tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4101176263274175183.post7171663618694080821..comments2023-10-31T09:31:03.483-04:00Comments on Dave's Fiction Warehouse: The supernatural in crime fictionDave Knadlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03775398291411783228noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4101176263274175183.post-26576736289120187892007-07-20T21:11:00.000-04:002007-07-20T21:11:00.000-04:00You see? A rational element lurks behind that whic...You see? A rational element lurks behind that which at first appears mysterious.<BR/>===================<BR/> Detectives Beyond Borders<BR/>"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"<BR/> http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4101176263274175183.post-8337010701024955772007-07-20T20:41:00.000-04:002007-07-20T20:41:00.000-04:00Actually, it was the mention of those two books on...Actually, it was the mention of those two books on your blog (and Uriah's) that got me thinking about supernatural elements. Maybe I should have mentioned that, but since I haven't read either of the books I thought better of it.Dave Knadlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03775398291411783228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4101176263274175183.post-45646058160300778412007-07-20T19:52:00.000-04:002007-07-20T19:52:00.000-04:00Vargas may have borrowed the ancient lady computer...Vargas may have borrowed the ancient lady computer hacker from another crime novel, whose title I will not reveal lest I give away a plot element.<BR/>===================<BR/>Detectives Beyond Borders<BR/>"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"<BR/>http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4101176263274175183.post-62203534065379193502007-07-20T19:48:00.000-04:002007-07-20T19:48:00.000-04:00This may be a coincidence –– pure coincidence, tha...This may be a coincidence –– pure coincidence, that is, nothing to do with the supernatural –– but I am reading or have recently read and posted about two novels with such elements. One is <I>Wash This Blood Clean From My Hand</I>, as cited above by the estimable Uriah. The other is <I>The Coroner's Lunch</I> by Colin Cotterill.<BR/><BR/>I'm more skeptical of such elements than is Dave, whom I had heretofore regarded as a purely rational sort. I prefer to think of such elements as the unexplained, rather than the paranormal. In any case, Cotterill handled these elements well, easing into them gradually, with the protagonist's revelatory and disquieting dreams, before moving on to more intense manifestations, such as trances and possession by spirits.<BR/><BR/>I'm only a few chapters into the Vargas, but she may be doing a similar slow buildup. Early in the novel, the protagonist, Commissaire Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, experiences unexplained attacks that leave him faint and feverish and rob him of his appetite. The narrator significantly calls the attacks "intrusions," but it transpires that each has a rational basis: On each occasion, Adamsberg has seen a reminder of a case that had haunted him years earlier.<BR/><BR/>===================<BR/>Detectives Beyond Borders<BR/>"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"<BR/>http://detectivesbeyondbordersPeter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4101176263274175183.post-47497512847888673422007-07-20T17:36:00.000-04:002007-07-20T17:36:00.000-04:00Yes, I prefer that any supernatural element be amb...Yes, I prefer that any supernatural element be ambiguous enough to remain only a possibility. I recently sold a story to EQMM involving what other people said was a ghost, although the protagonist himself was having no part of it.Dave Knadlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03775398291411783228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4101176263274175183.post-65395883778846232092007-07-20T15:24:00.000-04:002007-07-20T15:24:00.000-04:00Fred Vargas in Wash This Blood Clean From My Hand ...Fred Vargas in Wash This Blood Clean From My Hand hints at the supernatural when the main suspect is a dead man. The whole story is quirky in a pleasant sort of way, with an ancient lady computer hacker for example. <BR/>If it is done well I am not put off but the supernatural without subtlety is a non starter.Uriah Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02046023583067265187noreply@blogger.com