In The Simple Art of Murder, Raymond Chandler excoriates the classic detective story as unrealistic. And he is undoubtedly correct.
All one has to do is look at Edgar Allan Poe’s seminal detective, C. Auguste Dupin, to realize that the classic detective story was never intended to portray reality. The stories may possess elements of reality, but they are not reality the school of Realism would like. Fiction, after all, is fiction. It’s make believe.
But neither is the hardboiled world of Hammett or Chandler realistic. It’s simply much more gritty, depressing, and pessimistic. But that doesn’t make it real.
The world of Spade and Marlowe is just as unrealistic as is the world of Wolfe and Poirot. They are simply different unrealities.
Chandler’s defense of the hardboiled world was undoubtedly a case of self-justification.
Poe was an accomplished storyteller. His settings weren’t always real, but the atmosphere he evoked was something we can still touch and feel and smell and taste today. He leads us into believing his world is real — and that is what actually matters.
The classic detective story in the hands of a good writer does the same: it convinces us to accept what takes place as real, even though we know it’s not.
But more than that, what Poe actually gave us was a literary game. A LitRPG, as it were. The game of Clue, before it was invented.
The classic detective story is a cerebral exercise. It is a cognitive analysis of data to determine what is relevant and what is not in order to determine who did it. Who murdered Mr. Body and why. It’s also a whole lot of fun. It is a game after all.
The Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles is a series of exciting whodunits. Each book is crafted by a different author, and each is set in the charming Texas Hill Country town of Magnolia Bluff.
Five books have been published to date. They are:
Death Wears a Crimson Hat by CW Hawes
Eulogy in Black and White by Caleb Pirtle III
The Great Peanut Butter Conspiracy by Cindy Davis
You Won’t Know How… Or When by James R. Callan
The Flower Enigma by Breakfield & Burkey
And you can find them all on Amazon!
On September 20th, The Shine from a Girl in the Lake by Richard Schwindt will join the series. The book is currently on pre-order, so pick up your copy today.
I’ve read an advanced review copy and I can tell you the book is fabulous. It possesses all the elements of the classic whodunit coupled with the tension of a serial killer thriller.
Richard Schwindt is one of my favorite authors. In fact, I think he is one of the finest storytellers spinning yarns today.
His books are highly imaginative. Poignant. Often hilariously funny. His prose is imbued with a sense of place. He makes you feel you are there.
And all those elements come together to make The Shine from a Girl in the Lake one heck of a mystery-thriller.
Dr. Michael Kurelek teaches psychology at Burnet College in Magnolia Bluff. He also has his own private practice. He’s a man with a past looking for a new start in the small Texas town. Then one of his patients is found dead. In Burnet Reservoir.
When another patient ends up in the lake, Kurelek is driven to find the real killer before the police decide they are convinced he did it. The game is afoot. And it is a suspense-filled game of hunter and hunted. The ending had me biting my nails. Seriously.
The Shine from a Girl in the Lake is the perfect blending of classic whodunit and serial killer thriller. A fabulous book from the pen of one of the most imaginative writers working today.
Don’t miss this one.
The Shine from a Girl in the Lake
Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!
CW Hawes is a playwright, award-winning poet, and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes
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