Not very long ago I did a post about certain kinds of characters we don’t see very much in today’s crime fiction. That’s mostly because society has changed so much in the last century. With those changes and especially with the evolution of technology, we’ve also seen new kinds of characters in crime fiction. And that makes sense when you consider how different the world has become. Here are just a few examples so that you can get a sense of what I mean; there are, of course, a lot more.
One of the more recent character types we’ve seen in crime fiction is the ecology-minded activist. As we’ve become more aware of the importance of the environment and the other animals with which we share the Earth, there’ve been more eco-minded characters in crime fiction. For instance, in Ruth Rendell’s Road Rage, several groups of activists converge on Kingsmarkham when plans are made for a new roadway that will cut through Framhurst Great Wood. Neither Inspector Reg Wexford nor his wife Dora is happy about these plans. In fact, Dora is a member of a local council that’s actively opposing the construction. But then the demonstrations turn ugly and the activists take a group of hostages including Dora Wexford. Then there’s a death. Now Wexford and his team have to not only free the hostages if they can but also solve the murder. Among other things this novel shows just how passionate people can be about the environment.
Ecological issues are also at the heart of Marilyn Victor and Michael Allen Mallory’s Killer Instinct. In that novel, zookeeper and television host Lavender “Snake” Jones travels to Northern Minnesota to film a documentary about wolves and the Minnesota Wolf Institute (MWI). When Jones gets there she finds that a lot of suspicion and dislike has built up between the MWI staff and local hunters. To make matters worse, an eco-terrorist group calling itself Stewards of Superior (SOS) has been agitating in the area and inflaming the already tense situation. Then, the bodies of four illegally-killed wolves are found near Wolf Lake. Jones’ friend wolf biologist Gina Brown blames local hunter Ivar Bjorkland for the murders and gets into a confrontation with him. When Bjorkland is murdered, Jones wonders whether Brown might be responsible. Then there’s another death. And another. As Jones tries to find out who’s responsible for the murders Victor and Mallory also explore the question of how to protect animal resources in a responsible way.
Another kind of character we’ve seen evolve in modern crime fiction is the forensic specialist. Our knowledge of forensics has vastly expanded in the last few decades, and crime fiction has kept pace with the times. Some crime fiction sleuths are themselves forensic experts. For example, Simon Beckett’s David Hunter is a forensic anthropologist who is called to the scene in certain cases where bodies are found. For instance in Written in Bone, a charred body has been discovered in the ruins of a fire on Runa, a remote island in the Outer Hebrides. Hunter discovers that the body is of a woman whose death was meant to look an accidental burning. When Hunter’s investigation shows that the woman was murdered, he finds that the island of Runa is hiding all sorts of dark secrets.
Elly Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway is also a forensic specialist. She heads the University of North Norfolk’s Forensic Archaeology program and is called to the scene in cases such as The House at Sea’s End, where bones are unearthed that are difficult to identify. In that novel, a team of archaeologists is studying Broughton Sea’s End where erosion is taking a toll on the area. When they discover the remains of six people, Galloway is called in to see what she can find out about them. She discovers that they belong to World War II-era Germans who were murdered. Galloway and DCI Harry Nelson are looking into the reasons for the murders when journalist and historian Dieter Eckhart, who was working on the story himself, is murdered. Now Galloway and Nelson have to connect that present-day murder to the past murders and find out how they relate to the area’s history.
Even when a novel or series doesn’t feature a forensic expert, that expertise is often woven into the story. In today’s world, I think it would be difficult to have for example a police procedural that didn’t include at least a mention of the forensic work involved in identifying the victim, manner and method of murder and so on. And no mention of developments in forensic technology would be complete without at least a word or two about the use of DNA matching in modern crime fiction. There are too many examples for me to mention here. Suffice it to say that any novel that involves forensic expertise to any extent is likely to include some mention of DNA-matching technology.
It goes without saying that computer technology has revolutionised just about everything we do. So computer experts have found their way into crime fiction too. For instance, in Debra Purdy Kong’s Fatal Encryption, out-of-work computer expert Alex Bellamy is hired by McKinley’s Department Store. A hacker has been stalking the company’s computer system and the company management wants Bellamy to stop the person responsible. Then, the hacker turns more serious and threatens to encrypt all of the company’s vital files unless the company pays a ransom of ten million dollars. Bellamy isn’t sure at first who is responsible, but one of the suspects is Max Ternoway, who may be using the hacking as a way to get back at McKinley’s for being fired. Recently Max’s brother Zachary was found murdered and Bellamy believes that the two incidents may be related even if Max himself isn’t responsible for the hacking. Now Bellamy has to find the hacker before he’s fired for incompetence or becomes the killer’s next victim.
Fans of Donna Leon’s Guido Brunetti series know that one of Brunetti’s colleagues Elettra Zorzi is an expert at computers, the internet and hacking. Officially she’s the assistant to vice-questore Giuseppe Patta. But unofficially she runs the Venice questura and part of the reason she’s so good at her job is her skill at computer technology. She helps Brunetti with many of his cases and often comes up with background information on the people involved in those cases that Brunetti would find it difficult to learn by more traditional methods.
There are many, many examples too of computer wizards who come in and out of novels and series even if they aren’t featured. In fact except for historical mysteries, it’d be difficult to have a believable crime novel in which computers weren’t used at all for anything. They’re that prevalent in today’s world.
Characters such as eco-activists, forensic experts and computer wizards highlight the way that changes in society affect what happens in crime fiction. I’ve only had space in this post for those few examples. Which kinds of characters do you see in today’s crime fiction that show how much society has changed? If you’re a writer, how do you integrate these new kinds of characters?
*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from the Eagles’ New Kid in Town.
Unless you’re writing historical fiction, I think it’s important to keep up with modern technology and forensic. I follow a lot of forensic sites to keep up with updates in the field. Even with technology, you have to include modern ways to catch criminals. I love your examples.
Clarissa – Thank you
– And I think you’re quite right about integrating updated ways of catching criminals. The way the police do their job does need to keep up with the times. You’re wise to find out what the latest developments are in forensics; it makes one’s writing more realistic and as you say updated.
I don’t like too much emphasis on computers and forensics on crime fiction books as it can overshadow the story but they are so prevalent in today’s society you need some reference to it. However, I liked the TV series ‘Sherlock’ which used iphones and associated technology to good effect.
Sarah – That’s an important point; too much of a focus on computers and forensics technology can take attention away from the plot of a story. I think it’s best too if those kinds of technology are mentioned and used, but go on “in the background” more or less unless the sleuth is a forensic specialist. And I agree with you about Sherlock. The writers have included modern technology effectively.
Margot: I am eagerly looking forward to the first mystery featuring a blogger sleuth solving mysteries with the aid of blogger colleagues working 24 hours a day around the world!
Bill – You know, there’s something in that plot! A worldwide network of crime-solving bloggers; I can see it now…
Great examples. I have just read a book featuring an equine psychologist! A new one on me (and not the same as a horse whisperer at all). Some of the futuristic detection devices used by Eve Dallas and colleagues in J D Robb’s series were quite fun and fresh to read about in the first few books (but not for repeated reading).
Maxine – Thank you
– How very interesting that you read about an equine psychologist! That’s a new career to me, too. I’m going to very interested in reading your review of that one. I’m glad you mentioned the early Eve Dallas novels too. There are some really fun futuristic devices the cops use in them aren’t there?
So glad to see Ruth Galloway and Elettra Zorzi here, among my favorite characters — although I wish Donna Leon would focus more on Zorzi sometimes, but that’s for another post.
There’s nothing like the scientific method to solve a case. These days DNA and forensic evidence are crucial in so many cases, fictional and real.
And computer science is used by all types of investigators in offices, labs and morgues to find out information about the victims and to find suspects.
There are coroners aplenty in crime fiction these days from Laos to Australia to Britain and the U.S. — and their numbers are growing. Crimes can be solved from examining miniscule threads from clothing, due to technological advances.
Technological innovations will continue and this will undoubtedly impact on many aspects of criminal investigations.
Sometimes, though, the tried and true method of interviewing suspects, witnesses, friends and relatives of victims and criminals and then connecting the dots, as done by Commissario Brunetti (in addition to the deft deft assistance rendered by Zorzi) or Inspector Montalbano or Detective Bosch or Kinsey Millhone, V.I. Warshawski or Ella Marconi is what draws in readers.
It’s Ruth Galloway’s personality, her down-to-earth character and realism that draw in her fans, as well as her investigating skills, of course.
And it’s not only her brilliance, skills and chutzpah (no other word for it) shown by Elettra Zorzi make her a well-liked character.
Kathy – You’re right that using science such as DNA matching and other forensic testing is critical in solving cases. There’s an awful lot to be said for such methods because they give police access to a lot of information they wouldn’t otherwise have had. And they’re being used in the real world, so using them in a novel simply makes a story more realistic. And I’m glad you mentioned the developments in what coroners’ offices can find out. They too now have access to a tremendous amount of technology that allows them to be much more accurate than they used to be.
That said though, you also have a point that modern technology only takes an investigation – or a crime fiction series – so far. There’s a lot to be said for skill at interviewing witnesses and suspects, putting the pieces of a puzzle together and so on. And as you say, it’s those personalities and characters that are as interesting as anything else in a novel.
There are all kinds of ways to use today’s technology in a story. Geeks to hackers, novices, equipment that breaks, and more. Great post!
Carol – Thank you
– that’s kind of you. And yes indeed, there are a lot of different ways in which an author can integrate technology. That gives the author I think a lot of flexibility.
A lot less botanists show up in novels than fifty years ago. I guess it seems more tame than an environmental activist.
Patti – You know, I hadn’t thought about that but you’re quite right. Certainly to tell someone one’s a botanist doesn’t get the “Oh, really??” interest that telling someone one’s an environmental activist does.
That’s a good point about botanists. Scientists in general don’t appear much in a realistic sense in crime (or any) fiction. That’s one reason why Last Will by Liza Marklund, and Intuition by Allegra Goodman, are so refreshing. as they tell it like it is without the mad genius type of cliche.
I haven’t read it, but isn’t one of Anne Pratchet’s recent books (not crime) about a botanist? The State of Wonder? The one about the person who goes off to the south american rainforest (or some jungle-like place, anyway!).
Maxine – Good memory!! Yes indeed Anne Pratchet’s State of Wonder is set in the Amazon. I’d forgoten about that when I was thinking about this post, but it’s certainly a great example of the way modern science is woven into novels. I agree with you too that it’s not easy to find a good crime novel where science, the scientific process and scientific discovery are treated realistically in books. I wonder if it’s in part because so many scientific processes are incremental and harder to make fascinating in a novel.
Ann Patchet’s book State of Wonder is about scientists, but not botanists, although they are researching the medicinal effects of certain trees in the Amazon. They work for a pharmaceutical industry on a “fertility” project, yet there are other motives. (I won’t go further as spoilers would occur.)
Kathy – Thanks for adding that information. Thanks even more for not including spoilers
Experimental Heart by Jennifer Rohn is another science-in-fiction book, I didn’t realise it was going to be a thriller when I started it, but it turns out that it is. The author is a research scientist herself. She’s written some more books since that debut but I haven’t read them. http://petronatwo.wordpress.com/2010/10/16/book-review-experimental-heart-by-jennifer-rohn/
Oh, and by the way, my daughter is reading The Inheritors by William Golding which apparently has an anthropological theme.
Oh, interesting! Thanks, Maxine. One usually thinks of Golding in connection with Lord of the Flies but he of course did write other work. In fact when I read your comment I got curious and did a bit of digging. Turns out The Inheritors was said to be Golding’s favourite of his books.
Maxine – Thanks for that. I confess I haven’t read that one although I do remember from your terrific review that it’s possible to integrate science effectively into fiction. It doesn’t happen frequently but it can be done well.
I used to read Patricia Cornwell’s Dr. Scarpetta series, and recently got back to it since a friend gave me one of them. I had forgotten how much I liked the forensics in her books, although there are a few annoying problems with her plots.
This discussion makes me miss Dick Francis, who always taught me something new in his lovely novels. I learned about things I never dreamed I would find at all interesting.
Barbara – You’ve got a good point about Dick Francis. His novels are all the more interesting because of all the things we can learn from them. And you are right that there’s a lot about the science of forensics in several series including Cornwell’s and Kathy Reichs’ among others.