 |
| Scares the shit out of mystery fiction readers |
 |
| Deeply loved by mystery fiction readers |
Mystery
fiction as a genre strikes me as a secure way to roll in the
crime writing game. The adage that ‘truth is stranger than
fiction’ - actually, it was Lord
Byron who said “the truth is always strange, stranger than fiction” – is,
conveniently, true, which is what I figure scares the shit out of readers. It’s one thing to watch or read about a good
looking, civilized serial killer like Dexter. But it’s another to read
about a slimebag, real deal serial killer like Anthony
Sowell or Jeffrey
Dahmer.
Fictional
detectives like Hercule
Poirot, Harry Bosch
and Mike Hammer are
creative figures, artistically rendered as one would a song or a poem. Some of
these characters are based on real people; in the television series Law and Order, detective John Munch is actually Jay Landsman, the real
deal homicide detective in David Simon’s Edgar-winning book, Homicide:
A Year on the Killing Streets.
There’s
a reason for that; in fiction, a writer can remove anything that might be
particularly objectionable about a villain or a protagonist.
I
was at an appearance in the fall, sitting at a table next to a well-regarded
mystery fiction guy named Steve
Hamilton. Nice fellow, suitably humble and he came with a good sense of
humor. The housewives trampled me to get his autograph. I was confused on that
one, although I was aware that my brand was certainly nothing approaching that
of Hamilton. It was the zeal with which these, umm, ladies, disregarded
everyone else for a chance to chat with the guy who makes stuff up. Again, my brief interaction with him found him to be a cool enuff guy; it's his craft that I don't get.
Most
of these readers would not be caught dead with one of my books, or that of any
other true crime author. They watch TV and movies, both fiction by nature. Thankfully,
there is an element of reader and person who likes life served straight up,
with all the gory details. I consider them more fans of history and journalism,
rather than people with a sick voyeuristic nature, as I’ve heard them derided.
This
is perhaps why the true crime section in most book stores is hidden away,
toward the back or upstairs, akin to a porn section in a video rental joint.
Border’s was the worst offender, as you can read
here. It refused to allow me an appearance at it's Utica, Mich., store while I was doing press for my first book, which went down in the Utica area. From a story on 2009:
A Dec. 10 e-mail by a
store manager says, “Our communities, on the east side in particular, were hit
hard with this case. It was very close to home, and I’m not convinced our
customers would react favorably to a booksigning event.”
Borders spokeswoman Mary Davis told The Macomb Daily: “The decision made not to have a book event at the store level was because we wanted to be sensitive to the Utica community.”
Davis, however, said the authors could appear at another Borders store in southeast Michigan if the book’s sales met criteria.
The Utica marketing manager also questioned whether some profits from the book would go to the Grant children.
Miller countered that no one has asked whether NBC, which produced a “Dateline” episode about the case that has been broadcast on MSNBC, donated part of its advertising profits from the show to the children.
“You don’t see these multibillion-dollar corporations donating money to victims when they do a story on this kind of thing,” he said.
Borders spokeswoman Mary Davis told The Macomb Daily: “The decision made not to have a book event at the store level was because we wanted to be sensitive to the Utica community.”
Davis, however, said the authors could appear at another Borders store in southeast Michigan if the book’s sales met criteria.
The Utica marketing manager also questioned whether some profits from the book would go to the Grant children.
Miller countered that no one has asked whether NBC, which produced a “Dateline” episode about the case that has been broadcast on MSNBC, donated part of its advertising profits from the show to the children.
“You don’t see these multibillion-dollar corporations donating money to victims when they do a story on this kind of thing,” he said.
