Criminal Appeal

It’s a reliable subject of discussion whenever you get three or more thoughtful crime novelists or critics of this genre into a room together for any length of time: Why is crime fiction just so damned popular? There must be something in human nature that drives us to seek out these vicarious thrills. Or is it that in a crime novel we find the satisfying restoration of order in this often chaotic world?

With the 2008 Harrogate Crime Festival coming up in July, Sue Freeman of Britain’s Yorkshire Post decided to put the question of this genre’s appeal to the Harrogate Festival chairs. She begins with Simon Kernick (Severed):

I think people are fascinated by what makes people do dreadful things, whether there is such a thing as true evil or whether people commit crime by force of circumstance.

Some crime novels allow people to get inside the minds of criminals, but I honestly think what people really like is a good story.

Because crime novels have a formula, in a sense that there’s a crime, an investigation and a conclusion, it gives people a sense of satisfaction, and from a writing point of view, the structure means you have to be quite disciplined and keep moving the plot forward, but the twists and turns keep it fresh.

There’s a tendency to think crime novels are depressing, but that’s just not true. I like writing stuff that makes me laugh, but I also think that if you’re dealing with the grimmer aspects of crime--murder, random violence, shattered lives--you’ve got to be able to do it with some form of underlying humour.

Meanwhile, Mark Billingham (Death Message) suggests that crime fiction’s appeal lies largely in its characterizations, especially when it comes to series:

People like to watch a character grow and develop, they become almost family, and you can’t wait for the next installment. I think it helps give a sense of ownership and if you can achieve that kind of interaction, then you have to be on to a good thing.

To be classed as the kind of novel people read on the beach is not something most people aspire to, but is it really such a bad thing?

People have busy lives and most don’t have time to sit down every night to read some great classic of literature, and to be honest, if they go on holiday with one of my books in their suitcase, I’m delighted.

And Natasha Cooper (A Greater Evil) considers the nature of story:

People like watching detective shows and reading crime novels, because of the story. From ancient times, we have always been a race of story-tellers.

All that was forgotten when the literary world began to embrace post-modernism and decided that narrative was the least important aspect of any novel. All that happened was a glut of impenetrable stories, and readers were short-changed.

The fightback has begun--people want a fast-moving plot, they want their emotions to be aroused, and reading or watching crime stories does both.

The original whodunits were little more than the novel equivalent of the crossword puzzle, but, increasingly, they address social issues, and I think people are definitely attracted to the psychological element of trying to work out a character’s motivations.

Read more here. And if you’d like to download a podcast from last year’s Harrogate Crime Writing Festival, featuring writers Stuart McBride, Simon Kernick, Martyn Waites, and Sheila Quigley, click here. The 2008 line-up of authors scheduled to appear at Harrogate this year can be found here.