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Writing Historical Crime Fiction
(when you’ve lived through a bit of history yourself)
Writing crime fiction set in the past may not involve cutting edge forensics or tracing licence plates at the touch of a computer key, but it does require a special attention to detail in what authors and critics call ‘world building’: creating the setting and showing how life was lived then. This involves more than descriptive snippets on period fashion and living conditions; the author has to recreate what may be an entirely unknown setting in order to show how and why the crime was committed. Notions of sin and wrong-doing change, sometimes, as now, within the space of decades, so plot and perpetrators must fit the period.
Readers need to see what was illegal or unacceptable to appreciate the nature of a crime, and in the case of a mystery or police-procedural what resources were available to solve it. Once authors are sure of their setting and story-line, we need to double check historical details and the social background to make sure the wrong-doers – be they ice-cold murderers or likeable rogues – are products of their time.
Some crimes need more explaining than others, and my 17th century wily rogue Ludo da Portovenere, who acts as a secret agent, spy and agent provocateur for the Vatican and European royals, needed rather a lot of explaining.
In Book 1 of The Chosen Man Trilogy, Ludo is commissioned to inflate the price of tulip bulbs in Holland to help create the first economic bubble known as tulip-mania or tulip fever. The story is based on real events and required a lot of research. I became quite an expert on the Dutch Golden Age and why tulip bulbs were worth more than their weight in gold. Book 2 had me mugging up on spices coming into Lisbon from the East Indies, and Barbary corsairs. Nutmeg, cloves and peppercorns were also worth their weight in gold, and people were prepared to kill for them.
In Book 3, Ludo is commissioned to sell precious gems belonging to the English Crown Jewels. This, again, was a real event. What actually happened to some of them has never been revealed, but I have my suspicions as to where the famous brooch known as The Three Brethren (seen in Elizabeth 1st Ermine Portrait) ended up.
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For Book 1 in my Bob Robbins Home Front Mystery series, set during the Second World War, I investigated wartime espionage, and tried to show how people in rural England got around food rationing without incurring hefty fines.
Making past events credible in what for many are unfamiliar periods and/or locations does involve serious research, but this can also throw up fascinating plot twists and details, some of which have to be left out for fear readers simply won’t believe them. For The Chosen Man, research gave me the ‘Black Order’, trained Vatican assassins who left a black silk calling card beside their victims. At one time they were run from within the Holy City by a woman. Doing research like this, I doubt I’ll ever need geriatric brain gym.
My first WWII murder mystery Local Resistance hinges on another surprise find; the ultra-secret British Resistance movement known to some as ‘Churchill’s Secret Army’. Farmers, doctors, mechanics – ordinary people – were armed, trained and prepared to go underground (literally in some areas) the moment German troops landed. Their task was to sabotage enemy infra-structure. These men never told anyone what they were doing – not even spouses – for fear of betrayal and reprisals. Here was something very real to bind a story of high treason, murder and amusing ration dodges.
In L.P Hartley’s memorable words, “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” The way things were needs to be explained; the challenge is not turning a novel into a history book. Most historical fiction authors weave information into dialogue and show the relationships between social groups in the interaction between major and minor characters. This helps to demonstrate contemporary prejudices and beliefs. Apart from who loves or hates whom, conversations between masters and servants, husbands and wives, reveal life-styles and expectations. Basically, what normal life was like in those days.
One of the huge advantages of being an ‘older’ writer is that I’ve experienced a few social changes myself. My family acquired one of the first television sets to watch the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II (I was a toddler at the time), so you can get an idea of how daily life and values have changed in my lifetime.
Use of language has changed too. Many of the things I heard my grandparents say go into my characters’ dialogue in the Bob Robbins stories. I sometimes use minor characters’ chit-chat to reinforce clues not only to who dunnit, but to why. Being a bit long in the tooth means I remember what local shops were like, and how people loved a bit of over-the-counter gossip, and some of things that shocked them – such as my beaded-hippy phase.
The fun in any mystery is identifying and connecting clues, then identifying the perpetrator before the sleuth or police make the arrest. The fun for me is tucking these clues into what may seem trivial period details to enrich the narrative. Crime stories set in the past, be it a medieval monastery, a royal palace or a wartime village, involve far more than creating a clever plot and slipping in a few red herrings.
The next time you read a historical mystery or crime story, pay attention to what the less important characters say and do, because they’ll be telling you what was right or wrong, or just plain sinful in those days.
© JG Harlond
Málaga, 2024
Find Jane on:
Blog – Reading & Writing: https://wp-harlond.jgharlond.com/
Penmore Press: www.penmorepress.com
Find J.G. Harlond’s books on:
• Book 1 in the The Chosen Man Trilogy
The Chosen Man: http://getbook.at/TheChosenMan
• Book 1 in the Bob Robbins Home Front Mystery series
Local Resistance: http://getbook.at/LocalResistance
(Book 4 – Secret Meetings now available)
ABOUT J.G. Harlond (Jane)
Secret agents, skulduggery, crime, and a touch of romance
Award-winning author of page-turning historical crime novels set in the 17th and early 20th centuries, Jane weaves fictional characters into real events.
Creator of the wily, charismatic rogue Ludo da Portovenere, and the aging wartime detective DS Bob Robbins, her stories feature wicked wrongdoing, murder mysteries, and challenging romances.
Originally from North Devon, Jane has travelled widely and is now settled in her Spanish husband’s home province, Andalucía.
X-Twitter: @JaneGHarlond https://twitter.com/JaneGHarlond
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/JGHarlondauthor
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Thank you for hosting my post, Helen. It is a privilege to be here and in such good company.
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