On Reading Crime Series, Bosch et alia.

13 November 2023

 

Warm day today, high 60s F. Very humid. Did one load of laundry. Just stuff that dries no matter how humid it is. Walked 1.67 miles this morning at a pace that was faster than 3 mph.  Have a couple more walks to do before bed. Bought a Christmas tree topper These are the easy things to identify and list. I have not checked my email or the news. My stomach can't handle it yet.

 

For the longest time I have not been reading.  In the early part of last week, I decided to ease back into it. For me when I want to start reading in earnest again I begin with a crime novel, or a police procedural if you like. Picked up a stand-alone book by a gentleman who writes tons of crime series. The book was The 6:20 Man by David Baldacci. And then I finished four more Baldacci books, the John Puller series. And then much to my surprise I found a Bosch book I had not yet discovered. My iPad is earning its keep right now.

 

I think reading these crime novels is a throwback to the time when I was a kid and math was still interesting. I mean for me the idea that there are immutable facts like 1 + 2 = 3 was a very comforting one. To some extent crime novels are like math formulas.  If the gun is of a certain caliber, and if the bullet came from the gun, and once we are able to identify the fingerprints as belonging to that guy, he did it. Immutable. But in reality crime novels are more akin to further advanced math problems with a number of variables and we are told to solve for whatever =x. There is much mental fun in making logical leaps when diving into these trashy tales.

 

Crime novels have an order of operations.  From my experience it runs like this: 

 

Identify there is a crime as opposed to self-harm or misadventure. Identify the crime's nature.  Focus on the obvious suspect with the help of a neighbor, or that guy in the crowd who offers only two words, points and disappears. Rule out the principal suspect due to DNA or an unknown hair on the murder weapon. Have the investigator put in mortal peril only to be saved by either a.) a burgeoning love interest or b.) a fellow investigator who hates the hero but is committed to truth and justice. Have the investigator come back to “the basics,” or “reread the file.” When he or she looks at the crime scene crowd shot photo and sees that guy in the crowd who said two words the mental light turns on. This is telegraphed to the reader by the hero's thought of, ‘If he just got there how did he know about the frozen banana found in the victims colon?’ Finally comes the mad dash to stop the perp before there is another crime and another victim. Tragedy is averted and the criminal is caught or killed. Bruised and battered, there is an implication that the hero and the love interest or the former despised coworker have a long future together.

 

When I finish the Bosch story I have to move on to some serious literature. Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending is next in the queue. Don’t know the story, but it is a Booker Prize winner. Usually, I enjoy reading either the actual Booker winner or another book by the author who penned the winner. Can’t let the mind atrophy. Plus I’ve got time.