Not that I don’t enjoy the chilly creepy pleasure of the
occasional serial killer thriller, but too often serial killers are used as a
means of having to avoid writing a real mystery. These fictional serial killers
always make it easy for the detectives by contacting them first because they’ve
inevitably formed a weirdo attachment and they’re planning the de rigueur cat and mouse game in which
the serial killer does all the real work.
I’m not saying that can’t be entertaining. Sometimes it’s
very entertaining. There’s a reason serial killer stories continue to sell
well.
Part of the horror of real life serial killers is that --
like other forces of nature -- there’s no real way to guard against being
randomly targeted by a lunatic. That’s also part of the fascination. It’s like
spontaneous combustion. The chances of it happening are phenomenally slight,
but at the same time there aren’t any real preventative measures you can take.
Don’t eat too many jalapeño peppers?
Well, let me qualify, there aren’t any real preventative
measures beyond the preventative measures we all hopefully take on a regular
basis. Lock your doors, don’t walk alone at night down a dark alley, etc.
What is more preventable are the crimes that occur simply
out of bad luck and the opportunity for evil. The night you have a fight with your boyfriend and go to a bar...and end up giving a stranger a ride home...that's arguably preventable. But someone’s car breaking down on a
lonely stretch of highway -- nine times out of ten this results in nothing more
than a long walk and a lousy night. But every so often, bad luck and evil
collide.
Black coincidence. A different day, a different hour,
sometimes a matter of minutes can make the difference between life and death.
Of course fiction is not real life and the number of
coincidences a reader can swallow are fewer than might occur in real life.
Also, although smart people do dumb things, in fiction the
dumb things have to be believably dumb. Also limited in scope and few in
number.
Anyway, I’m not sure what my point was. The fact that humans
are capable of vile and depraved action is not news. Humans are also capable of
heroism and self-sacrifice. Evil and insanity are over-represented in fiction. From
a reading standpoint, I prefer small, intimate stories over grand scale
slaughter. Motive is the single most interesting element to me in any crime
story. Crazy is not a motive. But when you write, you have to mix it up.
What do you love in mystery stories? What makes your scalp tingle and your pulse thump? Do you intricate puzzles or romantic cozies or bloody thrillers?
The novels of mystery that more I like are those in that the killer is not an evil one without much ado or a madman but a normal person who kills for a series of circumstances that do not leave another option to him. For example, the series of Brother Cadfael de Ellis Peters is one of my favorites and in her there are many killers like that, who kill for love, for defending a dear, etc. A times, also there are murders for ambition, wealth, power, but in any case, the killer has to be intelligent and act with logic so that I like the history.
ReplyDeleteYes. This is what I find so interesting. When ostensibly "normal" people are driven to murder. This is much more fascinating -- and appalling -- then the crazy ass psycho who feels a compulsion. For most of us that is unidentifiable. But seeing an otherwise sane person make such a horrifying, unreasonable choice...I understand the fascination.
DeleteThere's so much to think about in that blog. First, I love a good puzzle. That's what I love about mysteries. I love trying to read the map and seeing which way the road will turn before I get around the curve. I love even more being surprised when I don't see the u turn coming. As to thoughts of random walks down dark roads and things that go bump in a serial killer's night? I was once in a market at just the right place and time to catch a glass jar full of pickles as someone bumped it off the shelf. I saved a huge clean up on aisle five. A small measure of good luck, but ones that happen just as randomly as bad. Maybe we rubber neck at accidents, (or turn away and pretend we don't see it) because we know how thin the line is between catching the jar and watching it hit the floor.
ReplyDeleteSuch interesting points. But yes. I think we all hate to recognize the role that luck plays in our fates. I know I resist the very idea -- and at the same time I know that much of my good fortune is simply being at the right place at the right time. But being a recovering control freak, it is hard for me to accept this. Accept that so much is simply out of our control. But maybe that should be a relaxing thought?
DeleteAnd it's not all luck. It's also being of the mindset to be ready and prepared to grab opportunity when it comes calling.
I love the serial killer mysteries. I think it's the psychologist in me and why I had to read the Son of Sam book and Helter Skelter and all the others that killed for some skewed reason or another. Maybe it's because truth is stranger than fiction sometimes. I'm always trying to make sense of things, and sometimes there is no sense to be had. I kinda like that too. I rarely try to figure out who dun it, I just like going along for the ride. I just like mysteries.
ReplyDeleteWell they do have a fantastic quality to them. The element of horror -- and it's a believable horror because we all know that these really terrible, terrible things can happen. I am not immune to the dreadful charm of serial killer thrillers -- and they're fun to write too. In real life though there's always that unsatisfied feeling of why and how. But it's like two-headed calves. There is no why and how. Nature has her anomalies.
DeleteMy Calibre library tells me that mysteries are my main reading material. All types... well except Cozy. I don't do most cozy. Those MC are roadkill in the mystery area unless they are finding a missing purse. Too fake. Rarely an author can spark my interest in a cozy.
ReplyDeleteSerial Killers? I write very well. Scared the hades out of my betas who both love and hate reading the serial killer parts. But I worked for 15 years with the criminally insane. The catch is they are no more evil than we are in their minds. Like the man who cut his wife's head off because she put the milk behind the lunch meat in the refrigerator. He didn't see that as evil. She simply didn't listen to him and he solved the problem They never do see their acts as evil and while the act may be evil, they aren't. The component that lets them judge their acts as good or bad is missing and their acts simply are. Just like you starting a car. It is neither good nor evil.
Evil is rare. It does exist. I've seen Evil twice. Both had the same traits. Their eyes were similar to Charles Manson. And the hair stood up on the back of my neck while I was near them.
Actually I don't know about that. While I do weary of the gimmick-of-the-week cozy, there's a lot to be said for an average person caught up in extraordinary circumstances.
DeleteIn fact, ironically, this is the premise of both noir and cozy. And it's the primary reason that both sub-genres are difficult to extend into a series. You can believe that an average Joe/Jane stumble into violent death once. But beyond once....it starts to stretch incredulity.
What is endlessly entertaining to me is how noir and cozy both dismiss the other, when in fact the only real difference between them is the trappings, the stage settings. :-D
Excellent post. It made me think of the Coen Brothers movies, since they really manage to hit that 'evil just randomly happens to you' vibe better than any filmmakers I can think of. Specifically, No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man, and Fargo. They also specialize in the kind of random insanity and quirky characteristics that make people so human. The recent TV series inspired by their film Fargo also used violence and a sort-of serial killer in a similar fashion.
ReplyDeleteOf course, serial killers have motives in their own minds, but they are obscure and often incomprehensible. I think that's why they are so fascinating because there is no way anyone could have predicted their behaviors ahead of time, or the method to their madness. I imagine that's what's hard about writing them as well, and why so many of their stories concentrate on the police/profiling aspect.
Bon courage!
I agree with you about the Coen brothers. They do perfectly capture the randomness of violence -- their plots are much like a bullet ricocheting off stone.
DeleteYes, everyone who commits a crime -- including the ultimate crime of murder -- believes they have a reason. Nobody is the bad guy in their own mind. Even when they imagine themselves as the bad guy, they still see themselves as a kind of anti-hero in their own movie.
If we want to get technical, the ONLY remotely realistic crime fiction is the police procedural. Even most private detectives never deal with homicide in their entire careers!
But it's fun to see an average person struggling in extraordinary circumstances.
As far as being able to translate madness...it's impossible. At best, it's a trained and clinical guess at what's really going on there. Madness is a different language -- and only one person speaks it fluently.
Mysteries are all about the motive, I agree, and the less “crazy-appearing” the killer, the better. Finding out the so-called normal guy is really sociopathic is always interesting because there is no guilt to weigh him down. Those kinds of stories are creepy good and for me the most extreme.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the denouement I’ll be honest, I do like a lot of explanation. With your stories I sometimes have to go back and reread to find my own answers, but that’s OK. I am used to your style. It is always worth it to dig through the writing a second time to find what I missed on the first go round.
So to answer your question, I guess intricate puzzles are my favorite, but you know, regardless, I'm going to read whatever you write! :)
Thank you! I appreciate that. I'm very careful about leaving the breadcrumbs, but I do know that some readers simply prefer a bigger chunk of the loaf be left for the end. :-D
DeleteI do like a certain amount of puzzle, but the puzzle element is always going to be the most artificial element of the story. So while I love LOVE reading a 1930s who-dunnit, it's not in me to write it. But they are so fun to read, and it would be fun to someday write a vintage puzzle mystery complete with half-burned ostrich feathers in the fire place that do in fact tie in! :-D
I simply canNOT stop reading about real life serial killers. I force myself not to do so occasionally but always return to the same. WHAT makes them tick? WHY do they end up doing what they do? HOW has life made them into what they are? And some [most?] lead "normal" lives outside of their serial killing. Takes my breath away. When an author is writing fiction and it turns out the [serial] killer is someone like me, someone I would never EVER have expected ,,, man that just does me in. I truly appreciate the background of said killer, even if it's not a total explanation for why he/she kills. Shivers I tell ya, SHIVERS !
ReplyDeleteIt is certainly unsettling. And these stories can be so gripping..
DeleteAnd I agree that part of what makes them unsettling is how normal these monsters appear. So normal, so ordinary that people lower their guard and let them in.
We all want to think that we would be able to spot the crazy behind the mask...but clearly it is not always so.
I don't mind mixing things up a bit so if it's a good story, I'll read it. But I got introduced to mysteries with Agatha Chistie and Dorothy Sayers, so I like a good whodunit, gather them in the drawing room type of mystery. In other words, the cozy kind.
ReplyDeleteI think the real deciding factor for me is how interesting or engaging is the protagonist, because basically I'll follow an engaging protagonist through almost any plot. That said there are some stories that are such an instant turnoff for me that I'll never read far enough to know whether the protagonist is engaging or not.
DeleteAnything to do with kids is an instant and utter turn off for me.
I like all kinds of mysteries. I enjoy a lot the more classic ones, i like puzzles, clues, and atmosphere! I don't like empty sensationalism in stories, the gruesome creepy scenes that basically add nothing to the plot and give me nightmares. I prefer a good plot sprinkled with clues and reasonable motivations, and if the story has that, then it can be as cozy or as suspenseful as it likes.
ReplyDeleteYes, violence for the sake of violence bores me. Suspense, tension...these are the elements that keep me turning the page desperate to know what happens next.
DeleteBut gore and extreme violence are actually...well, dull. For the reader. I mean, there is no suspense there. There is only the ewwww factor. He cut her head off?! EWWW.
That only takes you so far.
People interest me. Therefore I find what motivates people of interest.
Ultimately, I think the appeal of mysteries for me (and maybe for most people) is that mysteries have a logical, and hopefully interesting, conclusion. You find out who did it, and generally speaking, why.
ReplyDeleteYou can do this with "serial killers" just by explaining the logic of their reasoning, even if the supporting arguments for their reasons are off-kilter with the rest of the world.
Great mystery writers not only surprise you with the solution, but make the ride to the result extremely enjoyable. They also somehow make the solution to the mystery obvious in retrospect. That's the part that is really, really hard to do.
Hope that helped!
That's all part of it, certainly!
DeleteI really do not like serial killer stories. I much prefer murder with motives and a puzzle to solve.
ReplyDeleteThe problem -- if it is a problem -- is most serial killer stories fall into the thriller category. There's generally not a lot of mystery. It's more about the hunt and it's more about stopping the predator before they kill again.
DeleteThey are a form of sensationalist fiction -- versus the puzzle at the heart of the traditional mystery.
I'm not saying one is better than the other, just that they are two rather different branches of crime fiction.
I started reading mysteries when I was in grade school, read every Gothic mystery I could get my hads on when I was in my teens, and then discovered the joy of English mysteries. I like a plot with twists and turns, puzzles, and an ending that makes me say, "Huh - didn't see that coming!". I don't mind serial killer stories, but I do prefer those that involve ordinary people caught up in uncontrollable circumstances. I also love an amateur sleuth.
ReplyDeleteYes! The real fun is the story at the center -- the story of the main character caught up in whatever this is going to be. The FBI profiler coming back after a case where everything went horribly wrong. Or the school teacher suspected of murdering the student she flunked. It's that central story that really makes it all a success or failure.
DeleteI love mysteries with a plot, with a motive, where I can go sleuthing of my own. And when I can like the detective, that's even better.
ReplyDeleteAnd the 'cozy' mysteries from the grand dames of crime fiction, there you can find gaping abysses. Greed, despair, craziness you can have it all. I don't need gallons of blood or to be witness of the excruciating death from the murder victim to have an idea how painful and horrible it is to die under this circumstances. We live in a world with more and more humans with reduced empathie abilities, an ideal condition to grow into someone, for whom murder is a possibility. That's enough serial killer for me!
Ah! So true. Will our age of technology -- which seems to breed a greater disregard for the feelings and needs of others -- result in more serial killers? Or not even serial killers, just the brutal disposal of people in our way. People we disagree with?
DeleteI wholly agree with your comment about the grand dames of traditional mystery. I admire their restraint. Of course they were dealing with a readership that didn't need everything spelled out. Now days we have an audience that finds the autopsy itself of interest!
yeesh.
As a young lass I read Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, threw in a few Encyclopedia Browns and moved on to Agatha Christie. But I enjoy a good serial killer, too, especially when they are tracked down by the FBI. I like 'em all as long as they are well written. But as an older lass, I enjoy them the most with a side of romance.
ReplyDeleteAin't nothing wrong with a good dollop of romance.
DeleteAfter all, mystery is about human interaction -- and one of the most driving human impulses is that need for connection, be it love or lust.
You do have your hardcore mystery fans who dislike any hint of romance, but I'm not one of them. I think any character is defined by their personal relationships.
I love the mystery. I don't like it when the author feels that he/she has to go into great descriptive detail about what was done to each victim. I like subtle clues to be scattered throughout the book so that I have a chance of working out whodunit before the investigator. I like finding out more and more about the main character and I love watching character development. I also love a series so that I can spend more and more time getting to know the investigator.
ReplyDeletePersonally I think wallowing in gory detail is just lazy writing. Because it's easier to write gruesome forensics than come up with plausible motives or a coherent plot -- let alone write smart dialog.
DeleteI agree about series. I've started really liking trilogies. Where you follow the character for a relatively contained but gripping arc.
"Crazy is not a motive." This! Exactly the reason I rarely enjoy serial killer stories.The world may be filled with random acts of violence, but I prefer my fiction to have motivation for the actions; a pathway to follow through the mayhem.
ReplyDelete"Crazy is not a motive." This!
DeleteAgreed!!
Crazy is certainly real. I don't argue that. But yes, for me, I'm looking for a little something more. Because the real life crime stories that haunt me are the ones where you see the turning points along the way, where someone slowly, inexorably moves to that point of no return.
DeleteWhich is why I find this crime story http://articles.latimes.com/1985-06-12/local/me-6125_1_palmyra-island
so much more interesting than this story http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/partners/lewingdon_bros/1.html
I love finding out why? Not just who did it but what, to them, justified taking a life or committing a particular crime. What may seem like a good reason to one, may not be for another. Plus, a little romance thrown in is always a bonus.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely a fan of romance in mystery. Maybe because it's a good balance? It's the reminder of what is positive about humans, which I think maybe you need when you're exploring them at their worst.
DeleteThis is probably pretty far-fetched and doesn't answer your question at all, but I was reading "Miss Pym Disposes" by Josephine Tey this morning, and there was a part that left me thinking how much I like to ponder over chain of events and causality — both in mystery stories and in real life.
ReplyDeleteIn the part I was referring to, Lucy Pym is sharing an unexpected, happy moment at a tea-house in a small English village with people she barely know (page 83, Miss Pym Disposes):
"If I had gone back to London, Lucy thought, I would have had no share in this. What would I be doing? Eleven o'clock. Going for a walk in the Park, and deciding how to get out of being guest of honour at some literary dinner. Instead I have this. And all because Dr Knight wanted to go to a medical conference tomorrow. No, because once long ago Henrietta stood up for me at school. It was odd to think that this sun-lit moment in an English June began to take shape thirty years ago in a dark crowded school cloakroom filled with little girls putting on their goloshes. What were first causes, anyhow?"
Yes! But I think it is exactly on topic because what is any murder story but an exploration of what brought these people to this fateful intersection in time?
DeleteI remember my dad driving me to some event -- something I couldn't be late for -- and someone pulled in front of us, a very slow and smoking car -- and I remember my dad muttering, "You've been driving your whole life in order to get in front of me now."
:-D
LOL. Exactly that. :-)
DeleteI like all mysteries as long as the villain does not have a sudden personality/competence change in service of the plot (like in Frozen where the very competent and emotionally manipulative villain suddenly turns into exposition monster). The other thing that I dislike is when the heroes win through good luck and coincidence (hello Nancy - she did not so much solve the mystery as have the solution happen to her as she was strolling along).
ReplyDeleteLooking at the above it is pretty clear that what I really want in both the protagonist and the antagonist is competence.
Yes, I do not like omnipotent villains.
DeleteAnd I do not like previously competent heroes and heroines who suddenly lapse into idiocy in order to move the plot forward.
ya is something about the psychology of motivation of the serial killers that's intriguing. Usually tho there never is any satisfying "reasons ". Being the target of such crime, can be inane as a light left on in house, to parting of hair.
ReplyDeleteI am fascinated by the journey of discovering the perp, the forensics that led to the discovery, the psychology that caused the attacks..
As horrifying as serial killing is, I think [ prolly mainly fictional but ..] the guy that is aware. the hitman for the Don or something, the guy who does it becuz he wants to,not just becuz of some sicko sexual fetish etc.]
these guys might never have an MO tho.. I mean the cruelty that humanity can perpetuate has no limits. who am I kidding its ALL scary.
I have read all of authur conan doyles books , christie . queen. One thing I dislike. is when they arrive to the solution of the crime without the " clues" [ instinct has a part in all solutions. but one cant simply know it without pointers. no one is that psychic]
so ya the puzzles of who did it , clues laid out for people to follow.... honestly I have never been able to guess the killers in your story with the exception of fatal shadows and that may have been mostly guess that dude was JUST off sent my alarms ringing ... lol }
ya well anyways I just mean the puzzle, the way the victim overcomes , the psychology of the crime itself? I still ruminate over the "whys" .
ya write beautifully I wouldnt second guess yourself.
I do think that instinct plays a part in both the killer's success rate and the detective's ability to solve the crime. But it is only a small piece of the psychic puzzle, and instinct comes from subconscious fact gathering and analysis. It's not magic. So for instinct to work in a story, we have to see all the things that go into formulating that "instinct." In other words, it can't be used as a short cut. All the facts have to be presented and the reader -- or at least most readers -- have to be able to draw the same conclusions based on the same evidence.
DeleteI agree about the horrifying cruelty that people are capable of. And it is far more shocking when it comes from someone "normal."
One of the things I really like about mysteries is the thrill of them-- the thrill of figuring out who did it, the chase, the adrenaline, cat and mouse, what happened?! What's going to happen?!
ReplyDeleteSo for these reasons I have to surmise that I'm not particularly a cozy mystery fan. But I always think it comes down to the skill of the writer. Because an excellent writer can make me believe anything-- the sky is yellow and the grass is purple and people can live in space, you know? I just want to lose myself for a few hours.
Oh! And I think serial killers are hard to do well. The only two that really come to my mind that I've enjoyed are Dexter and Silence of the Lambs. Otherwise, I prefer the cat and mouse, battle of wits type of killers. I think the closest I've ever come to cozies is Dick Francis! :D
DeleteOh yes! The tension, the suspense. As far as that goes, the standalone traditional can be as gripping as any hardboiled or noir story because of the lack of guarantee.
DeleteI read so much vintage mystery and I have read some really gripping stories -- knowing full well that it's all going to end okay -- simply because the author is really good at writing a scene where the main character is locked in a house with a madman. It's that suspense and tension -- and it's interactive. The author has to be able to write it, yes, but the reader is also bringing their own imagination and dread.
I had to think this over for awhile. I've read so many different series over the years, but I suppose what holds my interest is being inside the mind of the detective, pro or amateur, getting insight into their detective process, but also into their personal lives. I enjoy seeing their relationships, and having some context of their history, and a sense of place. Detectives don't always have to successfully solve the case. Sometimes it can bite them in the ass, just as long as that's a reasonable outcome, and not because they're TSTL.
ReplyDeleteBut with a few exceptions, I don't want to be inside the mind of the murderer, don't want to see their POV in first person. There needs to be a rationale for their actions, but I don't care to directly hear their internal voice. I do enjoy cat-and-mouse dialogue between the perpetrator and the detective.
I have some favorite authors who've included serial killers in their series, and read (also watched) some amazing stories, but I tend to avoid reading or watching serial killer stories. Too much emotional residue for me, whether the stories are real-life or imaginary.
But of course I'll read Winter Kill.
DeleteAlso, there's front page news story in today's paper about a still-open serial killer case here in Albuquerque. The victims' families are still hoping/waiting for resolution.
Hm. Yes, I do think it's very, very difficult to write believably from the standpoint of the whacko serial killer. I'm sure that's partly because the normal person just can't identify.
DeleteThe main thing for me is the serial killer's POV rarely adds anything. I'M GOING TO GET YOU!!!!
We already know that.
If anything it diffuses the tension. The scariest scenes in JAWS and ALIEN are the build up. Before you really see anything. The unknown is scary. Whether we're waiting to hear from a doctor or we're about to reach for the door to the attic.
Ugh, NOT serial killers in mysteries! I'm to the point where I can't read most books if they're going to be the villain, especially since too many writers like to dwell on every little bloody detail of the crime and they always seem to be horrifically violent. (The serial killer often has some ritual or fetish that's just grisly as well.) My least favorite episodes of any crime TV show are those that feature serial killers or have a serial killer that isn't caught so they have to come back and torment the leads (and the viewers) in subsequent seasons. They don't generally get away because they're so smart, but because the cops, detectives, FBI etc. are so dumb!
ReplyDeleteI do agree with your idea that so many crimes are committed out of bad luck and the opportunity for evil. There's currently a missing persons case here in Michigan where a young woman went to a blowout Halloween party, got separated from her friends, left her cell phone behind, and apparently wound up accepting a ride with a stranger to get home. Only she never got there Think how many ways that idea could be done by a writer.
Omnipotent villains are boring. I don't know why TV writers are so in love with them.
DeleteAnyway. There's a show called Disappeared. It's the most terrifying show on TV in my opinion. Mostly because you never know what happened. But so often there is a scenario like the one you just described. And that to me is that terrible intersection of bad luck and opportunity. The victims are almost always young women.
I really love those crime stories where the killer is a normal person who kills someone who deserves it very badly and does it in such an intelligent way that the detective/police cannot or will not accuse him or her.
ReplyDeleteAnd if there is a love story in between, that's the icing on the cake.