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| Author C. L. Swinney |
Author
C. L. Swinney Is Keeping It Real:
I was a reader far
before I became a writer. I read quickly
and often finish a book in a day or two.
My favorites are mystery, suspense, and thrillers. But, I’ve got a bone to pick with crime
scenes portrayed in many of these books today. I see many people get poor reviews for their
work because they make a crucial mistake when writing about a crime scene.
First, I’ll add my
“expertise” in this topic. I’m currently
a homicide/ narcotics detective, been so for five years, and I’ve been in law
enforcement for almost fifteen years.
I’ve investigated everything from street level drug dealers to cartel
leaders. I’ve wiretapped people’s phones
and listened to things that would make your blood boil. My point, I know what a cop, investigator,
detective, fireman, coroner, evidence tech, and all other folks would or should
do at a crime scene because I’ve been to hundreds of them and investigated most
of them.
Here are my tips:
A)
A clever girlfriend/reporter/significant
other that happens to be dating your protagonist wouldn’t walk through a crime
scene, manipulate evidence, then walk out without being handcuffed and stuffed
in a patrol car. Crime scenes are sacred
grounds, you do things like this in a novel and people who know what should
really happen will find it hard to believe.
This attacks your credibility. I
get fiction “isn’t real,” but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be believable.
B)
Every single element and
angle of a crime scene is labeled, photographed, cataloged, processed,
photographed again, and collected. In
major scenes, evidence technicians will do this, not a beat cop. If you want to use the beat cop, you need to
explain (or better yet, show) why s/he is doing it instead of the expert. Readers of suspense, thriller, and mystery
novels are educated and find it misleading when an author cuts out some or most
of these steps. If the evidence scene
isn’t important, take it out all together.
C)
Within the yellow lines
of a crime scene, the atmosphere is somber and the people working are
focused. Too many books have people
smoking and joking next to a dead body.
A real law enforcement official wouldn’t do that. Investigating tragedy and death is not a
funny matter. We take it very seriously
and owe it to the victim to remain professional.
D)
When writing a crime
scene, stick to common sense actions or feelings by your characters. For instance, don’t have a hardened detective
whose “seen it all” pass out or freak out when s/he sees something bizarre at a
crime scene. Most cops with any time on
have “seen it all.” Experienced cops
have been through hairy situations causing them to digest bizarre, gross,
heinous, whatever you want to throw at them with ease. I don’t even blink when I see that kind of
stuff. It’s sad really, but it’s also
the truth. If you want to say your
character is shocked or caught off guard, show why that is. Detective
X’s faced turned white as the coroner lifted the sheet revealing his brother.
I am a fiction writer but I spend a lot of time
trying to make the overwhelming majority of what I write realistic. I feel it adds to the story and I owe it to
the reader to take pride in my craft. So
please, when you want to include a crime scene in your novels, make an effort
to avoid the pitfalls I’ve listed above. I think you will find your story will be
better and people will talk about how you nailed it!
While on a fly
fishing vacation to Andros Island in the Bahamas, narcotics detectives Dix and
Peterson discover their fishing guides were killed when a sudden blast of
gunfire fractured their speedboat, Gray Ghost. Local gossip has it that Gray
Ghost went to the ocean floor with a hundred million dollars worth of cocaine
in the hull. Dix and Peterson are drawn into helping their island friends, and
chase down leads in Miami as well as the Bahamas until they identify the
diabolical plot of the man known only as The Caller…and then the trouble really
starts.
"When two Miami
narcotic officers take a fishing trip to the Bahamas, they can't leave the drug
world behind...Deftly told by the author, detective and avid fly fisher Chris
Swinney, this book will hook any reader of mystery fiction." —Sunny
Frazier, author of the Christy Bristol Astrology Mysteries
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