The truth is in there somewhere

[John Dean]

I recently gave a talk as part of Darlington Arts Festival, during National Crime Reading Month, in which I observed that crime writers offer a reflection of the world in which they live.

I have always believed that writing is a deeply personal pastime and you can see that in the themes that many crime writers select as backdrops for their stories.

Everything that influences my view of the real world, for example, is reflected in my crime fiction. For instance, city-based DCI John Blizzard is conscious of ageing (I am much nearer sixty than fifty!) ponders the impact of industrial decay on society, and thinks a lot about the world which his child will inherit.

Countryside-based DCI Jack Harris, on the other hand, thinks about the way society treats its wildlife and the impact of isolation on the communities he serves (as someone who lives on a hillside it is something about which I am acutely conscious).

The novels may be fiction but there’s truth in there somewhere.