Here is a 10-word-per-sentence opening for a murder mystery: It was a dark stormy night in the old mansion. A crash of thunder awoke the elderly man from his restless sleep. Entering the hallway rubbing his eyes, he saw the library door ajar, strange as he thought it locked. Stepping inside the room slowly, the sight shocked him to his core. There on the Persian carpet was his wife, lifeless and covered in blood.