I'd like to respond to Mark Sullivan's question about D.C. as
a setting for hardboiled fiction and how the accuracy of the
setting is determined. Obviously setting is one of the
elements you use to help the reader suspend disbelief.You try
to convincingly portray the locales for your story, not only
physically, geographically, but also the spirit of a
place.What that requires varies with the reader..Strangers
and tourists may be satisfied by references to the monuments,
to the "nation,s capitol" D.C., but local readers will need
more to feel that the city has come to life.A variety of
concerns determine how accurately I would portray places in
the story.Lawsuit avoidance,protection of the innocent,
narrative necessity coupled with ignorance of the available
reality, research undone by fallible memory,my own sense of
what is unique about D.C and it's environs.My stories are not
ones that could only be set in D.C. but I want the reader to
to feel that they are set in D.C.The accuracy of the settings
in my books is not arbitrary, it's the product of all these
concerns plus others I'm not aware of,imperfectly acted
upon.
Ben Schutz Mark Sullivan wrote:
> As O-fficial thememaster for DC month, let me say a
few words about the
> city's crime fiction and a few authors I know
about.
>
> Most people probably think of espionage or legal
thrillers involving
> politicians when they think of "mysteries" involving
DC. However, in
> the last 15 years, DC has given rise to a strain of
hardboiled fiction
> that has little or nothing to do with the elected
visitors to the city.
>
> There were some precursors. Steve Bentley, created
by Robert Dietrich
> (AKA E Howard Hunt), was a Playboy CPA who often got
involved with
> murder. Stephen Marlowe's Chester Drumm had offices
in DC, but the few
> books I've read in the series took place in foreign
locales. And Ross
> Thomas set several of his books in DC, working that
blurry area of
> overlap between internatonal intrigue and homegrown
hardboiled.
>
> James Grady's "Six Days of the Condor" (and the
movie, which cut the
> time in half) also fused a spy thriller with that
hardboiled staple, a
> man on the run. Grady completed his jump to
hardboiled with two books
> featuring DC PI John Rankin.
>
> Following closely in his footsteps was Leo Haggerty,
created by Benjamin
> M Schutz. Most of Haggerty's jobs begin in DC's
upscale suburbs, but
> they sometimes take him into the city (once, he
calls Grady's Rankin for
> a bit of info). This series is top-notch. The first,
"Embrace the
> Wolf," was nominated for a Shamus, the third, "A Tax
in Blood," won one.
> Kevin Burton Smith has said of the fifth: 'And, in
my exceedingly humble
> opinion, "A Fistful of Empty" is possibly one of the
best PI novels of
> all time. So, the question is, "What ever happened
to this guy?"' Well,
> he is right here. Mr. Schutz has graciously agreed
to drop in on our
> discusssion this month.
>
> And then along came George Pelecanos. George's Nick
Stephanos is not
> your usual PI. He probably has far more in common
with Goodis's drunken
> heroes than with Phillip Marlowe, who could hold his
liquor. After
> three books featuring Nick and "Shoedog," a one-off
caper novel in the
> tradition of classic Gold Medals, George wrote the
so-called (but not by
> him) DC Quartet, which explores DC's history of race
and working class
> life, while continuing to satisfy crime fictions
fans. His most recent
> work is back in contemporary times.
>
> Although less than half of Kenji Jasper's "dark" is
set in DC, it casts
> a shadow over the entire book. Only after running
away after a violent
> act does Thai Williams start to realize how the Shaw
neighborhood has
> imprisoned his mind, shackling his expectations and
telling him he can
> never be anything more than a thug.
>
> As Anthony has pointed out, "A Murder of Honor" is
the first in a
> projected series by Robert Andrews, featuring DC
cops Frank Kearney and
> Jose Phelps.
>
> Douglas E. Winter's "Run" is a compelling
gun-running thriller, much of
> which is set in Virginia's suburbs.
>
> A secret history of the upscale Bethesda and
Potomac, Maryland, suburbs
> is at the core of Derek Van Arman's "Just Killing
Time." Although I'm
> no big fan of the serial killer genre, this book
emphasizes the
> investigation of the psychopathology, not the
mythology of killers.
>
> And Kevin lists several more DC detectives I don't
know on his website
>
(www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/triv59.html).
>
> I know there are quite a few listmembers who live,
or have lived, in the
> DC metropolitan area, and some more got a glimpse of
the city at
> Bouchercon, so what do all of you think of its
fictional counterparts?
> Please chime in on any of the above or anyone I've
forgotten or don't
> know about.
>
> Mark
>
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