How Does Sherryl Clark Build Suspense In Lamb To The Slaughter

Suspense is one of the key elements in the crime genre which help to carry the story further and create excitement in the reader through the mid-section of the book, this is done to encourage the reader to keep on reading until the suspense has delivered a satisfying conclusion. It is done to continually develop the situation and advance the plot without making the story easy to predict. Suspense can be created using a variety of techniques, these include sensory, imagery and foreshadowing. Fresh bait, by Sherryl Clark is about a woman investigating the murder of her sister. Lamb to the slaughter by Roald Dahl is about a stereotypical housewife in the 1950s who awaits her husband at home to find he is leaving her, in a fit of anger she kills him using a frozen leg of lamb, she then covers it up and appears a victim. The speckled band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is about a woman investigating the death of her sister with the assistance of Sherlock

Clark has used sensory techniques in Fresh Bait to express the characters feelings of fear and caution. This is shown in the line ‘’my heart rate sped up a little and I took a deep breath’’ this reveals how the main character is feeling about the man driving and what might happen to her. In the story lamb to the slaughter sensory techniques are used when the text says ‘’she tried a smile. It came out rather peculiar’’ and again in ‘’the voice sounded peculiar too’’. This shows she clearly feels fear at what could happen if someone found out she killed him. Sensory technique in the speckled band is used when Sherlock is first introduced to Helen when she says "It is not cold which makes me shiver". All three of these stories use sensory techniques similarly, they are obvious in trying to reveal emotions all of which are thought of what could happen to them in the future, these thoughts of a future dead or imprisoned create suspense in the readers