Has a mystery novel ever made you do something, buy something or changed your beliefs in any way?

[p. b. smith]

I'm posting this because...well, I finally did it. I went to tastykake.com and ordered a GIANT box of Butterscotch Krimpets, all because Janet Evanovich has Stephanie Plum inhaling them in every book, and also because the giant box was the smallest quantity I could buy.

It's the first time I can ever recall in my entire life that a book made me do something that I really didn't want to do. I KNOW those things are loaded with chemicals, not to mention artery-clogging hydrogenated oils. But Evanovich's repeated descriptions of them just broke me down, so there are 72, count 'em, 72 Butterscotch Krimpets headed to my house as we speak.

Now, I haven't totally lost my mind. Two days after the projected arrival of said Krimpets, there will be about 20 people in my house all night while we complete a movie for the Houston Film Race. We have 24 hours to write, shoot, edit, score the movie and turn it in, and I'm betting that by the time the 24 hours have flown by, the Butterscotch Krimpets will have flown by, too.

At least, that's my plan. and yes, I do plan to eat at least one, and pray that I can stop at one.

So how about all of you? Has a mystery novel ever made you do something against your better judgment, or made you buy something you would not have otherwise purchased, or has one somehow fundamentally changed your beliefs about something?

[Jon Loomis]

Okay, good story--but it doesn't apply directly. Of course you wouldn't want to pick up a gun somebody else had used to commit murder--that's obvious. The question is whether you'd want to give the police any unnecessary information, especially something as potentially useful (and traceable) as the gun used to commit the crime. I'd toss it in the trunk and take my chances on the way to the nearest large body of water, I think.

[D.R. MacMaster]

Then remember Clemeza's advice to hitman making his bones in The Godfather:

"Leave the gun, take the cannoli."

[Jack Getze]

Guns and other evidence have often been recovered from the water.

I always leave the weapon behind because I've stolen it beforehand. Although now, it's easier to buy guns from overseas on the internet.

[p. b. smith]

True, but Internet transactions are easy to trace. That's why I always use knives...or poison. Good cooking covers a lot of sins!

[Jon Loomis]

I haven't had a character try to dispose of a gun yet, so this is interesting. I still think deep, murky water's the best bet--or the ocean, if you happen to live on the coast, as my characters do.

[Benjamin Sobieck]

Do overseas firearms sales skirt the FFL (federal firearms license) process? You can't buy a firearm unless it's through a FFL dealer, if you're a U.S. citizen, even on the Internet.

[I. J. Parker]

The short answer is "no."

However, why throw more money Evanovich's way? In fact, I cannot think of one thing her character does that strikes me as the least bit tempting. Worst habit: sneaking into one of her men's apartment, going through his underwear drawer, then putting on a pair of his briefs and crawling into his bed. The woman is disgusting.

And aren't crimpets possibly to blame for women and heart disease?

[Jon Loomis]

"Disgusting" seems like a harsh word. "Overdressed" seems more accurate to me.

[p. b. smith]

Point well taken, but in the context of the story, the way Stephanie did it was creepy and even a little disgusting. She will never confront the guy in real life, nor admit her attraction to him, so she breaks into his house and fondles his underwear instead, while he's not at home?

Creepy.

[Jon Loomis]

Oh come on, p.b. Who hasn't done that?

[p. b. smith]

I'm not talkin'.

[Jack Getze]

Ha