Crime Novels and Priestly Detective Rules

While browsing the books in the library, looking for a new author to read, a man thrust a novel towards me, saying, “You should try Baldacci. I love his books!”

A few weeks later, our libraries closed, declared unsafe spaces by those who thought they knew best. We were isolated from our source of unread books. Fortunately, Big W was declared an essential shop and remained open, so I started browsing the book section of that department store, coming home with novels for me and my husband Andy to read during our extended covid lockdowns.

In Andy’s pile were crime novels by such people as Stuart Macbride. I also added some by David Baldacci. The man in the library was right: Baldacci’s novels are worth reading. At least that’s what Andy thinks. I’ve never read one.

Learning from Experience and by Reading Crime Novels

I have my own favourite crime novelists. As I said in my post, Learning from Experience and by Reading Crime Novels:

Recently, I've immersed myself in Australian crime fiction. I've read novels by Chris Hammer, Jane Harper, Patricia Wolf and S.R. White. I like the ones by Jane Harper the most, but they've all held my attention because of their settings. Detectives solve crimes in places with endless roads leading to outback towns where visitors who don't know how to survive in the heat stick out like beacons. Dust hangs in the air; the dirt is red; everything is dry ...

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My daughter Charlotte is a crime novel fan. I once asked her, “Why is this genre so popular? Why do you enjoy reading about crime when murder is such a terrible thing?” And she replied, “Crime novels are about justice. Murderers are caught. They have to pay for their actions. In each novel, the detectives use their skills to overcome evil. The endings are satisfying.”

Even though it might seem wrong to seek entertainment in crime and murder, these are stories of good defeating evil. And there’s nothing wrong with that, is there? I guess we all love a mystery as well. Mysteries are puzzles. Can we solve them? Then there are the complex characters. What motivates them to kill? And do murder mystery novels allow us to safely experience the evil things that happen in the world and learn from them?

Ten Rules for Detective Fiction

There are priests and laypeople who write crime novels as well as spiritual works. G. K. Chesterton is famous for his Father Brown mysteries. And what about Monsignor Ronald Knox? This Catholic priest wrote spiritual classics like The Creed in Slow Motion. He also wrote detective fiction and is remembered, especially, for his Ten Rules for Detective Fiction:

1. The criminal must be mentioned in the early part of the story, but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has been allowed to know.
2. All supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course.
3. Not more than one secret room or passage is allowable.
4. No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used, nor any appliance which will need a long scientific explanation at the end.
5. No Chinaman must figure in the story. (Note: This is a reference to common use of heavily stereotyped Asian characters in detective fiction of the time)
6. No accident must ever help the detective, nor must he ever have an unaccountable intuition which proves to be right.
7. The detective himself must not commit the crime.
8. The detective is bound to declare any clues which he may discover.
9. The “sidekick” of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal from the reader any thoughts which pass through his mind: his intelligence must be slightly, but very slightly, below that of the average reader.
10. Twin brothers, and doubles generally, must not appear unless we have been duly prepared for them.

• from Wikipedia

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone

Last year, I discovered these rules in the opening chapter of Benjamin Stevenson’s novel, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone:

I knew our family reunion wouldn’t end well. But I didn’t expect murder.

Maybe I should have known better. After all, everyone in my family is a killer. My parents, my siblings, my in-laws . . . even me. The deaths weren’t all deliberate, of course. Accidents happen.

So when a body is found in the snow, it’s clear it’s the work of a Cunningham. But which one? And why?

I’ll give you one clue: it wasn’t me.

But a piece of advice? Never trust a Cunningham . . .

The narrator in this story, Ernest Cunningham, tells us he’s going to obey Ronald Knox’s 10 Rules by giving us all the clues we need to solve the mystery he is about to present. Of course, I failed to discover the murderer before the final page, but that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of this modern day Agatha-Christie-style novel set in an Australian ski resort. (Yes, there are places in Australia that have snow seasons!) Actually, I like failing to identify the murderer. I want to be surprised.

Interestingly, this book was endorsed by fellow crime writers, Stuart MacBride and Jane Harper:

‘The best thing I’ve read in ages’ STUART MACBRIDE
‘A must-read for every fan of the mystery genre’ JANE HARPER

These recommendations are called blurbs. They can boost sales if they’re written by best selling authors. I learnt this by reading the latest Benjamin Stevenson novel.

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect

At the moment, I’m halfway through another Benjamin Stevenson novel, Everyone on This Train is a Suspect:

When the Australian Mystery Writers’ Society invited me to their crime-writing festival aboard the Ghan, the famous train between Darwin and Adelaide, I was hoping for some inspiration for my second book. Fiction, this time- I needed a break from real people killing each other. Obviously, that didn’t pan out.

The program is a who’s who of crime-writing royalty-

the debut writer (me!)
the forensic science writer
the blockbuster writer
the legal thriller writer
the literary writer
the psychological suspense writer.

But when one of us is murdered, six authors quickly turn into five detectives. Together, we should know how to solve a crime.

Or commit one.

How can you find a killer when all the suspects know how to get away with murder?

I’m not enjoying this novel as much as Stevenson’s previous one, but maybe that’s my fault. I keep putting the book down – Midsomer Murders keeps claiming my attention – and so the story seems a bit disjointed. But there’s something about the book that I’m really enjoying.

The setting of Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect intrigues me. I imagined travelling across the centre of Australia from Adelaide to Darwin on this train, the Ghan. One day, could I make that trip? Could I afford a ticket? After doing some research, I decided it would be more practical to travel on the Indian-Pacific train from Sydney to Perth. It’s far easy for me to get to Sydney than Adelaide.

I could spend a few days in a luxury cabin, sliding over the railway tracks stretched across the centre of Australia from right to left, east to west, and then after reaching Perth, I’d board a plane and fly home to Sydney. Of course, I wouldn’t want my trip to be marred by a murder, but maybe I’d take along a crime novel to enjoy after dark, when the spectacular sights outside the train disappear with the setting sun.

Photo

This image of The Ghan was taken by Paul-Alain Hunt, Unsplash.

So, What Do You Think?

Do you enjoy crime novels? Have you read any that are set in Australia? And what about cosy mysteries? This toned down crime genre seems to be very popular.

Have any of the books you’ve enjoyed had interesting settings?

And do you buy books or borrow them from the library? I never used to buy novels, but since the lockdowns, I regularly visit Big W’s book section.

One of the pleasures of my life is browsing books with my daughter Imogen. We discuss book cover designs, noticing the current trends. We watch out for new releases from our favourite authors. We buy each other books, choosing something adventurous, a genre, maybe, we wouldn’t normally buy for ourselves. Sometimes we discover new favourite authors. Always, our book choices result in wonderfully stimulating conversations!