Violence or no violence- The amount of blood and gore in a crime novel

[Percy Kerry]

I love to read two kinds of novels- crime thrillers, supernatural tales and espionage thrillers. But my favorite amongst these three are crime thrillers.Why? Not only because we have some of the best writers in these two categories- Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, James Patterson, Val McDermid, Stieg Larsson, Robert Ludlum, Michael Connolly, Thomas Harris....the list goes on.

But because the main attraction is the darkness in human beings explored in these gritty thrillers. And what better manifestation of those darkness except in the most violent,brutal, shockingly wanton crimes? Having just finished writing my very first crime novel, I realize that violence is an integral part of a crime thriller. Admit it or not, but gritty, bone-chilling murders make up for a perfect crime novel. I found myself, although subconsciously, put a lot of violence in my murder scenes.

But the question here is...how much of blood and gore should a crime novel have? Is there a limit? Or crime novelists can just go on and on until they create a blood-and-guts fest?

Some novels which I found excessively violent were Thomas Harris' Hannibal trilogy, Val McDermid's the Mermaid's Singing, and Steig Larsson's Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Not that it affected me, a self-styled 'seasoned' reader of 'grisly' crime thrillers. But me putting up a brave front apart, how violent should crime thrillers be? How much should crime writers indulge themselves? And how much should we, as readers, allow them to?

[Dana King]

everyone has their own tastes and limits. From the writing perspective, a lot depends on the general tone of the story, as well as how well the writer handles such description. I find plainspoken descriptions work best, and 'm no prude. I also draw a line at graphic description for its own sake, less because I'm squeamish than because it takes me out of the story as a reader.

Personally, I like to give enough of a description to prime the reader's imagination. No one can swick you out like yourself.