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Re: RARA-AVIS: Working towards a definition of sorts
Regarding Bill Hagen's post, I think the reason why most
(though by no means all) hard-boiled novels are set in big
cities is that the author has a little more flexibility and
credibility in creating memorably bizarre characters. While
blatant self-promotion, I'd use my John Cuddy series from
Pocket Books as an example. Of the eleven private investigator
novels in the series, nine are set n the Boston area, and
the two that aren't (FOURSOME and RESCUE) are both "fish out
of water" plots that take the city-boy to the countryside
(Maine and the Florida Keys, respectively).
By contrast, I don't believe that many of my major characters
in the nine "Boston" books would fly in small town or rural
settings: Primo Zuppone, a mob enforcer who loves New Age
music; Elie, a Lebanese fitness instructor who used to fight
in Beirut as part of a Christian militia; Robert Murphy, an
African-American homicide lieutenant who got his promotion
when a bigoted city councillor mistook surname for race; etc.
I also believe that I could make similar "big-city" arguments
for certain settings and plot pivot points in the books.
Put simply, a given stand-alone novel that fits the "hard-boiled"
guidelines can be effectively and persuasively centered on
a small-town canvas, but once you're into a series character
(read: most private eye books), a larger canvas becomes almost
essential.
Jeremiah Healy
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