Gender

[David Evil Overlord]

Charles Stross did that with The Halting Game. The whole book was written in second-person, with alternating POV characters for each chapter. Since the book was written about online gaming, which grew out of Dungeons and Dragons, and since the Dungeon Master running a D&D game would say things like, "You open the oak door. You see a ten foot square stone room. You see the room contains three hundred goblins, twenty five orcs, two red dragons and a troll.", it works as a tribute to those original games.

Oh, and it's a good story, too.

[Mouse]

Well I can tell 'ee all now that I'm not doing second person! Have done it for a short story, but it won't fit here.

Originally Posted by HareBrain

Yes, if you use just dialogue, and it doesn't look too weird that you're using only dialogue (with your style it probably wouldn't), that would be fine.

I hope so. Though I'm wondering if I'm using too much dialogue as it is!

[Esfires]

Originally Posted by Mouse

I'm thinking it'll be obvious who it is if I say they're male or female.

I reckon just dialogue will work first, just for a couple of paragraphs of flashback. Then I'll give them a full on named/sexed POV when it's ready.

It seems to me that this is your actual problem. Perhaps you need to go back and muddy the waters a bit more. Add some new characters to broaden the pool of potential candidates or add a false lead so that the reader thinks that character is somewhere else at the time.

Hiding the gender of this character is probably just a band-aid that is masking the fact that your narrative may be too predictable.

[Mouse]

Well... this character hasn't even been mentioned yet, so maybe it'll only be obvious to me.

[David Evil Overlord]

A suggestion - have two murder suspects, and give the innocent one of them a deep, dark secret that must be hidden at all costs. Like a series of extra-marital affairs that would lead to divorce and financial ruin and ridicule in the press.

That way, both suspects are behaving suspiciously to protect their secret...

[Mouse]

Thing is, I'm only talking about initial POVs of this person. The reader will know who the murderer is when I get into it, so there's no point trying to make a false murderer.

Difficult to explain what I'm on about really, and I write a lot going on the 'feel' of something, rather than any pre-planning.

[David Evil Overlord]

Originally Posted by Mouse

Thing is, I'm only talking about initial POVs of this person. The reader will know who the murderer is when I get into it, so there's no point trying to make a false murderer.

Difficult to explain what I'm on about really, and I write a lot going on the 'feel' of something, rather than any pre-planning.

That sounds very suspicious to me, Mouse. What are you trying to hide?

First person might work. "I stabbed her. She shuddered. I let her fall to the ground." As long as you don't do anything obviously male/female...

[Esfires]

You ought to troll around on some mystery-writing forums. For Fantasy and Science Fiction this sort of thing can be a rare obstacle, but for mystery writers it's part and parcel of what they do. Who better to learn from than the masters?

[Mouse]

First person doesn't 'feel' right, DEO.

I'll try and explain what I'm on about a bit better. This is the start of a chapter - I have two main POV characters and one minor POV character who so far is having to share chapters with the other two POVs because he's not had anything long enough to fill a chapter of his own yet.

This:

“You’re paranoid.”
“No. I know you’re involved somehow. I never liked what you did—“
A laugh. “I didn’t do anything! They came to me, remember? I just opened their minds, showed them what they could do if they believed in themselves.”
“B****cks.”
“You’re a cynic, Mr Taylor. Always were.”

So, the reader knows who Mr Taylor is. They've heard about the person he's talking to in this scene, but as I've not said who it is here, they might not know unless they work it out.

I'm thinking a couple of chapter-sharers like this for the murderer to start off with. Maybe even just the one. (The person he's talking to here isn't the murderer).

Esfires, ta. I'm reading a murder mystery at the mo, but not lurked on any forums.

[TheDustyZebra]

Does the character in question have a gender-specific name? Because if he/she could have a he/she type of name, you could just use the name instead of he or she, whether in dialogue or description. You couldn't get away with much description of that sort, but you could do a fair amount of dialogue without it seeming particularly odd. Unless I misunderstand the problem, which is entirely possible.

[David Evil Overlord]

Originally Posted by Mouse

First person doesn't 'feel' right, DEO.

You must do what feels right, Mouse. As long as it isn't murder...

I can see it now, TDZ. The dying man's last words were, "Sam killed me..."

Samuel and Samantha glare at each other across the room. Neither of them notice the dark shadow that is the demon Samael...

[Warren_Paul]

Originally Posted by David Evil Overlord

I can see it now, TDZ. The dying man's last words were, "Sam killed me..."

Samuel and Samantha glare at each other across the room. Neither of them notice the dark shadow that is the demon Samael...

Couldn't get any more confusing than that I think.

[Gumboot]

Originally Posted by Warren_Paul

Couldn't get any more confusing than that I think.

Until Samwise Gamgee the Hobbit clambered out of the pots under the awning.

[David Evil Overlord]

Originally Posted by Gumboot

Until Samwise Gamgee the Hobbit clambered out of the pots under the awning.

Carrying a shoulder-launched S.A.M. (Surface to Air Missile), which he aimed at Samson.

[Warren_Paul]

Originally Posted by David Evil Overlord

Carrying a shoulder-launched S.A.M. (Surface to Air Missile), which he aimed at Samson.

Which was intercepted by Samwell Tarly's raven.