February, the month of love, brings thoughts of hearts and flowers, and (at least for those of us who write crime fiction) murder.
As
motive for a crime of passion, love and murder are clearly a great match. However, in addition, love also often becomes a part of the storyline for the characters solving the mystery. It’s no accident that popular crime shows, like Castle,
often feature a bit of romance. There’s been a lot of online discussion about
the Castle/Beckett pairing, and whether their upcoming wedding vows will ruin
the romantic tension in the show. Many fans of the 1980s private detective show Moonlighting felt getting
Maddie (Cybil Shepard) and David (Bruce Willis) together was responsible for
the demise of the popular show.
The idea of love and crime together has become so popular
over the years that there has become a whole sub-genre in movies and novels called
romantic suspense. These stories often have a central romantic theme as well as
the intrigue.
Lisa Gardner, a master of suspense
fiction, talks about the hazy definitions of the sub-genre and some of the
prejudices in her great series of lectures on the Secrets of Romantic Suspense. Kinsey Millhone, Sue Grafton's, no-nonsense PI isn’t really the romantic type, but still there have
been a few men her in life from Dietz, a fellow PI, to longtime friend, Cheney. In some mysteries, there's a full-blown love interest and in others there's just a hint of romance.
In our Pampered Pets mystery series featuring former Texas beauty queen cousins,
Caro and Melinda, we truly had no plans to go there. But…well, the stories just
naturally evolved to encompass a bit of “love, lust, lucre and loathing.” And
no spoilers here, but we think you’ll like where the series is headed.
So what do you think? Do you like a serving of love with
your mystery? Or would you rather keep the hearts and flowers far away from
your crime fiction? We’d love to hear what you think!
Coming soon: Our first short – “Project Dogway” (Out
February 24th)
I really enjoy a serving of love with my mysteries. Pam and Jerry North, a series by Richard Lockridge, was even made into a TV series. Nick and Nora Charles are still popular with us "older" folks; so give us romance as well as mystery.
ReplyDeletePam - Love Nick & Nora! Will have to check out the Richard Lockridge series. Currently watching "Mrs. Fisher's Murder Mysteries." Have you heard of it?
ReplyDeleteI find a little romantic tension adds to the mystery. Some writers, like Joanna Carl in her Chocoholic Mystery, can bring the romance to marriage without losing the spark. Other writers, like Joanne Fluke in the Hannah Swensen Mysteries, can continue with the romantic tension and still hold the readers interest. I like romance but find explicit love making off putting.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, Carol. Those are two great examples!
DeleteIt's very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe image of the heart gun is just what I'm looking for to use on the cover of my next novel titled, Love & Murder. I'd like to know if I may use it without any copyright infringement (or anything of this nature). Thank you.
ReplyDelete