You would have thought that more than 130 years after Conan Doyle’s gentleman sleuth Sherlock Holmes first appeared in the Strand Magazine and was followed by Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade as well as Poirot, Maigret, Morse and all the rest, the writers of Crime Thrillers would by now have run out of ideas? And surely the reading and viewing public would have become bored by such formulaic plot structures as the ‘who done it’, the ‘will they-wont they get away with it,’ and the tricksy ‘double-cross’?
Well, no. Even the most cursory investigation of media platforms reveals that this genre is alive and well and hiding in plain sight in TV schedules and on book stands (virtual and real) the world over. The Crime Thriller is unlikely to be apprehended and taken out of circulation any time soon and there are three main reasons why it remains at large.
Firstly, Crime Thrillers embody and exploit some of our most deeply felt fears, hopes and belief systems (e.g. that ‘good’ will triumph) therefore releasing powerful emotions which engage us in their stories and characters. Second, the plots use a tried-and-tested, satisfying dramatic arc which hasn’t changed much since Homer: a mystery is to be solved or a plan executed, we then watch the characters struggle to achieve their goals before, in the end, there’s a resolution – this can be good or bad; we don’t really mind which as long as we see the plot run its course. Lastly, and we shouldn’t underestimate the appeal of this simple virtue, the good ones at least, are fun.
Tapping into our insecurities lest we become too comfortable and complacent, most Crime Thrillers tell us that the world is risky place; a heads-up to watch our backs. This warning gives us a mild dose of adrenalin (a stimulant and therefore a good feeling) and reminds us that at any moment, we could encounter danger on our streets, driving in our cars or even when sitting at home (did I lock the front door?) Mostly though, the effect of the thriller is to locate threats reassuringly ‘out there’; telling us we are safe and secure in our cosy rooms, reading about, not experiencing, the trials and tribulations of the main characters (this is also a good feeling). The protagonists in crime fiction, the police officers or private detectives, are our guardians; heroes there to protect us. We are therefore compelled to watch them operate; we want to know if they can stop the bad guys from getting to us and live on to fight the good fight on our behalf (reassurance – a very good feeling indeed).
In terms of dramatic structure, we usually (but not always) want the good guys to triumph but more importantly, we need them to ‘discover the truth’. Humans are programmed to do this; it is hard-wired into us. In any given situation, we need to know what’s really going on, what’s actually happened and, if its bad stuff, what mistakes were made so we know how to stop it happening again.
We may not entirely identify with the hero-heroine but we should empathise with some of their feelings. Often flawed so as to provide light and shade and make them ‘real’ like us, they have strengths (usually they’re the smartest, fastest thinking and most resourceful people in the room) but they are also flawed and damaged as we are and we travel with them as companions as they journey through the twists and turns of the plot. We care about them, want them to succeed and, in some cases, would like to be like them – to have their unerring moral compass and strength of purpose no matter how harsh or dark the world in which they operate becomes. As Raymond Chandler, the author of the Philip Marlowe detective stories, observed in his 1950 essay The simple Art of Murder, “down these mean streets must go a man who is not himself mean. He is the hero. He must be the best man in his world.”
Ultimately though, the most important requirement for any book, short story or movie is that it entertains, that it takes us out of ourselves, and Crime Thrillers can do this in spades. The stories often have far-fetched and ingenious plots, scams, ruses and pursuits; all played out by larger than life characters who can range from down-at-heal losers, gorgeous femme fatales or charming rogues and of course, the hard-bitten, often disappointed in love, genius crime fighter sleuth.
So take these ingredients, lob in a few exotic locations or hidden, remote worlds most of us know little about (e.g. a CSI team, the cloistered life of an Oxford college, criminal gangs or even secret lives lived behind the twitching curtains of Middle England) and even in 2020, you have a tasty and satisfying dish to serve-up to your reading and viewing public.
A lot has changed in the world since Sherlock Holmes solved his first case but the Crime Thriller genre has got a few more heists to pull-off and cases to solve before it finally packs its forged passport and beach towel and disappears forever.
© Tom Marriot, March 2020
If you like the crime thriller genre, Tom Marriot’s short story set in the world of property, Liverpool Bay, can be accessed here.
