Red Herring

Behind the Term:

Red Herring: False Clue Detective fiction writers often include red herrings to: distract Confuse or surprise their readers. 

A red herring is meant to draw the reader off the correct trail so that they will be surprised when their solution dead-ends and the true solution is revealed.

If you think of a twist at the end of a movie, all the clues were there in order for the twist to make sense; but other false clues were there as well to keep you from guessing the twist. 

False clues add to the surprise of the reader, but they also give credit to the analytical skills of the detective

When the detective is able to solve a mystery that has all the other characters and the reader stumped, that's one good detective!

Red Herrings in “The Can Only Hang You Once” Open Back Door Open Gate

Timothy’s injuries: - Brused Throat - Shot Arm

Large, Dark Man