They’ve faced the worst of humanity, and sometimes their own mortality, and it leaves them broken. Sound familiar?Ĭops, private detectives, spies-they’re all haunted. Usually accompanied by a level-headed but easily-flustered accomplice, who serves the dual purpose of sounding board and conduit to the human race. Everyone wins!Ī protagonist who is brilliant, quirky, and seemingly infallible… save his or her inability to relate to people. It’ll be liberating for her, a moment of vulnerability for him-and the author will get to work out some deep-seated sexual fantasy. If a prudish but pretty woman meets the male protagonist in the first 50 pages of a story, you know they’ll end up having sex. The uptight female character as potential sex toy. Where’s the polka? The Norwegian death metal? It would be great to see some characters with a little range.ģ. In crime fiction it’s almost always jazz or the blues. The deep and intense relationship with music.Ī lot of authors name-check musicians. Vices are fun, but too often, they’re overused as a defining characteristic.Ģ. Has there ever been a private investigator or a hard-boiled protagonist who didn’t drown his or her feelings in a bottle? Bonus points if that alcohol is amber and smoky. The deep and intense relationship with alcohol. Here are, from my vantage point, the top ten clichés that continually pop up in crime fiction.ġ. Clichés can serve as enduring and comfortable tropes that remind us why we love the crime fiction genre.īut that’s not always the case-sometimes they can be tired rehashes of scenarios and traits that have been done to death, resurrected, and then killed again. And when you read a lot within a genre, you begin to notice some familiar signposts… Today on our blog, Rob lists his crime fiction bugbears.Īny cliché can be twisted and reinvented so that it’s fresh and exciting. Hart-associate publisher of, class director of LitReactor, and all-around friend of Mulholland-knows his crime fiction. Recommendations from the African Diaspora.Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Arrow Icon Arrow icon.Little, Brown and Company Arrow Icon Arrow icon.Hachette Nashville Arrow Icon Arrow icon.Grand Central Publishing Arrow Icon Arrow icon.
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