Answer:

plot

Answer	Crossword Clue
PLOT	Cabal
PLOT	Graph
PLOT	Novel necessity

PLOT	Novel requirement
PLOT	Scheme
PLOT	1976 Hitchcock film "Family ...."
PLOT	Cook up, in a way
PLOT	Story line
PLOT	It may thicken
PLOT	Machination
PLOT	Something hatched

PLOT	Conspiracy
PLOT	Whodunit thread
PLOT	Conspire
PLOT	Novel idea?
PLOT	Literary element
PLOT	Novel idea
PLOT	Central story line
PLOT	Garden area

PLOT	Secret plan
PLOT	Brew
PLOT	Review subject
PLOT	Novel underpinning
PLOT	Schemer's creation
PLOT	Cabal's creation
PLOT	It usually thickens
PLOT	Schemer's hatching

PLOT	Conspiracy theorist's subject
PLOT	Conspiracy theorist's worry
PLOT	One often thickens on stage
PLOT	Prepare for a coup
PLOT	It's hatched
PLOT	Thing to cook up
PLOT	Novel feature?
PLOT	Novelist's need

PLOT	Mastermind's scheme
PLOT	Paranoiacs see one everywhere
PLOT	Whodunit skeleton
PLOT	Parcel of land
PLOT	Novel's essence