Thrilling?
I have just come to the end of the second draft of my latest detective story, a murder mystery that begins with the body of a young boy being found, by chance, in a rather out-of-the-way wooded area. Each time I start a new novel, I like to feel I am getting a little better as an author, but I know my limits: I don’t have the skills or the literary understanding to write really well, and so I am happy to work away at another second-rate but easily read story. I write for my personal satisfaction, and as I do so I am becoming increasingly fond of my leading character, who is more ‘real’ to me as time goes by. Real? Well, she’s proving to be nicely complicated!
As I was working away at tidying up this early draft, I started to think about detective stories and the different genres and approaches I have seen. Some are often called ‘police procedurals’, following detectives as they examine data, sift through evidence, and interview suspects, keeping as close as possible to detective work in the real world. Some follow the ‘country house’ style, where the murder takes place in such a way that we know the killer has to be one of the seven or nine people who were in that location: the challenge is to work out the puzzle(s) by yourself (these may also be police procedurals). Yet another group comprises private investigators at work, either who do this for a living, or who get drawn into a particular murder. Finally, at the other extreme, some are high paced thrillers, the search for the murderer(s) taking place in the context of government agencies, overseas killers, with bombs and gun fights galore, pulsing excitement pushing aside any time which you might have used to wonder ‘who’s the murderer?’.
I read all and any type of murder mystery, but I do have a preference for traditional detective novels rather than thrillers. I have some favourite authors whose police procedurals always have me fascinated. I also enjoy some other authors who have created sparky, sometimes even rather unusual, private investigators, who may (and sometimes may not) liaise with the police. I adore murder puzzles (which I almost always fail to solve!). However, sometimes, just sometimes, I will read another of those Secret Service, FBI, CIA, MI5 and/or MI6 style investigations, with shoot-outs and hi-tech pursuits (both real and virtual).
All of this makes me wonder about the word ‘thrilling’. The word ‘thriller’ usually describes a book packed full of action, lots of people leaping out of helicopters, machine guns blazing, bodies piling up around the intrepid team. But for me ‘thrilling’ has an alternative connotation, a book that creates excitement through exploring strong and conflicting deep emotions or through presenting unexpected changes and unsettling events. I can be ‘thrilled’ by many books I read without needing action drama, but I accept that my views may not be typical of most readers.
Let me outline a book I read a few days ago, described on the blurb as “the newest entry in the sizzling international thriller series” created by a writer I will not name (no references or names in this blog – anonymity prevails!).
In this thriller the action takes place over two days, or to be precise 48 hours, documented in a prologue, 91 chapters, and an epilogue, all within 450 pages. Are you ready? Here we go!
Day 1: An FBI Special Agent on his first day, paired with another agent who he knows, is sent to a fatal stabbing (in New York on Federal land); spots the killer, chases, fights, the killer dies; they go to the (first) dead man’s house, where he hacks a computer and discovers it is packed with confidential information; meanwhile in London, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is killed, and it turns out he, with the first dead man, is a member of a secret 200 year-old international order for peace (got that bit clear?); back in New York, the two agents go to the dead man’s shop, meet his daughter and son; an autopsy shows the killer had a strange implant; they go off to the son’s girlfriend’s flat, who is found dead; they are attacked by two men; the daughter is kidnapped; the pair are attacked and the confidential information is stolen from them; the son flies to London under an alias. The order is under attack, and one of the evil manipulators (I will call them the ‘baddies’ in this story) is apparently trying to take control of the international order, while really wanting to find a secret and deadly weapon the order has kept hidden.
Day 2: The daughter is taken to the UK; the FBI pair fly to London on the FBI Director’s jet; the baddies are gathering in London too; the son hides at a friend’s house in London; the FBI jet is attacked as it approaches the UK, but our hero manages to save it and land before it disintegrates; the daughter is tortured, and the son passes on critical information to save her; the two agents are attacked in the London house, survive and fly to Scotland in an RAF jet; now both kidnapped, the son and daughter are taken to Scotland; our heroes find the kidnappers’ ship, and board it by helicopter; the agent goes diving down to a long lost submarine, and finds the key information has already gone; the two agents fly to Paris; they hurtle through catacombs and under-city tunnels to find the killers; the daughter tricks the kidnapper and helps disable him as the agents arrive to save her after several underground fights, and all is resolved. Whew! In 48 hours!!
Let’s step back a bit here. In two days, our hero and partner have been in New York, London, Scotland and Paris. They travelled in an FBI jet, which was destroyed, a Hawker jet, twice, and sundry helicopters and fast cars. Our hero has broken into high security computers and devices, using his amazing skills. He has been tasered, attacked by some kind of explosive blast, and beaten up, all on Day 1 (and his partner been in some hefty scrapes, too); and on the next day is injected with a powerful knockout drug, goes diving, and while doing so he is stabbed in the arm and almost runs out of air, and gets into various vicious fights in underground Paris.
Thrilling? This man can fly jets, go deep sea diving, is an expert computer hacker, a deadly shot, and as tough as nails (his partner not far behind). He also solves secret codes, works out complex issues, and bounces back from whatever happens physically like he has just been doing some weights in the gym. Engaging? After about 100 pages, it is clear that we have two ‘super’ heroes, and they will continue to survive and move on to the next stage of the story whatever you might think. Even the complexities of ancient group and secret weapons that are being sought, even all that palls pretty quickly. Thrilling?
I guess the answer is pretty clear. I was not thrilled. Indeed, the last 100 pages were read very quickly, as there was a clear path this story was going to follow. I did get to the end, but largely because I kept hoping the author would do something unexpected, kill off a main character, throw in a wild and unexpected twist. It didn’t happen.
Let me try another novel, one I read some time ago, but where the story has stuck in my mind, even if the finer details are somewhat hazy by now. In this one, the action takes place over several days, in a mere 66 chapters, and some 416 pages (although I should add that each page in this story has at least double the words of the other book).
Here’s a quick summary. There’s a death, one that is later found to have been a murder. The police carefully interview people and search for clues. Lies are told, uncertainties exist, and the police work slowly and methodically. Three are involved in the investigation. One, older and experienced, is careful, meticulous and deeply thoughtful. He has a subordinate, a woman, also highly skilled, who knows him well; she sometimes wonders if they will get together as a couple, but she knows they won’t. The third, a new member of the team, is young, able, yet easily led astray by feelings for the people in this complicated story. Compared to the previous novel, this story moves steadily forward, but slowly. There’s little by way of dramatic action, and another three murders are almost clinical. In the end, the complexities of relationships are untangled, motives clarified, the murderer found, the new detective is found wanting, and the case is solved.
Thrilling? Unbelievably so. Every page is demanding and slightly frightening, but not because of naked violence but as a result of the rivers of emotion and pain running through the chapters. Engaging? Absolutely. This is a book that is almost impossible to put down. It’s not a vivid drama that grabs you, but the steady, painstaking uncovering of facts, the unfolding hypotheses, revisions and rethinks, the insights into people and the lives they lead. Thrilling? Yes.
There is a world of difference between these two books about murder. I find one thrilling, and the other a quick read of diminishing interest. But there’s the rub: that word ‘I’ is key in this.
The first book is a conventional ‘thriller’, a fairly average effort, predictable, and full of cardboard figures: the handsome hero in the FBI who can do anything, turn his hand to whatever complex task is needed; the beautiful partner, also skilled and determined, is there to help, and also there to be saved on least a couple of occasions. Some of the usual thriller writer’s tricks are to be found in the story, too. The chapters about the evil forces involved are woven in between the chapters about the FBI team. We pop back and forth, often leaving one scene not quite completed as we return to the other side of the adventure. It’s a good way to keep the reader engaged (trapped?). Our heroes, both of them, are constantly courting death (but always escaping, basically unscathed, their injuries forgotten within twenty pages). The technology is amazing, always the latest, and even in advance of the latest!! Everything is short and snappy, almost cinematic (you can see this would make a good if wildly improbable film – but most thrillers made into films are wildly improbable anyway). I can understand why many readers will find this book satisfying: it’s a quick, exciting read, undemanding, a pleasant time filler.
The second book is a traditional whodunnit. Not the kind with ghosts and haunted houses, nor any extra-terrestrial or fantasy characters. It’s an old-fashioned mystery, uncover the why, who and how of a murder. Our detectives are not facing likely death, but rather confronting the humdrum work involved in seeking information, looking past what is being told and trying to find what is being hidden. The book is about psychology, observation, patience. Are there ‘normal tricks’ here? Certainly, the detective story conventions are being observed. There is a lot of evidence to point you in the right direction, even if some key facts only emerge late in the piece. At the same time, the various clues also include a plentiful catch of red herrings designed to send you off in the wrong direction. To put it differently, you are ‘fairly tricked’, and you can see this is just the same for the police detectives. The one great authors’ ‘trick’ in novels like this is to have the key characters discussing their hypotheses, helping to draw you along what might (and not infrequently does) turn out to be quite a wrong set of inferences. If you know the game, you know to be cautious!
Perhaps the word shouldn’t be ‘thrilling’. The second book is engaging, involving, it draws you in, whereas the first is like watching a movie. I would describe the second book as demonstrating the thrill of the investigation, whereas the first is clearly about the thrill of the chase, the unrelenting physical action.
At this point, you might well ask why I am focused on the word ‘thrilling’. It’s because I am always searching for the next compelling read. With one or two exceptions, like Adam Dalgleish, Armand Gamache or the Rev. Clare Fergusson, detectives in novels eventually lose some of their lustre. That sentence is completely wrong. What I mean is, setting aside exceptions like the three characters mentioned above, many writers seem unable to ensure their creations remain refreshed, allow them to change, reveal more of their inner thoughts and fears, the true to life complexities of the person they have created. They remain ‘familiar’. Even one of my current favourites, Will Trent, needs … something!
And, as a result, like any avid detective novel reader, I am always looking for the next great book, the next series. I work my way through every series I find like an addict: recently I’ve read all I can get my hands on written by John Connelly, Peter James, Marcia Muller, Faye Kellerman, Tess Gerritsen, and Kathy Reichs. All excellent writers, but I still suffer from that lingering hope the next book will be different, showing me that there is yet another shell to be scraped off the main character and an even more fascinating person revealed underneath.
Who am I to make such comments? Second rate writers should know their place, be humble, and admire; but I keep criticising and searching. That is the way it was last week. But two days ago, I picked up a new novel, a new author, a new detective. Two pages in, I was hooked, thrilled, engaged, involved, whatever word you want to use. This is it, I thought. I know what you’re thinking: it is always like that when you find a new, good writer. True, but …
First of all, the book began with a less common twist to the usual story. The narrator is not the detective, but the person who has hired one, and we learn about the detective through her eyes. As it turned out, that proved to be the least distinctive element of this extra-ordinary work! The narrator is looking for a young woman, who has disappeared from New York and appears to have travelled over to southern California. She meets and asks a local detective for help.
From that moment onwards, the story becomes frenetic, picaresque even, and we travel through the desert areas of the southwest, meeting strange groups of disaffected people, in a wild post-Trump-election whirlwind. The text is packed with one-liners, smart and knowing references: I’m sure I got less than half of them. The story is really a journey, and the journey is a metaphor for living after Trump’s election as President. There is action, drama, warring tribes, and a confusing mixture of clues and guesses. There is a mystery to be solved, but there is another mystery at stake, learning how to live in a world that is no longer the world you knew. If one mystery is solved, the other is a work in progress: slowly, living with and through the narrator, you can see new ways of being in the world, while also witnessing the decline and increasing irrelevance of the old. Thrilling, gripping, exciting, unnerving, call it what you like, I was totally absorbed. Yay, what a read!
Should I tell you which book this was? Okay: Jonathan Lethlem, ‘The Feral Detective’, published in 2018 by Ecco, a Harper Collins imprint.
Just one more thing I have to report: the day after I finished, I discovered this is a one-off story. There’s no prospect of a series. Oh no; it’s back to the library!!
