Writing mysteries is an exercise in pitting bad characters against good.
There are degrees of bad and good, of course, but in compelling stories, the bad character is often seriously, diabolically, dangerously bad. He (or she) will certainly have good points. He may be charming, clever, handsome, sympathetic, and have superior interpersonal skills–think Ted Bundy–but the reader learns soon that these are just a cover, enabling him to get close to people in order to do his dirty work.
I have used individuals in my books to play the villain. An art critic, a factory owner, a southern sympathizer, a rich landowner. In others, I have used a group (or blast, or den, or herd, or flock, or conflagration—see my last blog on word play) of baddies, ie: Nazis, where most folk will agree that it’s easier to count the good ones than the bad.
A “collective” villain makes for an interesting read.
The Nazis, the hedge fund crooks, the greedy corporate thieves, the Republicans, the Democrats, the tax collectors, the CIA, the FBI, the police, lawyers, politicians, doctors . . . all can play the role of collective villains.
In the case of the Nazis, you expect evil. In the case of doctors, you may not.
Anyone can be a villain.
If your experience tells you Nazis are bad, a good Nazi will be an interesting character. Same is true in reverse for a doctor. Then you have the Nazi doctor and you won’t know what to believe. But I digress.
A good writer will build each character with good points and bad points that the reader will both admire and loathe. It’s a fine line to walk. If your reader loathes your character too much, he (or she) might put the book down. 
In the case of the Nazis, there is, built-in, a sense of evil, danger, and villainy. And because Nazis were historically real, readers will have an innate sense of foreboding right from the first page.
Hence, my next book will return to the Nazis and World War II. The theme will be not be confiscated art . . . but stolen music.
Lawyers and politicians … always good for a bad guy. In my second published novel, I had the satisfaction of putting a politician on the wrong end of a Taser.
A Taser, hmm. Hope he was not of my political persuasion. Ha. Thanks, Mark.
Interesting! I don’t think a loathsome bad guy makes a reader put the book down because it makes readers, such as me, want the good guy to win all the MORE! If I really can’t stand him, then I read faster to get to the part where someone takes him out and gives him his just desserts!
My latest will incorporate Nazi’s but I hope to craft it where he looks better than the other bad guy (if that’s possible). How can anybody hate a bad guy worse than a Nazi bad guy – that’s my challenge!
Carrie, you are right about hating Nazis. But there are other collective bad guys to hate like gangsters, for one. Thanks for your input!
I love my bad-guys. From my first historical novel, two outlaws without allegiance to either the Blue or the Gray, named Redbeard and Dogtooth. The names were originally placeholders until I could noodle my way to good handles, but my editors liked the names too much see: THE MARCH OF THE 18TH, A STORY OF CRIPPLED HEROES IN THE CIVIL WAR.
sounds like you have a book about the Civil War. Sounds interesting. One of my mysteries is set against the Civil War and revolves around Civil War photography.
Lynne, confiscated music? Great twist. As for villains, collective ones are great (powerful, omniscient, etc.), but I still like a henchman or someone who represents that group in some way. That person can be a focus for both protagonist and reader, at least in some of the action scenes.
Collective ones are particularly great for series writers (most of my clients are writing a series) because you can keep that overriding “evil” force as the pervading backdrop that pulls readers to the next book, while each book in the series can use a different henchman as the focus.
Good points, Sandra. There is always that one really evil villain, who may be part of the collective. Mengele comes to mind, but with the Nazis there are so many to choose from!
Writing bad guys is always a good exercise. Since my historical fiction novel manuscript has gangsters as most of the main characters, not only do I have to create sympathetic characters but differentiate the ‘good’ gangsters from the ‘bad’ ones. It’s difficult but a lot of fun to write. Thanks for this article.
You’re very welcome. Thanks for the comment.