What are the Biggest Trends in Crime Fiction?

[Benjamin Sobieck]

Everyone talks about the vampires and paranormal young adult books and whatnot. That's all fine and dandy, but those are trends outside of our favorite genre here on CrimeSpace.

 

I want to get back to talking about crime. So what are some of the trends going on right now? Not in marketing or formats, but the actual plot lines? What patterns are you seeing in what's new?

 

From my viewpoint, the leads are becoming more and more stereotypical. It's almost like casting for "The Real World" on MTV. The faces may change, but you know exactly what expressions they'll make.

 

Maybe that's because there are so many stereotypes built into crime fiction. But can we at least get beyond "the detective with a boatload of personal problems" thing? Or the black sedans following you in the rear view mirror? Or the hit man who just has to do one last job?

 

The reaction to this is to make something completely absurd out of the stereotype. Throw in a few funky quirks to stir the stereotype pot. Just look at the boatload of eccentric detectives on TV to get a feel for that.

 

None of these observations are necessarily bad. They're just my thoughts. What are yours?

[J. F. Juzwik]

I have to admit I do enjoy, on occasion, reading about that PI whose wife left him because he drinks, or who drinks because his wife left him, whatever.  Or that serial killer who...  I don't have to finish that one since all the serial killers seem to be the same person in novels and stories these days.  While I do enjoy the predictable, I am thrilled when I find something totally off the wall.  I've seen a lot of stories lately written from the perspective of the killer.  Now that sounds like it would be a typical thing again, but they aren't.  Maybe he's all bad, maybe he's not, but the voices are unique in some stories, and I really do enjoy those.  I can't turn the pages fast enough with those.  Flawed hero types are another favorite of mine.  People who are normal, lead normal lives, do normal things, suddenly thrust into a situation they never imagined.  They plod through, they make horrendous mistakes, yet you root for them every second of the way.  I love those too.  Crime doesn't have to be routine and boring and it's sad that there's so many tales out there that you read so you can fall asleep faster.  Is this the case because that's what publishers publish?  Is that what they publish because that's what people purchase?  Do people purchase that kind of thing because that's all that's offered?  The big names keep doing what they've always done because it sells.  How do you remedy this?  I wish I knew.

[I. J. Parker]

I've been wondering.  Just had a fan letter from a very nice person who offered to sell my books door-to-door. Why?  Because they aren't selling well in the traditional way.  I'm not writing the books most people want.  No vampires, no serial killers, no hard-boiled, noir, or pulp.

I do have a flawed hero who is a very nice man, even though he can be irritating at times. I think the problem is that most people resist reading about Japan. The fear of the unknown?

[John McFetridge]

I once bought a book from a guy selling them door-to-door. He wasn't a fan, it was a book he'd written and self-published (this was before e-books) and I just couldn't turn down an author at the door. It was non-fiction, the story of the trip he took by canoe from the Great Lakes to Newfoundland. Parts of it were very good.

 

Recently on his blog Peter Rozovsky said something about a book, "refreshingly" not trying to get inside the head of the seriel killer. I doubt that will be a trend, though.

 

 

[I. J. Parker]

I think those "anonymous" narrators interspersed in the hunt for the killer are a device to add tension and move the plot forward.  I never took them for psychological insights. On the whole, I'd like the whole genre to go away. There isn't really anything new you can do with it. The first one I read was the best (Val McDermid) and the rest haven't come up to par. (Mind you, I didn't read THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, but don't see that one do much but add cannibalism). 

[Caroline Trippe]

most people resist reading about Japan. The fear of the unknown?

 

 

Or they resist reading about medieval Japan because that "historical" aspect just doesn't interest them enough. Most contemporary readers have become addicted (probably because of all these CSI type TV shows) to technology-driven forensic mysteries.  Or maybe it's just an addiction to what seems NEW, whether it's technology or a story.

Even though it may seem to be a contradiction, these types of stories & shows, their "newness" notwithstanding,  are actually  "familiar."  We are familiar with "new" because it is in our faces all the time. Your computer, your iphone, your shoes, your car  cannot be new enough. In fact, new is safe---it's status quo.  Avoiding becoming---god forbid---"obsolete" or just plain "old fashioned."   So with regards to a mystery set in ancient Japan---maybe it's more banal than a fear of the unknown: a lack of interest in what is (seemingly) far removed in time. (Although lots of people love sci fi, and if that's not far removed in time----but of course, it's the FUTURE, not the past, so it doesn't have to seem "real.")  It isn't HISTORY yet.

  Perhaps many people also fail to see that a "medieval" detective can be a modern man---a man of his own time, which is what modern (or contemporary) means. Those early PI novels, set in the 40s, sometimes start to seem like historical fiction too---and they're not even a century "old" yet. But some of  the attitudes, even  the language---now considered "classical" in the genre---are dated.

[EDWARD C MORGAN]

Ben,

 

I've not read much "new" mystery fiction - as in published in the last couple of years. However, there is one trend that grates on me, yet I keep reading.

 

Spenser and Hawk. Myron and Winn. Elvis and Pike. The brutal but "good" sidekick works for the Parker/Coben/Crais series, but I wonder if they aren't becoming too routine for mysteries?

 

That said, I LOVE all three of those pairings.

 

[I. J. Parker]

Sidekicks have been around for a long time (Sherlock Holmes and Watson). I don't think they are a trend.

[EDWARD C MORGAN]

I wonder if the trend is not sidekicks, but rather sidekicks who are described as exceptionally deadly.

 

Watson was a great sidekick, but he certainly wasn't Winn/Pike/Hawk.

[I. J. Parker]

Ah, they are enforcer dudes?  :)  Sorry, I'm only vaguely familiar with the three authors. Apparently something works for them. Maybe it's the sidekicks.

[Benjamin Sobieck]

I gotcha, like whatever Bruce Lee's character was in the "Green Hornet." I forget the name now. Kano or something?

[Benjamin Sobieck]

Right, waiting for someone to catch lightning in a bottle. Think I'll go buy a lottery ticket instead. Just write whatever makes you happy as a writer, that's always been my view. Do that a bunch of times and you could have some storm clouds.

[J. Gunnar Grey]

Something I just caught myself doing while digging through Amazon. If a book's description includes just about any description of a character's physical appearance, such as "a good-looking doctor" or "sexy spy," I'm out of there.

That aside, it astonished me how few mysteries struck me as really interesting. I got this jaded, yeah-been-there-read-that feeling with most of them, including the World War II mysteries and thrillers that usually fascinate me. Is it me? Is it the field?

Gunnar