Saturday, April 2, 2016

26+ Ways to Kill: B is for Bludgeon and Boom



Welcome! Since I write culinary mysteries, “Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time” deals with food topics and with mysteries. This month I am sharing ways to kill people—in your mysteries, of course—and some tips on getting away with it! To avoid the pronoun problem, I’ll use heesh (he or she), shis (his or hers), and shim (him and her) throughout the entries. Tune in murder and mayhem.

While essentially death by bludgeon or boom might be the same--death by blunt object--they differ in propellant for the murder weapon. I could have done bullets or BBs shot through the mount into the brain, but that is so passe!


Blunt object deaths proliferate in literature. Blunt objects can stun, make the victim lapse into unconsciousness, cause traumatic brain injury, or concussion. They often are used to that effect to immobilize the victim so that heesh can be killed with another method. But with enough force, the blunt object can kill on its own.

To kill by blunt object, it helps if the force is enough to crush the skull or send bone fragments into the brain. The killer does not want the victim emerging from a coma and pointing a finger at shim. So pick your weapon: Bludgeon or Boom.

If you choose to kill by bludgeoning, know that you are either using a thick, heavy stick or some object that you use the blunt side of. A baseball bat fits the description perfectly, with the added advantage that you can swing it at the victim’s head, not necessarily bring it crashing down from overhead. You might have your killer pick up a heavy trophy as a bludgeon. Spoiler: That was the murder weapon in television’s season one of “How to Get Away with Murder”.

Learn some physics to make this method work for you. How much force does it take to crush a skull? What is the blood splatter pattern? How can you throw off the forensic scientists who can determine the height of the murderer from the angle of the blow?

Can’t you see the headline for your plot? Famous Slugger Killed with World Series Bat

Death by boom gives you three ways to go. And the boom itself is heavy, not lift-able to swing for murder, so this method relies on the weight of the object being swung toward the victim.

A boom has many uses. It is a long projecting arm used to move things, but the boom can be on a derrick, a stage set, or a ship. How versatile is that for killing options?

At a construction site, the derrick’s boom could be used to sweep the victim off the top floor of a building sending shim crashing to the concrete many floors below. Okay, so maybe actual death occurs by smashing into the concrete. True, but the boom on the derrick precipitated the fall. The killer can claim it was an accident. And accidents do happen on construction sites.

Or you could have a stage set boom holding lights or sound system fall onto the victim. This one can be tricky. How does your killer keep the tampered-with boom in place until the right moment? How do you get the victim to the right spot at the right time? Perhaps the killer knows the stage blocking well enough to plan for it. Or maybe the falling boom missing the victim (this time) is part of pattern of accidents that make the victim think heesh is cursed.

The boom on a ship pivots on the mast allowing the sailor to adjust the sail’s angle to take advantage of the wind for movement of the ship. If someone isn’t careful (Oops!), a passenger could get banged in the head and thrown into the drink. Being out to sea disposes of the body and the evidence (except for blood on the ship) rather easily. Ship accidents happen, too, so the murderer could claim accident and even bring the body back to shore where heesh confesses to the horrible accident because the victim didn’t follow instructions to duck.

If you take time to share this post on social media, I would be most grateful.

Twitter share:
#Mystery writer need ideas to kill? B is for Bludgeon or Boom. Lots of killer tips this month #atozchallenge. http://bit.ly/22WNioK

Facebook share:
Blogging from A to Z Challenge offers a wide range of topics. If you want to kill someone (in books of course), check out killing with Bludgeon or Boom on “Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time” at http://bit.ly/22WNioK

Please come back on Monday (the A-Z Gods give us Sundays off) to see how I suggest you kill with C!

 
Check out Sharon Arthur Moore’s culinary mystery, Mission Impastable



23 comments:

  1. Clever theme, Sharon!
    I'm in the middle of watching ABC's Miss Fisher's Mysteries (based off Kerry Greenwood's series) and the cozy mystery fan girl in me is SQUEEing over this.

    Haha, I'd go with bludgeon. I think I'd have to seduce someone into helping me out with the more tech-y BOOM plan.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, MarnaReed, thanks for coming by and especially for commenting. Yeah, I'd have to have my killer both strong and knowledgeable to use a boom, too. Are you in the A-Z Challenge? If so, how can I find you?

      Delete
  2. Replies
    1. Thanks, Marilyn! This was hugely fun to put together. Your book is link to C for tomorrow!

      Delete
  3. Great ideas, there are so many ways you could go with these in a story!
    Debbie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly what I thought, Debbie! Just a zillion plot lines pop up when you have an unusual method, right? Are you here from the A-Z Challenge? I'll look for you.

      Delete
  4. Your A to Z theme is perfect for me as I work through writing my first mystery. I've gone with bludgeoning with a winch handle (used in sailing) as my method of murder.

    Looking forward to learning more about how to kill people off :-)

    Cheers - Ellen | http://thecynicalsailor.blogspot.com/2016/04/b-is-for-boatyard-nancy-drew.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, Ellen--it's like bludgeon and boom-ish together! What is your book? Thanks for coming by. I'll check out your A-Z challenge, too!

    ReplyDelete
  6. That was such an intriguing and fun post. I used your tweet . I write romance but you never know when you need to kill someone LOl

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ain't it the truth? And some of those guys deserve some of the grisly deaths I have planned! lol Thanks so much for stopping by!

      Delete
  7. Another fascinating set of ideas! Never heard of a boom used in this context before. Thanks for the lesson!
    Have a great weekend!
    Lori

    My A2Zs @ As the Fates Would Have It & Promptly Written
    Follow Me (Ravyne) Twitter|Facebook

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a fantastic theme. Very unique. I hope people aren't learning much ;)

    I am Parul from Happiness & Food and part of co-host Pam's Unconventional Alliance from the #AtoZChallenge. Stopping by to say hello. Good luck for the challenge.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL, Parul! I went to your blog, but I don't think my reply posted. I'll check again later. Such an inspiring series you are doing! I'm a food guy, so I'm going to rooting around in your blog's attic and basement.

      Delete
    2. I got your comment. Thank you so much! And yes - food is there, so is happiness and April is food for thought. Happy Sunday!

      Delete
  9. A wonder treasure trove of info this will be by the end of the challenge. I'll be stopping by often. Have a wonderful month of blogging.
    @ScarlettBraden from
    Frankly Scarlett

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Scarlett. I had a lot of fun getting this ready. One thing I love about this challenge is all the new blogs I get introduced to!

      Delete
  10. Hi Sharon! Who knew or mulled over so many details over killing with a bludgeon! Hmm. I am a big fan of murder mysteries and just got a set of culinary mysteries by Joanne Pence and Delia Rosen! I am going to read your book!

    Thanks for the delightful read. And chin up about your diagnosis!

    Vidya Sury having fun with cohost Damyanti's D's Company and four blogs in the #AtoZChallenge
    Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles
    Be Healthy, Be Happy
    Life Hacks for Diabetics
    Life Hacks for Happiness

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks so much for coming by, Vidya! I do appreciate your supportive posts this month and other months (I noticed as I rummaged around). I hope you let me know what you think about Mission Impastable. The next two in the series come out this year!

    ReplyDelete
  12. As a former teacher, my students would've written a post on death by Boredom! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL, Roland. I thought of killing with kindness, too. We have many death expressions in every day conversation, don't we? Thanks for coming by. Are you in the A-Z challenge?

      Delete
  13. Ah, yes, blunt force trauma quite often is listed as the COD. Luv your title: Parsley, Sage and Rosemary time.

    Gail’s 2016 April A to Z Challenge
    B is for Breathe Deep

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for stopping by, Gail. I'll hop over to your blog to check out your posts this month, too!

    ReplyDelete