What is good crime fiction?

 Michael - Thursday

A while ago Caro wrote a blog concerning a book she was reading for a blurb that was classified as 'literary fiction'. She commented on how good the writing was and the characterizations, but it wasn’t really clear where the story was heading. I’ve been thinking about that a bit. Of course, it’s an ongoing debate about what literary fiction actually is, and when does it become genre fiction. And does it matter anyway?

Probably, in general, a novel consists of characters, story, and setting in that order of importance. Of course they are all closely entwined. The setting is the stage and the story is the path the characters take on a journey that makes them interesting and allows their development. Without good characters all the rest is of no real interest. I think that crude summary applies to all fiction.

Genre fiction is often accused of putting all the emphasis on plot. That seems to me an odd criticism because it clearly isn't true. John Banville is an Irish writer who is often spoken of as a future Nobel laureate, but he also writes crime fiction books. Most of these feature Quirke, an Irish pathologist, and are written under a pseudonym, but the more recent Snow was written under his own name. Graeme Thomson (Mail Online) asked Banville what he thought of his own crime fiction. Here’s an extract from the interview.

'It’s essentially childish, making up stories and imaginary friends, but there’s great pleasure in it.’

He admits to doing ‘absolutely no’ research.

‘The procedural bores me. With one Quirke book I was ten pages from the end and I still didn’t know who the murderer was. I really don’t care who killed Professor Plum in the library with a pipe. I deplore the thing in Agatha Christie books where there’s just a body in the library and it doesn’t really matter who it is. What fascinates me is, why is there a body in the library, and who is this person? The best crime fiction does that.’

I think most crime writers would agree with the last sentiment. Definitely character leads Banville’s books, but the murder and the plot enables them to be developed. The plot is not very complex, but that doesn’t matter. We are intrigued even if we guess the answers fairly soon and wonder why the detective does not. We come to realize that his background, the setting, and his character make it hard for him. This is very good writing. (If you'd like to learn more about the book, you can read my New York Journal of Books review at https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/snow-novel )

Another author who may help answer the question is South African novelist Mike Nicol. I once asked him about his writing style:

'Your writing has passages of short sentences – maybe just a word or two – that heighten the tension and draw the reader quickly on. It seems particularly powerful in this book. Have you been working on this style for some time?'

'The style was consciously developed the moment I started writing crime fiction. Previously I had written literary novels in the magic realism vein. The nature of that prose calls for long sentences where the conjunction is king. In an attempt to break with that style and to find something more appropriate for a story that contained violent content, I felt it important to develop a form that reflected the violence. And a way to do that is to play fast and loose with the language. What I wanted to do was create a sound, a rhythm, that would carry the reader and would also render the meaning as effectively as did the metaphors and the imagery.'

It does. Here are a couple of random examples from his latest novel, Hammerman.

'Holiday month. The week before Christmas. The V&A waterfront. More specifically the One&Only Hotel. The business hotel of choice.'

Another:

'That was where Fish left it. Didn’t tell her where he was. Didn’t tell her what he planned.'

Hammerman is a thriller, The plot idea arises from the assassination of the Swedish Prime Minister in 1986. The premise is that the assassination involved the South African secret service because of the Prime Minister’s vocal opposition to Apartheid. (In fact, there is some evidence to suggest this, and the killer has never been found.) But that's the stage. Once again, the language and the plot allow the characters to take their journeys, hold our interest, and gain our sympathy.

Science Fiction is the same. Good novels rely on characters. Even if the characters are alien, in reality they will be humans in disguise although their characters may have developed in surprising and unusual ways because of their alien environment. Unless, that is, they are merely uninteresting antagonists in a 'space opera' comic.

This is a very big topic and these are just a few random thoughts and examples. My belief is that really there is no difference in what makes good genre fiction and good literary fiction. Both can be good. Both can be bad.

What’s your take?