Richard Saunders 
And Then the Murders Began 
Classic Literature Bestsellers’ Opening Lines ReImagined Darkly

The Mystery To This Book

…is to make you smile, laugh, or just shake your head.

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, ‘and what is the use of a book, ’ thought Alice ‘without pictures or conversations?’

And then the murders began.

Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, By Lewis Carroll

It all started with a small quote from Marc Laidlaw who created a nice approach to revisiting first lines of books. His 3 March 2017 tweet said, “The first line of almost any story can be improved by making sure the second line is, ‘And then the murders began.’”

This book was a test of that idea.

I took the first lines of the top 100 downloaded books from Gutenberg.org, in order, and applied that concept.

The idea does work in almost all cases to create something humorous (depending on your idea of what’s funny.)

To be fair, in many cases, a better effect is often achieved once the scene is set. Especially when you are already familiar with the author’s style. Romances seem to work best. Plays are awkward.

You can try this for yourself as you go – take only the first line and add “And then the murders began.” The results are more often than not incredibly hilarious. Sometimes merely droll. And even non-fiction can be as surprising.

Or, just read along with my excerpts and see which one you like better. I give you, then, two books in one. (Three, if you want to explore that classic further…)

Above all, the idea is to have fun.