like a hundred twists here to talk about and some books will have multiple of these twists. They'll like combine the twists. But anyways, I've got together a lot of the main twists I would say in mysteries and we're just going to rank them together and talk about if I think they're good or not, basically. So should I just begin? I'm all nervous. This is a lot of pressure. This is my mystery credentials to the test. Okay, first one is amnesia. So where a character maybe like knew something and forgot it and like memory loss and whatever... It's not for me, Mark. It's not for me, Mark. I'm gonna put it in there. I just feel like there's certain twists that feel a little bit like a cop-out. Now here's the thing, right? For all of these twists, regardless of where I rank them, there'll probably be books that I've given five stars with this twist and maybe books I've given like two stars with this twist. A twist doesn't make it a book, you know? There's a lot of other things that it depends on. But in general, the twist amnesia, I feel like it's a little bit of a cop-out and a little bit of an easy answer, you know? I feel like I don't like that being a twist. I don't mind if we know going into it that a character has memory loss issues, you know? Because I'm a big believer in a fair play mystery and I feel like if there's something that's that key that's obvious we should have known about and then it's not fair play. Does that make sense? So I am not a big fan of amnesia twists. Anyways, quickly moving on. Oh, character doesn't exist. Oh my god, straight to the top. Oh my god, I didn't tell you. Hang on. I didn't tell you what the tiers are. Okay, so bottom we have... This is Satan's work. This is like the worst of the worst. This is like terrible. Couldn't touch with the barge pole. Evil. Evil twist. Why would you do this to me as a reader? Okay, then we have... It's not for me, Mark. I feel terribly ill all of a sudden. It's not for me, you know what I mean? Like, it's fine. I can understand why someone else would enjoy this. I don't think it's... This is Satan's work is like unforgivable. This is just not for me but I can understand why other people would enjoy it. Then we have... That sounds a little bit twisted but kind of great too. This is a good twist, you know? A little bit messed up, a little bit, you know, we're tearing the line of perhaps what is like I'm here for but it's good. I really enjoy this. It's great. It gives me that buzz, you know what I mean? And then we have... I didn't ask to be the beauty standard. I was just born this way. This is the bend of the This is the top twists. They're like, oh my god, they're the beauty standard. They're the moment. They're it. Do you know what I mean? They're what I want. They give me the drama. That's what the top one is. Okay, so as we... As we established, character non-existing. I didn't ask to be the beauty standard. I was just born this way. So this is when you've believed throughout the whole book. You may be thinking, Megan, you just said about fair play murder mysteries. Whatever. So this is when you believe throughout a whole book that a character exists and then the reveal is that they actually don't exist. Perhaps it's been all over emails or texts or whatever or what have you, right? I love this twist. I love this twist. It just gives me that drama. Do you know what I mean? Like, okay, I admit to being a hypocrite. I'm many things and a hypocrite is one of them because you might be thinking, Megan, that's not like a fair play mystery. But like this twist just gives me the drama that I don't care. I'm talking about like, how do I explain this? I don't know how to explain what twists are infringing on a fair play mystery and which twists aren't. I just don't... I don't have the skills. I don't know. I feel like the character existing is such like an uno reverse that it's okay. The character existing is subterfuge. It's secrecy. It's like the drama. Detective turns murderer. So this is when it turns out to be the detective who's committed the murder or they maybe commit murder at the end. I'm gonna go... I'm gonna go that sounds a little bit twisty but kind of great too. Not my favourite because I do like trusting our detective, right? But sometimes it hits. I'm not gonna lie. I don't know. This is one that could go either way for me. I most of the time I would say I do like this. It's not something that's done a ton and I feel like it can have mixed results. But on the whole, I think this is a fun one because I feel like we're We have Poirot, Miss Marple, Sherlock Holmes, right? These characters that are so inbuilt in the mystery genre and it teaches us that like the detective is our friend. There's been times... Oh, I can think of an example. If you know, you know. There's a... I don't know how much to say. The girls will get it. Get it. There's a series that I love where this happens in one of the books and that is top tier. But there's also been times where it's been done I've gone like, oh, okay, you know, okay. But yeah, we're taught to trust the detective. So I think it's fun to flip that on its head and be like, actually, they were the murderer. I think perhaps I prefer this when it's not that they're like, the big reveal was them being the murderer, but maybe they commit murder. Yeah, a little bit of murder on the side. Then we have dodgy friend. Okay, so this is like, it was the best friend who was all nicey-nicey, but they're dodge babes. They're dodge. We cannot trust them. Oh, where do I, where do I put this? It's the friend. It's the friend. Uh, it doesn't do it for me. Not much drama. I'm gonna go. It's not for me, Mark. I don't think it's evil. I will enjoy this sometimes. I will partake, but on the whole, it's just a bit, ugh. Yawning, sloppy, lazy. Love interest. I just realized we haven't got love interest on here, right? It was like, the murderer is the protagonist's love interest. Now that's a different story. That's a different story. But friendship, there's just not enough there for me to bring the drama. It just feels like a bit of a cop out. So I'm gonna go with it's not for me, Mark. Then we have hidden identity. The hidden identity is when a certain character turns out to be someone else. It turns out to be, I don't know. They're hiding who they truly are, essentially. Uh, I'm gonna go. It sounds a little bit twisted, but kind of great too. This is another one that most of the time I do enjoy because I do think I like a good bit of hidden identity. Like, oh my god, this person's actually this person. It can be a good gasp moment, but it's another one that can easily be messed up. I feel like this is such a staple that I can't put it in. I didn't ask to be the B standard, I was just born this way. Like, for me, a top tier twist is one that is kind of, you know, a bit different. Not done as much, you know? I feel like hidden identity, someone turning out to be someone else, is like, done a lot. So I can't give it top tier, but I feel like it's a fairly standard twist. Oh, okay. Then we've got it was all a dream. Don't even have to hesitate. Don't even have to hesitate. Here's the thing, right? So I've told you before about how I got in trouble in year six for writing a certain ending all the time. I've just realised I mentioned that in a recent video, and if I tell you, I will spoil the ending of that. But if you've been here a long time, there was a certain ending I used to do a lot that was... it gave the drama, but it was kind of ridiculous. Right, in year four, in year four, so two years younger, if you're not from the UK, I'm like, what am I, eight at this point? Nine at this point? We used to have creative writing lessons, and it was all a dream was my year four ending. As well as I did turn in Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus fan fiction in my creative writing lessons multiple times, and my teacher called me and was like, why are you always writing with these names? Like, what's going on here? And I was like, you just don't get the vision. Anyways, yeah, I still remember this pirate story that I wrote where it was all a dream was the ending, and my teacher was like, Megan, don't do that. Like, that's not an ending we do, right? So if my year four teacher is telling eight-year-old me that's a cop-out, we don't do that ending, guess what? We don't do that ending, okay? I've learned, I've listened to my superiors, and I know we don't do it was all a dream. It's just a cop-out. I don't like cop-out endings, right? Give me the drama, don't give me disappointment. Missing Child is narrator. Oh, how do I feel about this one? So this is where the narrator, there's a missing child in the story, and it turns out to be the narrator. It's one of these two. It's not for me, Mark. I'm gonna go, it's not for me, Mark. I'm gonna go there. I feel like this one is often too obvious. I feel like it's often too obvious. I like when we think that's gonna be a twist, and then it's something else. I like this as a pre-twist, you know, a twist warm-up, where we think that's gonna be a twist, and then it's turned on its head. But again, unless, oh, I don't know. I just feel like this is so overdone now that it just doesn't do it for me. It doesn't get me excited. It's not for me, Mark. I feel terribly ill all of a sudden. Obvious suspect. Okay, so this is where the suspect was so obvious at the beginning, where we think it's them, and that means you think, oh, that's too obvious. The detective goes and investigates everyone else, and then it turns out to be the obvious person. Uh, again, this is another one that's between the two, but I'm gonna go. I'm being harsh. It's not for me, Mark. I did read a book lately that did this, and it wasn't bad, but I'm never gonna, I don't think I'm ever gonna give a book like this five stars. It's the truth. If you're the first person I think, oh, it must have been you, and then you spend the whole book, like, trying to dissuade me of that, and then it is them, I'm just not shocked. You have to shock me. I'm trying not to, like, I need to not hit the table because you'll hear it really loud. It doesn't push the boundaries, and a mystery has to push the boundaries. Here's the thing, I can happily give a book, if the book is good, with this four stars, right? But I just think as a twist you can do more, right? It's a bit cop-out, a bit easy. Again, I just like this. Oh, okay, here we go. Paranormal twist, right? This is where there is a paranormal explanation for everything happening. Oh, this one's tricky. It's either, I'm gonna go beauty standard. I do love this. I hate when you think the twist is gonna be paranormal and it's not. I love a sprinkling of paranormal. My favorite mysteries that do do this just have a little, little sprinkling, right? A little touch of it, and you're like, because it brings the drama. How many times do I have to tell you? It's camp, it's camp, I don't know what to tell you. It brings the drama, it's the unexpected, it gives an otherworldly essence to the story. I just think adding a bit of paranormal to your story is such a little bit of fun for the summertime. Do you know what I mean? It just adds that spice. It's just a hint of something different, and I like when it's unexpected. I do like when we have a good ghost story, and like, it actually is a ghost story. I love that point-and-how story. But if we're talking a mystery that you don't think is gonna be paranormal, then by the end, we've got paranormal elements coming in. It just excites me. It gives me something different. I like that. Okay, relatives. This could be that it turns out certain characters are actually related. That has been done, and I did really enjoy that. Do you know what? It sounds a bit twisted. I'm gonna put it there. I'm not as big a fan of like, oh, these people. Like, it turns out these two people are related, but if it turns out like, I don't want to spoil anything, but there's a certain- this is on the back of like one mystery, but there's one mystery where it turns out a lot of characters are secretly related, and you don't know until halfway. That gagged me. That gagged me. This is like on the back of just that one book, pretty much. My ranking. Oh my god, it was so good. I still remember. A good twist. I- sorry, I apologize for this. I apologized for this on my Patreon stream the other day. I tried to edit around this. I know I do start 10 sentences at a time, right? I'm so sorry. What was I saying? A good twist, you remember where you were when you read it, and I still remember where I was sitting, how I was feeling, how I was sitting at the moment that I read this twist, and I- I ate it up. I- it was good. You ate that. I don't like it more at the end when it's like, oh, the killer was this person, and they're secretly their mother, or whatever, but like a halfway through twist where you realize, oh my god, all these people have been related. What? Like, I love that. I love that. Oh, dual POV is the same person. This is when you've had multiple points of view, but it turns out some points of views are actually the same person. I don't think I've read this a ton, but it sounds a little bit twisted and kind of great too. Yeah, this is kind of similar, I guess, to character doesn't exist. Something that plays around with our perception of the truth, I do enjoy. I think that's kind of my thing, apparently. I'm not a big theorizer, right? I know I read a lot of mysteries, but I go into mysteries, no thoughts head empty. I'm like, do what you want to do to me. I try not to theorize. So if you- if I predict a twist, you know it's bad, because I'm really not trying. But I feel like increasingly, the more that I read, the more naturally it comes to me. But something that, like, I have placed my trust in the mystery, I say to the author, I say to that wonderful mystery author, I say, do whatever you want to me. Do whatever you want. You have my fate in your hands. And when they play with my perception of truth and reality like this, I do enjoy it. Then we have, it was a minor side character the entire time he was irrelevant. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. I can't do it. I absolutely cannot do it. I can't do it. I can't do it. My heart is saying no. Yeah, no. Not happening. Sorry. I just, what's the point? What's the point? Being like, it was that guy over there in the corner the entire time. Like, what does that do for me? Nothing. It just leaves me disappointed and heartbroken and dismayed and destitute. That's what you're doing to me if you write that as a twist. Like, oh, I hate it. What's the point in writing a mystery book? What's the point? And if it's going to be that dude over there who we've like met for two seconds, what's the point? What's the point? Moving on. They all did it. Oh my God. Straight to the top. Oh, I love it. I've only read it maybe once or twice. I mean, if you've read the book, I'm not going to say it, but if you've read the book where this is the twist, it is legendary. Let's just say that an icon, you know, a moment it gave its history. Ah, that's history. You know what I mean? Ah, that's history. So they all did it as like multiple people committed the murder. Oh, I love it. One murder is fun. Multiple people conspiring to commit one and one. Oh, that's a party. You know what I mean? Let's all party. Commit the murder. Let's all grab a drink. I love this twist because again, it flips your perception of a normal mystery on its head. You know, it stops you from being like, you think, murder, there's a murderer, right? But the idea of having like 10 murderers, you're just never going to expect it. And I love, I love it. This book for me, if you've read it, you've read it, an icon, a legend. Oh, they're not dead. So this is when we think someone's been dead the entire time. It turns out they're not dead and maybe they had something to do with the murder. I'm going to go, sounds a bit twisted. I enjoy this one. I enjoy this one. Again, it's capitalizing on your perception of like ruling things out, right? The thing is with Agatha Christie is like, she plays on what you've ruled out, right? And so when someone dies, you're like, okay, so they're dead. I've read multiple Agatha Christie's where you think the person is dead, but they really had something to do with the mystery. Maybe they've been murdering other people. So this is like a classic Agatha one. And I do think it can be done well. Do I think it can be done badly? Yes. I remember when I read this on Agatha fairly recently, and I think it was done well. And I think it's fun. Twin twist. Absolutely. So this is when like, oh, this person was spotted at the crime scene. So it's them. Turns out they have an evil twin. Oh my God. Like why? I generally question some of these twists. If you're taking the time out of your day, right? We've all got busy days. We've all only got 24 hours a day. Remember Molly May? Why are you using those 24 hours to write a mystery where the reveal is, oh my God, there was a secret twin this whole time. Like, why are you doing that? I just think she's very delusional and maybe possibly insane. I have to question your motivations in life and your aspirations, because why would you do that? It's again, a cop out. I don't like it. I don't trust you. I'll never trust you ever again. So that's where that's going. And a final one, unreliable narrator. This is a fairly, I guess, classic one that comes in many forms. There's some of these that could already be construed as an unreliable narrator. This one I struggle with. I've been looking, I've been like, it's been catching my eye the past few that I've been reading. And I've been like, oh ----, I don't know what I'm going to say because I think this can be done incredibly. And I think it can be done poorly. Right? I think it can be done terribly. Like my mum, for example, is like, oh my God, I hate unreliable narrators. Like I can't stand them. I, on the other hand, you know, don't mind that. I think I'm going to put that in that sounds a bit twisted. A lot of time I do think I enjoy that because again, it's playing on. I trusted you. Actually, I shouldn't have done that. Me, I'm a clown. Boo boo the fool. But like there's certain books where this is up here. There's certain books where this is all the way down here and I'm fuming. I'm mega, mega ******* fuming. This is perhaps the one that could go on any of these, like, you know, whatever. But I think when it's done well, I really enjoy it. And I think this is a good staple mystery twist. But like there's certain people that hate it. My mum can't stand an unreliable narrator. Whereas I, you know, I can enjoy it. So there we have it. That was me ranking mystery twists. If you enjoyed it, let me know what you think of my ranking. Do you agree with me? Do you absolutely disagree with me with some of these? I'd love to know. I will leave the tier maker linked down below so you can do the ranking for yourself. Make sure you save it and send it to me if you do do it. Because yeah, I'd love to see what all of your rankings are. But this was it for me. I'm looking at it and I'm standing by my ranking. I stand by the ranking of these twists. So yeah. Thank you guys for watching this video. If you got to the end, comment the ghost emoji for our little ghosty up here. I know that one might be controversial. Some of you may put that down here. I'm not gonna lie. But comment the ghost emoji if it got to the end. Thank you guys so much for watching and I'll see you very soon in another video. Bye!