Is crime fiction the “comfort food” of literature?

by Rick Blechta

Yesterday, I was listening to The Next Chapter, a weekly radio show on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) hosted by Shelagh Rogers. She convened her usual summer mystery panel, who made some very interesting recommendations — which actually included some Canadian books for a change.

While interesting, that segment of the show got me thinking in another direction entirely.

Around this time of year, I’m sure we’ve all seen folks at the cash with a stack of crime fiction. You only need to ask and uniformly be told that these fine folks are heading out on vacation. Heck, I’m sure most of us have done this exact thing. I certainly have. My good friend, Marian Misters of the (fabulous) Sleuth of Baker Street bookstore here in Toronto sees a steady stream of these large-volume book buyers every Friday over the summer months. And that’s a very good thing.

What do these people read? Usually something new Marian has told me, so she’s busy making recommendations. “But then there are some who buy older books, one’s they’ve enjoyed in the past and no longer own.” In other words, we’re talking about something people find familiar and enjoyable to read at least a second time. And isn’t that sort of like literary comfort food?

Me being who I am, I started thinking of my favourite places to read, and if I were there right now with a complete crime fiction library of old series, what would I reach for in order to spend an enjoyable afternoon?

For me, I would have to say it would be Nero Wolfe novels. I first discovered crime fiction through the works of Agatha Christie, but one summer, I got a job as the pool boy at a resort in Bridgton, Maine. The place wasn’t very busy and had an older clientele, so I had long days of sitting beside an empty pool, and even if some folks toddled down, it didn’t take a lot of time to fetch fresh towels, a soft drink or cocktail, or send up for food from the kitchen. (I also was expected to save folks from drowning, which fortunately never came up.)

Not knowing about the empty hours when I took the job, I arrived without reading material. Fortunately, the resort had a fairly large library of donated books (or ones left behind), and there were at least two dozen of Rex Stout’s novels and short story collections featuring his corpulent detective, ably assisted by Archie Goodwyn, his man-about-town — as well as a recurring cast of great supporting characters. I found and devoured those books like candy over the first two weeks of my summer, and then scrounged some more in local libraries.

After all this time, put me in a cabin in the woods for a week, hand me a few Nero Wolfe books, and you’d have a very happy reader on your hands.

Now, here’s the thing: I’d like to know what book series (that you’ve already enjoyed) would like to have in your reading pile while enjoying some much-needed time off — and what is it about this series that attracts you?

Please answer! I’d really like to know and I’m sure Type M readers would, as well. Come on. All we need is a couple of quick sentences and that won’t take you long, will it?

Characters and Seasons

Donis's blog yesterday about summer reading reminded me of what I've always liked about summer. As a child (student) and as an adult (teacher), I have three months of "summer vacation." Of course, now that I'm a grown-up, I do need to use my summer to get some work done. But summer is the time when I can stay up late reading a book or go to a matinee in the middle of the day (Wonder Woman is at the top of my list).

What has changed is that I don't go outside as much as I did when I was a child. Of course, I've never been a fan of summer heat and bug bites. But growing up in the country in Virginia with a big back yard and paths through woods and dogs, I would never have thought of wasting a summer day inside. Nowadays, living in a house in the city, I've been contemplating setting up my empty (until winter) garage as an "outdoor" space. The problem with the grass in my small yard is that it might have ticks. And, besides, even with sunscreen, I could get too much sun. Grilling -- I remember those wonder family barbecues in the front yard under the big old tree. But I could blow myself up trying to start a grill and what about the health risks of hot dogs?

My seasonal preferences have carried over to my characters. My Southern-born protagonist, Lizzie Stuart, loves the South but hates heat and storms. Hannah McCabe, my police detective, lives in Albany, New York, and is dealing with the sizzling summers produced by climate change. I've set some books during the summer, but haven't had to think like a "summer person".

That brings me to my challenge with one of my major characters in my 1939 historical thriller. He lives in Georgia, and summer is his season. The heat and the sun. The smell of his own sweat. He stands out in a field watching the black clouds roll in. Then he sits on his porch with a drink watching the storm erupt.

He loves the land and the smell of the soil. If I don't capture this part of who this character is, then his motivation for the things he does will fall flat. But I need to step into his work boots.

So in answer to Donis's question about summer reading, I'm heading South with books (fiction and non-fiction) written during the 1930s. Books about summer, with heat and sweat and storms. And I'm hoping that the weather here in Albany will not echo what I'm reading.

Does your character have a favorite season? A time of year that he or she loves, but you don't?