Red herring
A red herring is a clue or character put in a story on purpose to lead you to the wrong conclusion.
Mysteries and thrillers run on red herrings. A suspect with an obvious motive, a piece of evidence that points neatly one way, a character acting guilty for reasons of their own. They all give you something to be wrong about, which is part of the fun.
The phrase is usually explained as dragging a smoked fish across a trail to throw hunting dogs off the scent. The real history is messier. The figurative meaning seems to come from the journalist William Cobbett, who in 1807 told a story about using a red herring to distract hounds, and the phrase took off from there rather than from any actual hunting practice.
In mystery writing, the rule is that a red herring has to be fair. It can mislead you through what’s emphasised or when things come out, but once the truth is revealed it should still make sense. Maybe that suspect really was lying, just about something else. If it turns out the book simply lied to you for no reason, readers feel cheated.
Red herring: common questions
What is an example of a red herring?
A suspect the story keeps coming back to who turns out to be innocent, but who was hiding something else, like an affair, a debt or a different crime. It still holds up once you know the truth.
What is the difference between a red herring and a plot hole?
A red herring is on purpose and gets explained by the end. A plot hole is a mistake the book never deals with.