Terry Shames writes the bestselling
Samuel Craddock mystery series, set in the fictitious town of Jarrett Creek,
Texas. Her first novel, A Killing at Cotton Hill was a finalist for the Left Coast Crime award for best mystery of 2013,
the Strand Magazine Critics Award, and a Macavity Award for Best First Novel of
2013. The Last Death of Jack Harbin was named one of the top five mysteries of 2013 by Library Journal. Her newest book is Dead Broke in Jarrett Creek. A
Deadly Affair at Bobtail Ridge will
be an April release. Learn more about Terry and her books at her website.
Humor in Novels
I’m going
to Bouchercon (the world’s largest mystery fan conference) in a couple of
weeks, and will be moderating a panel on humor in mysteries. To prepare for it,
I’ve been reading books by my five panelists—Sue Ann Jaffarian, Melodie
Campbell, Diana Killan, Sharon Fiffer and Helen Smith. What strikes me about
the books is how individual “humor” is. Some of it is witty, some is zany, and
some dark. All of which got me thinking about humor in crime fiction. Even the
darkest crime fiction has moments of levity. (Okay, I’m not sure that’s true of
Joe Nesbo, but everybody else does). So where does the humor come from? What
makes it funny?
All of us
do clueless things at one time or another. I think an important source of humor
is getting to laugh at characters who take cluelessness to extremes. Either
watching the characters being unable to stop themselves from making disastrous
mistakes, or hearing a character comment on that kind of behavior makes
situations funny.
Next week
I’ll be doing a reading at BookPeople in Texas from my latest Samuel Craddock
novel, Dead Broke in Jarrett Creek,
along with writer Rob Brunet, whose book is entitled Stinking Rich. (Pretty clever—dead broke vs. stinking rich.) I
think the contrast between the two books illustrates what I’m talking about.
Rob’s book
is snicker-out-loud funny; his characters are the dregs of society who have no
impulse control—and don’t see any reason to have any. Brunet’s characters are my
ex-chief-of police Samuel Craddock’s worst nightmare. Brunet’s characters get
into endless trouble because they have no introspection or self-knowledge. They
are egotistical and clueless. And funny. You end up rooting for them because you
can’t help feeling sorry for them.
In a lot of
humor the element of surprise is a driving factor. In Brunet’s book, he does
the opposite of surprise. He sets up a scene, lets the reader know exactly what
he’s up to, then pokes you in the side and says, “Watch this.” I found myself
giggling in anticipation, knowing that poor Perko or Buzz or Billy were getting
themselves into awful trouble, and knowing that they were completely helpless
against their own worst impulses.
In contrast,
Samuel Craddock has a sense of irony that allows him to see people’s foibles as
funny and in internal dialogue he often comments to himself on those foibles. Here’s
an example: In Dead Broke in Jarrett
Creek Angel Bright, a washed-up country and western singer, is surrounded
by her middle-aged fans. “I don’t know how y’all recognized me,” she says.
Samuel notes to himself that Angel is wearing a shirt with her name spelled out
in sequins so she’d be hard to miss. His internal commentary is like sitting
with a friend you can laugh with about people’s foibles.
Humor isn’t
always easy to come up with, and I’m looking forward to talking about this with
my panelists to find out their insights into what makes their books funny!
Dead Broke in Jarrett Creek
Jarrett Creek is bankrupt. Gary
Dellmore, heir apparent to the main bank, is dead, apparently murdered.
Samuel Craddock thought he was retired but now he's been asked to return
as police chief. Dellmore supposedly had a roving eye, although his wife says
he was never serious about dallying. Still, Craddock wonders: Did the husbands
and fathers of women he flirted with think he was harmless? What about his
current lover, who insists that Dellmore was going to leave his wife for
her?
Craddock discovers that
Dellmore had a record of bad business investments. Even worse, he took a
kickback from a loan he procured, which ultimately drove the town into
bankruptcy. Many people had motive to want Dellmore dead.
Then the investigation turns up
another crime. As Craddock digs down to the root of this mess, many in Jarrett
Creek are left wondering what happened to the innocence of their close-knit
community.
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7 comments:
Look forward to Terry's new book! Thelma Straw in Manhattan
Enjoyed reading your post, Terry. Have fun in Austin at Book People. It's one on my favorite bookstores.
$310Terry, your comment about characters “not being introspective” struck a chord. That’s what drives a lot of the humor in my Aggie Mundeen mysteries. In a situation primed for disaster, the characters, being who they are, react in humorous ways. My earlier suspense novel was serious, but humor kept popping through. Aggie had a lot to do with that. When she insisted I write a series about her, I discovered she attracted a slew of over-the-top friends. Thanks to you and Lois for a good article!
Enjoyed your post. Best wishes with your book!
I love your series, Terry, and I enjoy the varied methods authors use to incorporate humor in their mysteries. I tend to look at experiences that my daughter would term "mishaps" as just another funny story and I think that's reflected in my series. See you next week!
There's nothing I enjoy more than a book that can, at the very least, leave me with a smile. Laughter is even better. Wish I could be there to see the panel. Have a great time!
Marja McGraw
Some of my favorite bits of humor is "observational." Characters observing their own quirks in sarcastic ways. Having worked in TV news for many years, I'm also especially fond of dark humor.
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