tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post7450738861426707553..comments2024-03-28T15:01:21.285-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: Romancing the CrimeLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-45762131604409537092017-02-20T23:53:48.637-05:002017-02-20T23:53:48.637-05:00My homage to Jerry was a few years before he passe...My homage to Jerry was a few years before he passed away and I did get to tell him what I had done with Zoe Barrow and why. He was pleased and I'm so glad I did get the chance to tell him. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12627816910160617450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-7995298850299558672017-02-20T23:50:45.712-05:002017-02-20T23:50:45.712-05:00Yes, my Austin Policewoman character, Zoe Barrow h...Yes, my Austin Policewoman character, Zoe Barrow has a SWAT team officer husband who was shot in the head and is neither dead or really alive. He's in an inbetween state and in a nursing home. I more orless paid homage to Jerry Healy. His PI character John Francis Cuddy has a dead wife and he goes out to cemetary sometimes and talks to her. She talks back in his head. He uses this as a sounding board and it sometimes helps him solve the case. I think in later books Cuddy falls in love and the spirit of the wife tells him it's past time for him to move on. <br />With Zoe Barrow, she goes to nursing home and talks to Byron, her husband but, he doesn't talk back in her head. By telling him, she does see things more clearly. <br />I think a spouse or significent other makes them a more rounded character. The partner doesn't have to continue helping solve the mystery but you can add to the plot in the way Bill Pronzini brings in Nameless' wife with family or medical problems. I see nothing wrong with a love interest but sex scenes can slow down a mystery plot. Maybe just turn off the bedroom light with a hint of they don't go right to sleep but you know what happened. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12627816910160617450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-77058773017234738952017-02-20T17:08:54.369-05:002017-02-20T17:08:54.369-05:00I'd say probably the best romantic addition to...I'd say probably the best romantic addition to mysteries are those where the spouse is just the spouse (like Madame Maigret) OR those where both are into sleuthing up to their necks. I like Lord Peter and Harriet together. I also liked Tommy & Tuppence Beresford. I think the key to all of this - and this may be a complete no-no in today's world - is that the couple is HAPPY together. Miserable / tortured couples (to me) make miserable, tortured reading, because I always want to smack one or the other up the side of the head and tell them to get with it. Give me a happy, content couple - especially if they're witty to boot (think Nick and Nora Charles - who should have had more novels).Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-80969139266937724562017-02-20T09:11:37.328-05:002017-02-20T09:11:37.328-05:00Some random thoughts:
BK Stevens takes a couple o...Some random thoughts:<br /><br />BK Stevens takes a couple of different approaches in the limited stories I’ve read of hers. One series features a family man as quiet background. He and the children provide an anchor during the research and investigations of his wife, the main character.<br /><br />More complex is a tough PI who’s controlled by her mother, a woman we’d love to smack. Our PI is emotionally attached to a cop in what may be an unconsummated relationship. You want to tell them to hell with the old lady, bang the headboards (or each other) as much as you like. Still, it keeps the tension.<br /><br />Melodie Campbell’s Goddaughter has hooked a hunk she keeps on a line. (I see women taking notes.)<br /><br />If I remember right, Jan Grape put a character’s husband into a coma. (I see more women taking notes.)<br /><br />In the early years of The Saint, Leslie Charteris had a long-term girlfriend and fellow adventurer, Patricia. The Saint and the series changed during and after WW-II. After the Saint wars with the Nazis, Patricia turns down marriage and from there on out he remained footloose and fancy-free.<br /><br />In the early television series, Rocky King, Detective, his wife is heard but not seen. Despite her invisibility, she exerted quite an influence over the show.<br /><br />Then there’s Columbo, with a wife felt but neither seen nor heard. How many times have we witnessed Columbo perching fingertips on his wrinkles brow and saying, “My wife says…”Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-52147130327270930942017-02-20T08:18:12.095-05:002017-02-20T08:18:12.095-05:00An interesting problem. I wrote 9 Anna Peters myst...An interesting problem. I wrote 9 Anna Peters mysteries, for most of them she was involved with Harry, the man she ultimately married. I never felt he was a problem because I never really involved him in the plots. He was , dare I say, an unconventional source of stability for a fictional detective, which I rather liked and their ongoing relationship avoided romantic relationships that might slow down the action of the novel.janice lawnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-14226328942229246522017-02-20T07:35:54.126-05:002017-02-20T07:35:54.126-05:00Sometimes I think the romance slows the plot down,...Sometimes I think the romance slows the plot down, especially when it's not directly related to the plot, not that I haven't done it myself. So I think you make some good points about how to do it right and not let become something extraneous.Paul D. Markshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15466234708772287399noreply@blogger.com