WICKED WEDNESDAYS

With a little help from my friends...

I went searching my bookshelves the other day for a reference book from my bookselling days. I can't even remember the title, something about Sleuths and Sidekicks, which shows I haven't made much use of it lately. But I used to in the days when customers were often asking such skill-testing questions. I can't find it, although I do have a good selection of reference books on my shelf.

It's a wonderfully informative book. Sidekicks are so important in the detective genre, be the main sleuths amateurs or professionals, that there is indeed an entire large book dedicated to them.

It's not often you find the 'lone warrior' doing battle with the bad guys. (Most often found in thrillers.) Sidekicks add another dimension to the main character and can subtly focus on characteristics of said sleuth. They are also sounding boards for various theories and can be sure to lend a hand or a flashlight in those late night searches. They can provide some comic relief or perhaps, a saner more grounded approach when it's needed. What is Sherlock without his Watson after all?

They are recurring characters because they are part of the fabric of the series. And as such, some have even garnered their own fan clubs. Mary Jane Maffini has created such a sidekick. He's Alvin, the thorn-in-the-side assistant to her lawyer-sleuth Camilla McPhee. Imagine, a fan club!

And sometimes, the sidekick goes on to become the star of his or her own series. That happens more often in TV though.

Imagine your favourite series without the sidekick. Can't be done. Not with the more traditional mystery or detective story. They're part of the fabric of life and we want our characters and plots to wrap the reader in a real world. That means one with friends and sidekicks, often one and the same.

As I said, I can't find that great reference book. So if I loaned it to you, could I please have it back?

Linda Wiken/Erika Chase
A Killer Read coming April, 2012
from Berkley Prime Crime
www.erikachase.com

WICKED WEDNESDAYS

With a little help from their friends...

Sleuth and sidekicks. You'll find them in cosies and PI plottings, in police procedurals and some thrillers. The cop has his partner or more often, an entire squad that returns with every new book in the series. Much like Barbara Fradkin's Inspector Green relies on his key officers to track down the perps. Same thing happens for Const. Molly Smith in Vicki Delany's police series set in B.C.

And of course, what would Insp. Morse have been without his Sgt. Lewis, Dalziel without Pascoe, Lynley without Havers? It's an extensive list and the names are instantly recognizable to most mystery readers.

In the cosy world, I've heard that Camilla McPhee's assistant, Alvin, has his own fan club! I'm betting little did Mary Jane Maffini know when she created McPhee's exasperating but endearing sidekick that he, too would be a star!

Joan Boswell's amateur sleuth Hollis Grant ends up with an unofficial 'sidekick', police detective Rhona Simpson. At least, Rhona would never like this label.

In my series, coming April 2012, Lizzie Turner solves crime with the assistance of her book club -- that's six sidekicks. Have you ever tried to get seven people to agree on something?

Sidekicks provide the sleuth with a sounding board as well as someone who can give much-needed advice. They can add some comic relief when a scene becomes explosive. They are the shoulder to cry on. The supplier of necessary facts and details. A foil with which to highlight aspects of the sleuth's personality. And above all, a friend.

How about Poirot & Hastings; Batman & Robin; Frost & Toolan; Holmes & Watson; Barnaby & Jones?

There have been so many memorable sleuth/sidekick combinations in literature, and on television over the years. Right now, one of my favourites is DI Sandra Pullman and her team of three detectives brought out of retirement to deal with cold cases in New Tricks -- that's on TVO and/or PBS, in case you've never seen it. Unfortunately, as happens in the television season, it's off the air at the moment. But it will be back.

So, who are your favourite sleuth/sidekick combos?


Linda Wiken/Erika Chase
Mystery Book Club series coming
from Berkley Prime Crime, April, 2012

MAYHEM ON MONDAY

Maybe there should be a forty-eight hour day!

There’s a lot of responsibility to writing a book. For one thing, you have to take care of all those characters. That’s right. You think it’s easy? Never mind, keeping them from being killed, you also have to make sure they eat and, trust me, most amateur sleuths are light on kitchen skills and never seem to keep to a schedule. They can miss meals for days.

You may even have wake them up in the middle of the night to go skulking after clues and you should encourage them to upgrade their skills (firing range, computer hacking, and running, always with the running). Their dogs have to be fed and walked. Who do you think remembers that? And if the dogs don’t get out often enough, you will get mail. Believe me.

It’s like being a mom to a gang of kids who will never become adults. You’re always going to be getting notes from their teachers.

Worse, you have to meddle in their love lives. Can’t have a mystery character be too happy. Or too lonely. Too anything really.

But one of the most time-consuming tasks is making sure they’re dressed properly. Remember Kinsey Milhone’s all-purpose black dress? Most people do. Readers notice these things.

My point is that, aside from the time it takes to keep your own wardrobe and closet in order and make sure you don’t show up at a business meeting in cargo shorts, now you have all these other people to worry about. I have to make sure Alvin Ferguson’s nine visible earrings are shiny enough to twinkle in the light. Mrs. Parnell still hangs on to her CWAC uniform. It’s hanging in her closet. That’s my responsibility too. As for Camilla MacPhee, she’s impossible. Couldn’t care less about clothes. I leave managing her outfits to her three perfectly groomed sisters.

But I do have to replace Fiona Silk’s one good outfit when it gets ruined by some villain in each book. I still mourn the loss of that periwinkle suede skirt and matching blouse. Then there’s Charlotte Adams, that little fashion plate. If it wasn’t for InStyle magazine (now a tax-deduction), I wouldn’t have a hope of having her look her spiffy best (with just the right shoes) as she gets chased on the I-90 or tossed into a dumpster. A lot of those outfits have to be discarded after a book! They’re ruined.

Her friend Jack Reilly is easier, except for bike racing gear from time to time, he’s always with the Hawaiian shirts and the unsuitable cargo shorts no matter what the weather. Even so, the patterns on the Hawaiian shirts have to vary. Jack may be in a rut, but he does change his clothes. Can’t have potential love interest being too grubby you know.

All to say, when I started out in this business, I had no idea there’d be all this work keeping other people dressed. Maybe that’s why I’m behind on my own laundry. There’s not enough time in the day.

What about you? How do you like a sleuth to be dressed? Do you care about that sort of detail as a reader or as a writer?



Mary Jane Maffini rides herd on three (soon to be three and a half) mystery series and a couple of dozen short stories. Her thirteenth mystery novel, The Busy Woman’s Guide to Murder (April 5, 2011), is brimming with names, no two the same.

TUESDAY BRINGS TROUBLE

More sidekicks!

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

MAYHEM ON MONDAY

Where would be be without what’s-his-name?

Allow me to get on my soapbox. It gives me a chance to speak in praise of sidekicks, the downtrodden heroes and heroines of mystery novels. Where would we writers and readers be without them? When mystery protagonists are being shot at, stalked, seduced and otherwise distracted, who do you think is getting the background on suspects, making sure the dog gets walked and, even getting food on the table? The sidekick, that’s who. Does the average sidekick really get the attention they deserve? I owe such a huge debt to mine that I thought it would be worth recognizing their contributions, as my three protagonists never seem to be the slightest bit thankful.

For instance, Camilla MacPhee is a fortyish lawyer who sleuths grumpily around Ottawa, consumed by her quest for justice. She has two faithful assistants. Is she grateful to them or to me for providing them? Well, if she is, there’s no sign of it. Mrs. Violet Parnell, now in her eighties, never lets her bad hips or her walker interfere with her enjoyment of life or her enthusiasm for her current challenge. The World War II veteran just may be my favorite character in the twelve books I’ve written so far. To show my appreciation, I let her continue to enjoy Harvey’s Bristol Cream by the tumbler and smoke her Benson & Hedges. What the heck, there’s no second hand smoke in fiction. Plus, men of a certain age find her irresistible. In return, Mrs. P. uses her prodigious technical skills to find out information that Camilla could never obtain legally. We don’t want to look too closely at Violet Parnell’s, research, um, methods but I’m glad she has those talents, otherwise, far too many crimes would go unsolved.

And then there’s Alvin Ferguson. Oh sure he’s the world’s worst office assistant – and aspiring artist and decorator -- and Camilla’s ongoing attempts to fire him fail because his mother and her father go way way back. Never mind that Alvin can’t be counted on to deliver a message or run an errand successfully, but when the going gets tough, he’ll redecorate the house. Oh wait, that’s not so useful. So what? It’s not his fault his apartments keep blowing up. Well, at least, he’s learning to cook. He’s also been tossed in the frozen river, been propelled though a plate glass window into an art gallery and so much more in the service of Camilla and her sleuthing. She takes him for granted, but I’ve noted that Alvin has a fan club starting up. Take a hint, Camilla! I think I’ll let him get a new tattoo.

My second sleuth, Fiona Silk, is a charmingly unsuccessful romance writer with no sex life (coincidence?) and a desire to be left alone. That body in her bed is not her fault and the police will come to realize that in time, with luck, even if her small town neighbors never stop gossiping. Fiona would be lost without her young helper Josey Thring, Fiona’s a reluctant sleuth. Sixteen year old Josey’s a determined assistant and always available. Cut your lawn? Weed your garden? Groom your dog? Steal a few books from the library? Set up a machine to answer your door for you? All part of the service. Too bad about her criminal relatives and backwoods connections, because really, she’s the best thing ever to happen to Fiona. And I guess it is possible that she actually does have all those days off from school.

Charlotte Adams declutters homes and organizes lives in a historic town in the Hudson Valley. Her high school friends (the Misfits) still live there too, and come in handy in so many ways. I suppose they are sidekicks, especially Jack Reilly – tall guy with tousled hair, so close to that PhD in philosophy, busy with his bike shop, his dog rescue work, and such a good landlord to Charlotte. When will they realize they’re in love? Oops, sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. But the real sidekicks in the Charlotte Adams books seem to be Truffle and Sweet Marie, the miniature dachshunds that Jack rescued and foisted on Charlotte. They don’t talk, they don’t solve mysteries and they are two princessy for words. But they make connections and sometimes their ears and noses come in handy. I make sure they get plenty of treats.

Whether I’m writing or reading, to my mind sidekicks are the measure of a mystery.
They are the characters I want to reconnect with when I read someone else’s books or write my own. I look forward to the time when they make it on the covers of my books. How about Closet Confidential: a Charlotte Adams mystery featuring Truffle and Sweet Marie? Not sure how my publisher will feel about that, but it’s worth a try! You can see their real live counterparts on my website www.maryjanemaffini.com

Tonight I plan to raise a glass of wine to my favorite fictional sidekicks – my own and other authors. I hope you’ll join me in a toast! And once we’ve mellowed out, maybe you can tell me what draws you to a sidekick and while you’re at it, let’s hear who your favourites are.


Mary Jane Maffini rides herd on three, soon to be three and a half, mystery series. You can check them out at www.maryjanemaffini.com