This wasn't how I had planned today to begin. By rights, I should be posting a really interesting blog by C.B. Forrest, which I enjoyed reading, saved and...it's gone! Went to post it last night and it's disappeared. This is not the first time my computer and I have been at odds. But it's most frustrating when it involves someone else. So, stay tuned for the blog by Chris next Tuesday and today, I'll wing it.
Which is why I'm latching onto Mary Jane Maffini's thoughts on sidekicks, which was yesterday's guest blog. She left out the fact that Alvin, Camilla McPhea's office "assistant" even has a fan club! Go get 'em, Alvin.
Many mysteries do involve sidekicks, who play a very important role in fleshing out
the main character and in the solving of the mystery. And it's often this interplay that keeps the reader tuned in and coming back. Along with the author's excellent writing skills, of course.
We all know the well-known duos of the past: Holmes and Watson, Poirot and Hastings,Morse and Lewis. I also thoroughly enjoyed Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin...still do, as a matter of fact. And for a side-splitting laugh, there's Stephanie Plum and Lula. Of course, she's also got Grandma Mazur on her side.
And how about that mega-marketing series, Castle! Every Beckett needs her Castle.
Often it's sidekicks - plural - especially in police procedurals where the entire squad works as one, for example, Barbara Fradkin's Inspector Green series and the infamous 87th precinct novels of Ed McBain.
Sidekicks, secondary characters, friends, family...all help develop the texture of the story and that's what keeps us reading.
Who would you name as fiction's most memorable sleuthing sidekicks?
Linda Wiken/Erika Chase
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