by: Nina Milton
When I tell people I write crime fiction, the one
thing I’m not hoping to hear is, “Oh, I never
read crime fiction.”
Not because I want them to buy my
books, but because I simply don’t believe them. Of course they read crime
fiction. They just don’t know it. No way would I admit what I’m actually
thinking, which is, “that’s a whole heap of baloney, pal – the literary
equivalent of the excrement of the male cow.”
I belong to a local reading club,
ten or fifteen of us discussing the books we’ve loved, and sometimes I get that
sort of response when introduced to a new member. “A crime fiction series? That
won’t interest me, I never read it.” The second part of their little speech
hangs in the air, unsaid but perfectly clear– “Crime fiction is way below my reading
standard.”
Even when I overhear whisperings in
the reading club shadows, “ah, Nina Milton, she’s a novelist with a big US
publisher, you know…but it’s only
crime fiction…” I don’t bite. I don’t want to be accused of being a “precious
author” who can’t take a critique of their work, I just wait, like a cheetah,
poised at the edge of the Savannah eyeing up the wildebeests, for the moment
they start talking about books…“I love the work of Charles Dickens…” Or, “I’m
very into William Faulkner.”
Then I point out, the smile
plastered over my face, that Charles Dicken’s Oliver
Twist was a story of street kids abused and corrupted by
gangs of professional criminals.
Bleak
House was a legal thriller that Grisham would have probably
been proud to write and The Mystery of Edwin Brood…well,
it’s in the title, you fool. As for Nobel Laureate Faulkner, not only did he
work on the screenplay of The Big Sleep, but
wrote a thriller called Sanctuary.
 |
| Edgar Allen Poe |
Then there’s Dicken’s friend Wilkie
Collins, who’s every novel was a mystery thriller, plus Patricia Highsmith,
Edgar Allan Poe and Graham Greene, all writers now studied at college.
Donna Tartt produces something
criminal every ten years or so, to delight serious readers and crime fans
alike, recently winning acclaim across the world for The
Goldfinch, the story of a stolen painting. And, as
if to prove my point, Scottish novelist Kate Atkinson recently won literary
prizes for her surprising and memorable book,
Life After Life, straight after publishing her “Jackson Brodie” series about a DI turned
private eye. These have already been adapted for British TV as Case Histories,
and Shonda Rhimes
is developing a pilot called The Catch
for the US market.
And did you know that Mark Twain’s Huck and Tom solved a murder and
collected $2000 in Tom Sawyer, Detective?
Twain was also the first writer to use fingerprints in his short story, The
Thumbprint and What Became of It.
We haven’t even got started on the
many crime novels which have been showered with accolades from the literary
giitterati; writers like Dashiell Hammett, Elmor Leonard, Raymond
Chandler, Steig Larsson, Peter Hoeg,
Georges Simenon. And of course, P D James, who, in her latter years, also wrote
a mystery sequel to Pride and Prejudice, Death
Comes to Pemberley.
In fact, it is difficult to write a
book, even one that is likely to reach literary heights, without there being an
element of mystery within it, without it being thrilling, and without,
underneath all of this, some sort of dark secret. I believe it’s the crime
writer who best reflects their society, and all shades.
In any case, it’s hard to define
exactly what makes a book “good literature”, but I think most people would go
with the books which raise questions for the reader, especially about the
validity of society’s morals, which is written with style, so that every
sentences gets you thinking, and yet is beautiful in its own right.
I don’t pretend to be a literary
writer, but I do attempt, right from the start of plotting each of my “Shaman
Mystery” novels, to explore the themes I’ve chosen with some depth, and within
that, to examine what it is to be human. I do that by choosing crimes that are
deeply evil in some way, and observing how people cope, react. In
the Moors examines the appalling crime of
pedophilia. Unraveled Visions
looks at how desperate people seek a better life in a new country to only
become exploited. Beneath the Tor,
due for release in December 2015, will investigate the “legal hi” problems and
mental health issues. Because my heroine is a shamanic therapist with a big
heart, I always feature the victims and their families in my books, as well as
the law enforcers and the criminals. These are the people Sabbie Dare is
interested in helping.
I think P. D. James put it well; A
detective story can give a much truer picture of the society in which it’s
written than a more prestigious literature…crime fiction confirms our belief,
despite some evidence to the contrary, that we live in a rational
comprehensible and moral universe.
Ends.
The 2nd Shaman Mystery, UNRAVELED VISIONS
“[A] thrilling tale.” —RT Book Reviews
"The depictions of shamanic journeying are vivid and
authentic. Reading BENEATH THE TOR kept me up at night much later than I
wanted, because I could not bear to miss the next bit."—RONALD HUTTON,
AUTHOR OF THE TRIUMPH OF
THE MOON, SHAMANS, AND PAGAN
BRITAIN
Nina
Milton (Wales) has been publishing short stories and children’s books for
thirty years. She’s won many literary competitions, including the Crossroads
Competitions, Kent Festival Prize, and the Wells Literary Shirt Story
Competitions. She enjoys exploring the magical landscapes of Britain with her
husband, James. Visit her blog at http://KitchenTableWriters.Blogspot.com
