Why Add Romance to Mystery?

by Jackie King

Romance in mysteries seems to be anathema to some readers and writers, and I have no problem with that. Everyone should read and/or write any type of book they like. I, myself, enjoy some of these mystery novels from time to time. However, for me, a touch of romantic love adds that special human touch.

Even hard-edged thrillers such as the remarkable Val McDermid writes, usually have an affair of the heart touching the story. I just finished Cross and Burn, and the angst Tony Hill endured while thinking of Carol Jordan, added much tension to this mystery.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Including a touch of romance is something I do in my own B&B cozy mystery series featuring Grace Cassidy. After publishing the second in the series I got remarks from readers who were annoyed that I left the relationship between Grace and Sam Harper, hanging in the wind. They were right. If I had it to do over, I’d add one last chapter that would give readers a bit of satisfaction.

  

In the third novel of the series, The Corpse and the Geezer Brigade, their romance picks up again, and I got better reviews. (I’m a late bloomer and probably a slow learner—but I do try to improve my writing skills in each book.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In her autobiography, Agatha Christie mentioned that if she added a bit of romance to her novels, the books to sold more copies. Now I think that most mystery fans will agree that writing romance wasn’t the great Dame Agatha’s strong suit. Her surprising plot twists were what caused her books to fly off the shelves. But the famous lady of mystery was an astute business woman; therefore most of her stories have some kind of love interest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Writers have now become adroit at blending a love story with pure mystery. In Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone mysteries, our heroine always seems to have bad luck with men. But when Grafton penned G Is for Gumshoe and added an anti-hero type guy named Robert Deitz, the book sizzled for a few pages.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Historical mysteries also feature love. One of my favorite authors, Anne Perry, uses two different hero types. William Monk, brilliant and ambitious, fancies helpless, very ladylike women. Our protagonist, Hester Latterly, who served with Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War, is a prototype of the early feminist. When these two characters are pierced by Cupid’s arrows, the excitement mounts.

Another of Perry’s popular series features Thomas Pitt, a poorly paid policeman who weds Charlotte Ellison, the daughter of a well-to-do family. The union is definitely a no-no in the class-conscious Victorian setting. The marriage and the complications that arise from it, make Perry’s plots deep and believable.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even hardboiled mysteries feature strong love stories. The Elvis Cole series, written by the grand master Robert Crais, is a perfect example. Elvis’ love match with Lucy Chenier is enough to melt your teeth. And even though the two have parted for the safety of Lucy’s young son, her memory still lingers with Elvis and adds an extra dimension to Crais’ books.

  

Joe Pike, that hour-and-a-half hardboiled egg, and my personal favorite hero (also created by Crais) is not immune to love. When he falls, he falls hard.

This list could go on and on, and I haven’t even mentioned the popular romantic suspense novels. So I’m going to go out on a limb and say that adding romance to mystery just makes the story that much richer and more fulfilling.

If you have a favorite mystery that also features romance, I’d like to know about it. I will also love any comment you care to make, favorable or not.

Guest Blog: D.E. Ireland

Posted by Carola

D.E. Ireland is a team of award-winning authors, Meg Mims and Sharon Pisacreta. Long time friends, they decided to collaborate on this unique series based on George Bernard Shaw's wonderfully witty play, Pygmalion, and flesh out their own version of events post-Pygmalion.

http://deireland.com

 

MURDEROUS HITS AND MISSES

As we write this, the film Gone Girl is still weeks away from its October release. There are legions of fans around the world hoping the book will be as suspenseful and riveting as Gillian Flynn’s corker of a novel. We’re right to be nervous about the outcome. Many excellent mystery and suspense novels have been turned into cinematic misfires. Others, however, hit their mark with deadly aim. Sharon and Meg briefly discuss their favorite film adaptation of a mystery, and ones they are still trying to forget.

Sharon: One especially egregious example was the film adaptation of Carolyn Hart’s Dead Man’s Island. This book launched the wonderful series featuring Henrietta O’Dwyer Collins, aka Henrie O, a retired newspaper reporter. Our intelligent heroine is caught up in a first-rate mystery while trapped on an island during a hurricane. With a dead body, a colorful cast of suspects, and a nice twist at the end, how could the movie go wrong? Well, it did. I knew we were in trouble when girlish Barbara Eden was cast as the no-nonsense, sixty-something Henrie O. Everything went downhill from there.

By the way, I have nothing against Barbara Eden; she made a lovely genie. But the blond glamorous Eden seemed like an Orange County housewife, and not a retired famous journalist with graying hair and a penchant for jogging suits. Eden also seemed unable to imitate a Texas accent. Actually very little about the movie was convincing or suspenseful. The film also starred William Shatner, Traci Lords, and Morgan Fairchild – which only added to the misery of watching it.

My favorite Agatha Christie novel is Death on the Nile. It is a quintessential Christie story starring Hercule Poirot, and peopled with a beautiful heiress, an archaeologist, a socialite, a spurned lover, a French maid, an untrustworthy lawyer, a Communist, and a romance novelist by the delicious name of Salome Otterbourne. Cast as Poirot, Peter Ustinov was far taller than the little Belgian. But, being the consummate actor he is, Ustinov was entirely convincing. Small changes were made to the script that differed from the novel; these largely involved deleting several secondary characters. However the alterations did not change the story arc, nor make the movie any less entertaining than the book. Unlike Dead Man’s Island, the cast was spot on, the script faithful to Christie, and all of it filmed on location in Egypt. With a sweeping musical score as well. Of course, it’s hard to go wrong with a cast that includes Bette Davis, Angela Lansbury, David Niven, and Maggie Smith. I have a feeling that Miss Christie would have been as pleased by the 1978 film as I was.

Meg: For a movie I can’t get out of my head, I’ll go for the gore of Sleepy Hollow. I actually enjoyed the movie, except for closing my eyes whenever another head rolled. Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow – published in 1820 – isn’t a true mystery, being based on a German folktale about a ‘headless horseman’ who rides through the wild woodlands. The lovely Katrina Van Tassel’s hand, along with a sizable dowry, is at stake. Two rivals emerge – schoolmaster Ichabod Crane (an outsider to the community) and the local prankster Brom Bones. Tensions escalate when Brom relates local legends at a party held at the Van Tassel farm. When Katrina turns down Crane’s marriage proposal, he heads home to Sleepy Hollow but encounters a mysterious figure who carries his head on the saddle. After a horseback chase, Ichabod escapes across a bridge, where the horseman throws his head in Crane’s face.

The movie with Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci and the villainous Christopher Walken certainly was a mix of both horror and mystery. Sleepy Hollow morphs the hapless, mooning schoolmaster Ichabod Crane into a 1799 New York City police constable who is sent to the remote hamlet to investigate several gruesome killings. Crane has an interest in new-fangled gadgets which help him perform autopsies and lift fingerprints (just go with it, although historically it was another hundred years before Bertillon invented the technique).

Locals blame the beheadings on a headless Hessian soldier, who takes center stage. Brom Bones is a local hero whose head rolls. The movie’s pretty cool, given the Tree of the Dead clotted with the victims’ skulls, the twisty plot and many exciting chases through the woods and into the local windmill. Overall, much better than the short story if you love a great Hallowe’en-themed movie.

As for a disastrous adaptation, I’ll choose the 1965 film of Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders starring Tony Randall. While I loved Randall’s work in other films, he was totally wrong as Hercule Poirot. He walks like an American, talks like a Frenchman (abhorrent to the Belgian character – French music even plays while Randall and Robert Morley walk in London), and his movements are stiff and clumsy. Horrors!

The dialogue in the screenplay – meant to be comical – comes off as cringe-worthy. Morley makes a goofy Hastings. Randall only stares at Margaret Rutherford who makes a cameo appearance (and an astute observation), but even that seems wrong. One would expect the two to compare notes.

The 1992 television adaptation of the novel, with the perfect David Suchet as Poirot and Hugh Fraser as Captain Hastings, as well as Philip Jackson as Inspector Japp, is far better. The book deserved better treatment. The ABC Murders is one of Christie’s most intriguing plots, with a serial killer who leaves an ABC railway guide at each crime scene. He begins with Andover tobacco shop owner Alice Ascher as the first victim, then B exhill waitress Betty Barnard, and Sir Carmichael Clarke of Churston. When the pattern is broken, Poirot falls back on a simpler solution to the murders. Christie at her best, but the 1965 film butchered it – even Dame Agatha was displeased.

Good or bad, murderous movies do give viewers a 3-D picture – but often the book is much better. Being mystery novelists ourselves, we are not at all surprised.

Buy on Amazon      Buy on B&N

Website: https://www.facebook.com/DEIrelandAuthor

Blog: http://deireland.com/blog/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DEIrelandAuthor

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/deirelandauthor/

Romancing the Mystery

by Jackie King

Mysteries are my first love, but since Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, I decided to explore mysteries that have a love interest. Adding a touch of romance is something I do in my own mystery series featuring Grace Cassidy.

In her autobiography, Agatha Christie mentioned that if she added a bit of romance to her novels, the books to sold more copies. Now I think that most mystery fans will agree that writing romance wasn’t the great Dame Agatha’s strong suit. Her surprising plot twists were what caused her books to fly off the shelves. But the famous lady of mystery was an astute business woman; therefore most of her stories have some kind of love interest.

Agatha Christie

Writers have now become adroit at blending a love story with pure mystery. In Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone mysteries, our heroine always seems to have bad luck with men. But when Grafton penned G Is for Gumshoe and added an anti-hero type guy named Robert Deitz, the book sizzled for a few pages.

Sue Grafton

Historical mysteries also feature love. One of my favorite authors, Anne Perry, uses two different hero types. William Monk, brilliant and ambitious, fancies helpless, very ladylike women. Our protagonist, Hester Latterly, who served with Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War, is a prototype of the early feminist. When these two characters are pierced by Cupid’s arrows, the excitement mounts.

Another of Perry’s popular series features Thomas Pitt, a poorly paid policeman who weds Charlotte Ellison, the daughter of a well-to-do family. The union is definitely a no-no in the class-conscious Victorian setting. The marriage and the complications that arise from it, make Perry’s plots deep and believable.

Anne Perry

Even hardboiled mysteries feature strong love stories. The Elvis Cole series, written by the grand master Robert Crais, is a perfect example. Elvis’ love match with Lucy Chenier is enough to melt your teeth. And even though the two have parted for the safety of Lucy’s young son, her memory still lingers with Elvis and adds an extra dimension to Crais’ books.

Robert Crais

Joe Pike, that hour-and-a-half hardboiled egg and my personal favorite hero (also created by Crais) is not immune to love. When he falls, he falls hard.

This list could go on and on, and I haven’t even mentioned the popular romantic suspense novels. So on Valentine’s Day Eve, I’m going to go wild and say that adding romance to mystery just makes the story that much richer and more fulfilling.

If you have a favorite mystery that also features romance, I’d like to know about it. I will also love any comment you care to make, favorable or not.

Happy Boxing Day to All Readers!

When I was young you could buy a paperback book for 35 cents. Of course it was much harder to come up with 35 cents back in those days, but it was still a good price. At least for a bibliophile like me. And this love for books led to my becoming an anglophile. Let’s just say that I’m a lover of all good things.

Back in the mid-fifties we teenagers would hang out in the local drugstore. These were magical places for me, because those four walls contained all of the things I loved best. A soda fountain where they made everything from scratch, even Cokes; makeup including the latest fads in eye shadow (blue back then), lipstick and nail polish (the rage was Fire and Ice and was the reddest red you have ever seen); and most importantly: BOOKS! Racks and racks of paperback books.

There was always a sign posted that said, “THIS IS NOT A LIBRARY, BOOKS ARE FOR SALE ONLY.” Of course most of us ignored that. The owners didn’t run me out because I always bought something before I left.

It was there, when I was about 18, that I discovered my beloved Agatha Christie. The first book I happened on to was MURDER IN THE VICERAGE, and I was instantly addicted. I went on to read and reread every book that she had written. Something about her style relaxed me when I was anxious, comforted me when I was hurt and brought a good deal of pleasure to my life.

Through her books I learned of Boxing Day, a bank holiday in England. For a long time I thought it had something to do with pugilism, and I wondered why it came right after Christmas. Eventually I learned it referred to Christmas gifts and a day off for the hired help.

Historians don’t agree on how this holiday originated, although some say the tradition began in England in the Middle Ages. Servants, of course, had to work on Christmas Day, so on the day after left-overs from the huge feasts of the rich were boxed up and sent with the worker-bees as they visited their families. It seems that tradesmen also followed this tradition for their help.

The idea of an extra holiday in celebration of a Christmas Box, or gift, seems wonderful to me, and this Yankee is going to celebrate it. I invite all and sundry to join me…Yanks, Brits, and all readers.

Happy Boxing Day to all readers!

Hugs,

Jackie

Warped

by Ben Small

As some of you know, I just returned from touring Croatia and a bike tour of parts of Slovenia, Italy and Austria. And of course, my mind turned to murder. I don't recall anybody writing a murder mystery involving a bicycle tour, but why not? Seems to me one could develop a story very Agatha Christie-like on a bike tour.

So many methods for the killer to use. He could oil a sharp turn on a downhill switch-back. Or she could reach down and thrust a stick or rod between someone's spokes. Or he/she could bat someone across the bean while passing.

Great. Now I'll be thinking about bike-murder all day...

Consider this: We had eleven people in our twenty person bike tour (not including two guides) who were part of one group from Ormond Beach, FL. Who knows the relationship these folks had before the trip? Maybe one has been cheating with another one's wife or husband. Maybe two of them are related and there's a will contest going on. Maybe one is the parent of a child arrested because of drugs supplied by another tour member. Whatever. These folks knew each other before the bike tour, and they'd had interactive lives.

What a chance for murder.

Just try to account for twenty people on a bike tour. Who's where at any time? Folks ride in different groups, and mix it up after rest stops or meals. Trying later to reconstruct who was with whom and when would be difficult -- again, just like an Agatha Christie murder.

Riding on paved or hard-pack gravel trails in beautiful valleys underneath the Julian Alps is a dreamlike journey. The air is crisp and cool, fresh, and spirits are high. The heart is pounding and the muscles are burning. Who's paying attention to details? Oops, somebody missed a turn. Okay. We'll catch them later. Or will we? What if they don't come back? What if somebody bumped 'em off at the last turn?

Okay, I'm sick. But so are you. C'mon, admit it. You go places and think about murder too, don't you?

Don't be surprised if there's a bike in my next book...

The 12 Tales of Christmas

By Beth Terrell

Christmas Day is winding to a close. The theme from A Charlie Brown Christmas is playing on our stereo; my husband and I are double-stuffed with turkey, ham, pumpkin pie, and a bounty of holiday fare; and my mom and I just finished watching Miracle on 34th Street, the original, with Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle and Natalie Wood as the skeptical little girl who learns to believe in Christmas magic. I love this season--the lights, the music, the shiny wrapping paper, choosing gifts for loved ones, the message of love and spirituality. And only 364 days until the next one!

For those of you who aren't quite ready for the merriment to end, here are some mysteries, thrillers, and suspense novels that take place around the Christmas Season.

1) Slay Ride is Chris Grabenstein's third published novel. This book is darker and more violent than Grabenstein's popular Ceepak series, but it should come as no surprise to anyone who reads Chris's work, he handles it well, weaving the plot lines together seamlessly. FBI agent Christopher Miller investigates a series of murders by a killer dubbed "The Man In the Moon," who kills cab drivers on the nights of the full moon. Meanwhile, successful young ad exec Scott Wilkinson makes the fateful mistake of calling a cab company to complainabout a driver who gave him a hellish ride to the airport. The driver, a dangerous criminal intent on vengeance, will stop at nothing to destroy Wilkinson. If you like your crime fiction dark (with a splash of holiday flair), check this one out.

2) A Puzzle in a Pear Tree by Parnell Hall features Cora Felton, the feisty protagonist of Parnell's "Puzzle Lady" series. Parnell says senior sleuth Cora is a lot like Miss Marple--if Mis Marple drank, smoked cigars, gambled, and had more ex-husbands than she could count. This light-hearted romp, the fourth book in the series, centers on a small-town Christmas pageant and a killer who leaves clues in the form of acrostic puzzles. The Chicago Sun-Times called this book "“a joy for lovers of both crosswords and frothy crime detection."

3) Christmas is Murder: A Rex Graves Mystery by C.S. Challinor is the first in a cozy mystery series featuring "charming sleuth" Rex Graves, a Scottish Barrister. The story is set in a hotel that was once an old English manor. Those who like Agatha Christie might enjoy this one; the tone and style are similar, and the story, a classic "closed group"mystery, should appeal to fans of the Golden Age mysteries.

4) Visions of Sugar Plums: A Stephanie Plum Holiday Novel by Janet Evanovitch is a "between-the-numbers" book featuring bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. I have been a huge Stephanie Plum fan for years and devour each new installment as they come out. The "between-the-numbers" books are very different in tone and substance than the regular books in the series and contain fantasy elements that do not seem in keeping with the rest of the books. They are slim books, and if you're looking for the usual Stephanie/Joe/Ranger byplay, you will be disappointed. If, however, you're looking for a quick, fun read with a holiday theme, give it a shot. I found this book pretty enjoyable after I decided to think of it as one of Stephanie's dreams or fantasies.

5) In Hercule Poirot's Christmas (Hercule Poirot Mysteries) by Agatha Christie, family patriarch Simeon Lee, is murdered during a family holiday gathering at Lee's country home. This is a classic "locked room" mystery that will delight any fan of "Dame Agatha."

6) Sugarplum Dead, the twelfth book in Carolyn Hart's Death on Demand series, features mystery bookseller Annie Darling and her husband, Max. The plot involves a long-long father, a troubled teenager, and a spiritualist who is more--and less--than he seems. This is a great holiday read for anyone who likes cozies and well-paced, wholesome mysteries.

7) A Classic Christmas Crime edited by Tim Heald is a collection of short stories from such greats as P.D. James and Peter Lovesey. If a good short story proves that good things really do come in small packages, this book, with its wide range of voices and moods, is a treaure trove of good things.

8) A Holly Jolly Murder, a Claire Malloy mystery by Joan Hess, takes place during a New Age celebration of the winter solstice. When a follow of the Arch-Druid Malthea is murdered, the Book Depot proprietor and amateur sleuth is determined to discover whether her new-found friends are killers or victims.

9) Cold Light by John Harvey is another dark mystery. This is the sixth book in the Charlie Resnick series. A cabbie is bludgeoned to death; a social worker goes missing; and messages from the kidnapper indicate that he has killed before--and will again. It will take all of Resnick's wit and resources to find the killer and stop him. But will he be in time?

10 ) The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror by Christopher Moore...A disreputable fake Santa is murdered. A seven-year-old witness prays for a Christmas miracle. The prayer is heard and answered by a intellectually challenged heavenly being. Result: zombies for Christmas. Okay, so it's not a pure mystery, but honestly, who could resist this?

11) In Six Geese A-Slaying by Donna Andrews, a grumpy parade Santa is murdered. Heroine Meg Langslow and Chief Burke must solve the mystery and save Christmas. This is Donna's tenth novel in the "fine-feathered cozy series."

12) Publisher's Weekly calls Nobody's Child by Janet Dawson a "finely crafted, absorbing adventure." Thus is the fifth book in a series featuring Oakland, California PI Jeri Howard. In this installment, a young woman's body has been found in a burned-out home, and an alcoholic woman hires Jeri to find out if the dead woman is her daughter, who ran away three years ago. It is. Jeri learns that the dead woman had a daughter, who seems to be missing. With Christmas approaching, Jeri searches for the lost girl and tries to solve the murder of the girl's mother. The book explores a nmber of modern-day issues such as homelessness, racial tensions, and HIV infection.

As you can see, Christmas is a popular season for Crime Writers. For more books set during the holiday season, check out http://www.mysterynet.com/Christmas/books/, http://www.sldirectory.com/libsf/booksf/mystery/topic.html#holiday, and http://www.wppl.org/webresources/recommended_reading/Mysteries/Holiday.htm.

Happy Reading!