Good Cops, Bad Cops

The usual good cop, bad cop connotation in a mystery novel refers to the interrogation technique where one tough-looking detective tends to browbeat the suspect, while his more personable partner acts the good guy, seeking to gain leverage by taking the suspect's side. In my new Sid Chance thriller, there are basically two good cops and two bad cops. But their roles don't involve interplay with suspects.

In her review of The Good, The Bad and The Murderous at The Deepening, Sylvia Cochran  wrote:

"Another aspect that makes the storyline quite endearing is the topic of police corruption. It is tackled with respect for the profession but a candor that bespeaks a reality, which we frequently prefer to ignore. Although fictional, the frustration and anger that corruption at this level leaves behind is palpable in Campbell’s writings."

The primary good cops are members of the Miss Demeanor and Five Felons Poker Club, a small group that includes PI Sid Chance and his part-time partner, ex-cop/businesswoman Jaz LeMieux. The active duty officers are Metro Nashville Homicide Detective Bart Masterson and Patrol Sgt. Wick Stanley. Sid and Jaz run onto the shady cops, a pair of detectives, early in the story as they work to prove a young black man just out of prison for a murder he committed at age twelve is not guilty of a new homicide.

I hadn't considered this angle when I began writing the story. I don't plot ahead but follow where the action leads. I suddenly realized (as did my PI's) that something wasn't right about the way the detectives were handling the case.

As I was finishing the novel, I attended the Metro Nashville Citizen Police Academy and got a first-hand look at what goes on among the men in blue. I was struck by the dedication of the officers I met. During a ride-along with a patrol officer, I got a good indoctrination into the ever-shifting milieu that cops face on a continuing basis.

One of our presenters was the woman, a former trial lawyer, who heads the Metro Nashville Office of Professional Accountability, what most departments call Internal Affairs. She told of cases where they had investigated officers involved in variouas crimes. She also stressed that they represented only a small fraction of the city's 1500 sworn officers.

In the end I dedicated the book to "all the great men and women who carry the badge of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. They risk their necks day and night to keep us safe. We owe them more than we can ever repay."

The Perils of Plotting

Maybe perils is a bit melodramatic, but it's eye-catching. How about dilemmas? Okay, still a little heavy, but it carries the connotation of difficulty. Things don't always pan out the way we plan. Take my new book, whose cover appears here. As I've said before (likely too many times), I'm a "pantser" when it comes to plotting. I start with a basic idea and jump in feet first.

With this book, the second Sid Chance entry, I did a bit of cogitating and came up with the idea of building the story around the subject of Medicare fraud. I got the impetus from a CBS news piece about FBI agents in Miami tracking down storefront scammers who billed Medicare for durable medical equipment, like power chairs and such. It has been a lucrative business, but I didn't recall any mystery novels delving into it. I know, somebody will write that they've read a dozen of them, but I haven't.

Anyway, I researched the subject, learning the requirements for setting us an operation able to bill Medicare. I read about the new regulations aimed at making it more difficult for fraudsters. I learned that some drug traffickers were finding it more lucrative than selling dope.

Before I plopped down on my recliner with laptop on lap, the local paper ran a few stories about the problem of killers who are kids getting tried in Criminal Court and sentenced to prison. If they weren't genuine ciminals when they went in, they probably would be when they came out. In juvenile correctional facilities, they get guidance designed for people their age.

The main story featured Nashville's youngest murderer of recent memory, a black boy who shot a man during a drug deal at age twelve. He was released from prison at twenty-five after spending more than half his life behind bars. He vowed to lead a changed life now, though he hadn't been able to find a job. I read a few months later that he'd been arrested for beating up a girlfriend, but I already had my character who vowed to go straight.

My man, Djuan Burden, appears at a Medicare scam shop in the process of closing and ready to skip town. The owner had just been shot, causing Djuan to flee in panic. A pair of Metro Nashville homicide detectives with his description and license number, plus a paper he'd left on the desk with his fingerprints and his grandmother's address, promptly arrest him for the murder.

PI Sid Chance is hired by the grandmother, who had reason to believe in Djuan's innocence, to prove he didn't murder the shop owner. Sid and his sometimes partner, Jaz LeMieux, find evidence of Medicare fraud which the cops missed because they were only interested in the homicide. Sid turns it over to an FBI agent who is a key contact as the story progresses.

Great so far, but at this point the plot switches gears. Sayonara Medicare fraud. The story turns into a tale of bad cops and other villains involved in murder and revenge and similar nastiness. There are good cops, too, of course, including Homicide Detective Bart Masterson and Patrol Sgt. Wick Stanley, who along with Sid and Jaz are members of the Miss Demeanor and Five Felons Poker Club. While writing the book, I attended the Metro Nashville Citizen Police Academy. It prompted me to dedicate the book to the men and women who wear the badge and risk their necks day and night to keep us safe.

I suppose what happened with the plot to this book illustrates why I prefer the "seat of the pants" method of plotting. I had no idea things would turn out they way they did. It's exciting to learn what characters wind up doing and how they steer the story into new dimensions.

You'll find more about the new book here at my website.