Willow said: Fortunately, the number of fictional murders far
exceeds the number of real murders, making it harder to do
noir. We are just not a noir country - far too polite and
civilized. How do you have a mystery in rural
Saskatchewan...
I must respectfully disagree that it is hard to do noir
realistically in Canada, and I strongly doubt the number of
murders in Canadian fiction is coming close to the real
number. The issue is only in perception we¹re such a ³nice²
country and the tired mantra authors face is Œset your book
south of the border¹.
Let us consider Scotland for a moment, birthplace of Tartan
Noir. Scotland has given us a number of leading hard-boiled
noir crime fiction authors. Ian Rankin remains if not the top
seller in the UK, one of the highest sellers. Other Scottish
authors include Allan Guthrie, Stuart MacBride, Carol Anne
Davis, Denise Mina, and we¹re just scratching the
surface.
Yet look at the statistics. ³Figures published today by the
Scottish Executive reveal that Scottish police recorded 93
victims of homicide in 2005/06, 44 fewer than in 2004/05 and
the lowest annual total since 1990/91.²
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/11/17112458/1
93 victims of homicide... And probably outnumbering that in
crime fiction offerings on an annual basis. In 2005
Scotland¹s murder rate was cited as 2.33 deaths per 100,000
people each year.
http://onepearsallandhisbooks.blogspot.com/2005/09/glasgow-murder-city.html
By comparison, the city of Edmonton alone almost doubles
that: ³That number was significantly lower than greater
Toronto's 104 or greater Vancouver's 62. But the Edmonton
region's homicide rate was 4.3 per 100,000 people, compared
to Toronto's 2.0 and Vancouver's 2.9.²
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/cityplus/story.html?id=f83824df-e
282-4a25-a409-e6deea5f3acd&k=6523
Not one Canadian city cited on that list was under the entire
rate for Scotland. But let¹s be fair and consider the
national statistics: ³The national homicide rate increased
for the second consecutive year in 2005 to its highest point
in nearly a decade, after reaching a 30-year low in 2003. The
number of homicides committed with a firearm rose for the
third year in a row.
Police services reported 658 homicides last year, 34 more
than in 2004. Of these, 222 were committed with a firearm, up
from 173 in 2004.²
http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/061108/d061108b.htm
To be fair, our national average comes out lower than
Scotland¹s, but we¹re comparing a population of just over 5
million Scots to 30+ million Canadians. Our actual body count
do to homicide is more than 7 times that of Scotland.
Canada is a rife with murder and crime as any so-called
Œcivilized¹ country out there. Karla Homolka. Pickton. Wayne
Clifford Boden. John Martin Crawford. William Patrick Fyfe.
Clifford Olson... The girl arrested for murdering her parents
and sibling in Medicine Hat last year. Today in the news,
³Winnipeg police have taken the rare step of identifying a
teenage murder suspect, in their quest to arrest him.² We
could be here all day. Val McDermid¹s ŒWire in the Blood¹
could have been moved to Ontario with the name changed to
Bernardo.
I¹d say the real mystery is why there isn¹t more Canadian
noir hitting the shelves. Of course, I have my opinions on
the answer to that, but there are some of us determined to
see things change. John McFetridge made a great contribution
last year with his debut, ŒDirty Sweet¹. He¹s got a way of
making sleazy characters sizzle and nobody shows Toronto¹s
seedy side like he does. John¹s my hope that this country is
finally catching on. Rankin is one of the biggest sellers in
Canada, so there¹s no reason to think murder can¹t move books
here.
Sandra
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