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Literature and Mystery
8 Plays12 minutes ago
In today's episode, Brook and Sarah discuss mysteries that draw on characters and authors we know from literature.
Discussed and mentioned
The Riddle of the Disappearing Dickens (2020) Alan Nolan
The Brontë Sisters Mysteries (2019–present) Bella Ellis
Jane Eyre Mysteries by Joanna Campbell Slan
The Tale of Hilltop Farm (2004) Susan Wittig Albert
(Book 1 of The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter)
Death Comes to Pemberley (2011) P.D. James
A Tale of Two Murders (2023) Heather Redmond
(Book 1 of the Dickens of a Crime series)
Related episodes
Continuing the Story (released October 25, 2022)
Author as Sleuth (released October 4, 2022)
For more information
Instagram: @cluedinmystery
Contact us: hello@cluedinmystery.com
Music: Signs To Nowhere by Shane Ivers – www.silvermansound.com
Sign up for our newsletter: https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle/
Order Life or Delft by Brook and Sarah
For a full episode transcript, visit https://cluedinmystery.com/literature-and-mystery/
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Clued in Mystery'
00:00:10
Speaker
Welcome to Clued in Mystery. I'm Sarah. And I'm Brooke, and we both love mystery. hi Brooke. Hi,
Iconic Characters and Authors as Sleuths
00:00:20
Speaker
Sarah. It's once again our favorite day of the week where we get to talk about mysteries together.
00:00:27
Speaker
And today we get to talk about literature and mysteries. So I'm very much looking forward to this.
00:00:35
Speaker
Well, there's a special corner of the mystery genre that feels a little like stepping inside a favorite old bookshop. You might call these literary mysteries, mysteries that feature iconic literary characters, famous authors, or the worlds of classic novels themselves.
00:00:54
Speaker
These stories invite us to imagine a tantalizing question. What if beloved authors or their famous characters were amateur sleuths? their comfort reads, and intellectual puzzles all at once, merging the pleasure of classic literature with the irresistible pull of a good whodunit.
00:01:16
Speaker
It's like expanding familiar fictional worlds by adding secrets, danger, and deduction. Part of the joy comes from recognition, rewarding true fans of the original stories with extra storylines and references to special details close readers will understand.
00:01:35
Speaker
In this episode, we'll discuss what makes these lit mysteries so satisfying, how they honor their fictional roots, and we'll also mention some great examples of this subgenre.
Authors vs. Characters as Detectives
00:01:47
Speaker
So let's get into it. Tell me, Sarah, which do you like better, reading about a classic literary character as the sleuth or when the classic author themselves solves the mysteries?
00:02:01
Speaker
So I think this is a really good question, Brooke, because often I don't know a lot about the author behind the literature. And so when they feature in a mystery, we often get a little bit about their lives. And so it is an opportunity to get to know them a bit better.
Literary Mysteries vs. Continuation Stories
00:02:20
Speaker
But there is something really special about this imagining of beloved characters' lives after their original story ends. So these are a blend a little bit, I think of a continuation story, um author as sleuth, right? Which we've, and we've talked about both of those before, but I think this is a separate category on its own because it's not, you know, a modern day author as sleuth or a, um, uh,
00:02:57
Speaker
you know, a lot of those author as sleuth, it's a fictional character that is that is the author as sleuth. And I think these are these are slightly different.
Genre Fiction vs. Classic Literature
00:03:07
Speaker
So I don't know. It's it's a good question. what is your What is your preference, Brooke, the author or the characters? go back and forth, like you say, because there are there are good things about each of it. I do really enjoy...
00:03:24
Speaker
when the author is the sleuth, because it feels like you're kind of getting these behind the scene little ah winks and nods about where their ideas might've come from. And, but you mentioned though, if you don't know a lot about the author, then it might not be as meaningful.
00:03:42
Speaker
I think about some of the stories where, for instance, Agatha Christie is portrayed as the sleuth and she's, um you know, you and I know a lot about her background because we've covered her a lot on the the podcast, but that's a different category. And so when you think about some of the actual classic authors, Dickens, Bronte, Jane Austen, we don't necessarily know a lot about their background. So some of those little nuggets that the author could drop in might not be as meaningful to us. um
00:04:18
Speaker
Anyway, it's still fun to imagine when you're reading those stories about like how they how their real life experiences influenced and, you know, maybe they had some chance encounter with were brushed with danger that ah influenced their stories.
00:04:36
Speaker
Well, and you you bring up an interesting point, Brooke, about Chrystia's sleuth being a different category. And i I think that that's because her books fall into a different category than the other authors that you mentioned, right? Right.
00:04:53
Speaker
I don't know if anybody would consider Agatha Christie to be classic literature. Definitely classic mystery, but not what we think of when we think of literature, right? We think of the authors that you mentioned, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte. Yes.
00:05:12
Speaker
Those are classic literature. um And when they are the sleuths, then I think that's the literature and mystery. with If it's k Christie as the sleuth, or we've talked in previous episodes about Sherlock continuation stories, and there's some really like...
00:05:32
Speaker
What I would consider really well written books that feature Sherlock later in his life as, um you know, continuing to be an investigator, but I'm not sure I would categorize those in this sub genre.
00:05:49
Speaker
you agree? I agree. Like when we put that literature ah term on there, um i mean, you have to think about who did you, who were you, was required reading in high school and perhaps college.
00:06:03
Speaker
And we sadly were never assigned k Christie or Conan Doyle. I mean, that's just not the way the world
Factual and Fictional Storytelling Blends
00:06:12
Speaker
works because they aren't considered literature. They're genre fiction.
00:06:16
Speaker
And I just want to make it clear that I think Christie and Doyle and any author that is considered to be genre fiction, because that's what you and I are also considered, I think they are just as good. And, you know, we have talked before about that label genre fiction. And, you know, I think um I think Doyle pushed back against that. Right. He didn't want to continue writing Sherlock because he felt like he was better than genre fiction. which, you know, there's a lot that comes with that label. But you're right, we're talking about those books that are required reading in certainly in in North America, as um kids are going through through school, they read a bit of Dickens, they read Bronte, they I don't remember if I read any Austen in school or not, but um certainly would would include that under that umbrella. But I mean, you could probably argue that Austen is genre fiction. It's it's romance. Yeah.
00:07:25
Speaker
For sure. She's like probably one of the beginning romance authors, right? And that's an interesting conversation too, Sarah. And I think we're tipping into what could be an entire episode of comparing genre fiction and its qualities and importance with quote unquote literature. But um I will say it would be interesting to see in another couple of generations what is considered classic literature. And maybe we will see some of those people because certainly, as you say, those people weren't necessarily considered literature in their time. So things wax and wane, don't they, depending on the the era?
00:08:07
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:08:11
Speaker
So, Brooke, do you have some examples that you wanted to share?
Challenges in Maintaining Original Style
00:08:17
Speaker
Yes, I was thinking about um the Bronte sisters mysteries, which is a series that I referenced several seasons ago. And I can't remember if it was on a TBR list or another topic, but this puts the Bronte sisters in the position of sleuths. And they're all three of them are in the stories together, which makes it a lot of fun. There are a lot of factual details um about their lives and their literary works, which, you know, is a great example of what we've talked about, about why why these are fun stories. Yeah.
00:08:55
Speaker
Oh, so that that sounds nice to get a little bit of insight into their lives, because yeah I certainly don't know a lot about Bronte sisters. And just thinking about them, i for this episode, started reading a series by Joanna Campbell-Slan. So it features Jane Eyre as the sleuth. And Jane, of course, is the creation of Charlotte Bronte.
00:09:21
Speaker
That's fascinating. So there we have an example of each of those types we were talking about, either the famous character or the classic author. And, you know, these much beloved stories and then their authors have...
00:09:37
Speaker
like there are probably others, authors who have taken that on and, and carried it on because people just love them. And it's just such great, um, a great starting point. And that was one of the things I was thinking is that, um, either as a reader or an author, when you pick one of these up, you're not starting from zero. You have like a little bit of background, you know, who the characters are, you know,
00:10:01
Speaker
what Jane Eyre is like but if you have read those stories. And so I think that that is almost a shortcut. um Not that it makes it easy, though, for an author, because another thing that they're doing is they're not only just writing a mystery, which is hard enough, but they're also in a sense trying to sound like the original author And make it convincing that you're, like you were mentioning before, that it's a continuation. And that would be super tricky. So they are really, that when it's done right, I really have to tip my hat to them.
00:10:37
Speaker
Absolutely, Brooke. like it These authors are setting themselves up for quite a challenge because there are very fierce fans of these classic works who will happily, I'm sure, pick apart where you have strayed from the original story or the the way that the character is portrayed in the original story. So yeah, I think, I think these authors have, you know set themselves a really unique,
00:11:12
Speaker
opportunity if they if they do it well, like you said, but there are some constraints that they have to be um they have to be thinking about. For sure. What I'm reading currently is ah The Tale of Hilltop Farm, and this is the first book in Susan Whitting Albert's series called The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter. And in this cozy series, the author fictionalizes The Adventures of Beatrix Potter as Sleuth. And ah as we were saying, like to imitate, I guess is the word to use the style and the way Beatrix Potter stories would sound and be written. She includes the animals. Beatrix Potter had you know a pet hedgehog, a pet bunny. ah you know She kept animals and they were both the models for her drawings, but also then she would watch their mannerisms to write her children's books.
00:12:11
Speaker
And in this contemporary mystery series, the animal characters do speak. to to one another. They don't speak to humans, but they have their own little kind of ongoing thing. And it really feels like you're reading ah Beatrix Potter story and the animals are theorizing and solving the crime in tandem with what's happening in the human world. And it's just, it's really great. She's, she's done a fantastic job.
00:12:39
Speaker
oh That sounds delightful, Brooke. Are the mysteries gentle in the way that the Beatrix Potter stories are gentle? Yes. The human world in this is very, very cozy. um I would say like a British cozy. So we're not in the cute world at all. But um as gentle is a great word for it.
00:13:02
Speaker
The characters speak very eloquently and um you know have a very ah posh way about them, I would say. um As I mentioned, I'm just currently reading it, so I haven't gotten to the solution.
00:13:15
Speaker
But I will mention that you know this is intended for adult readers, although Beatrix Potter books were children's books, because we are dealing with you know a murder investigation. so um Maybe those of us who grew up reading Potter would enjoy kind of this expansion of the storyline. And I personally have a very soft place in my heart for these because I decorated my daughter's nursery in Beatrix Potter characters. So it's been a lot of fun this week reading it.
Modern Literary Mysteries
00:13:47
Speaker
Oh, that's lovely. Yeah.
00:13:51
Speaker
Another book that I would um put in this category, Brooke, is Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James, which we talked about when we profiled her as ah as a modern great. And I think, if I recall, this was the only historical fiction that she wrote.
00:14:12
Speaker
I believe so. Yeah, and that is incredibly popular, isn't it? I mean, there's television adaptations and of course it's Petey James, so it's really well done. Yeah, that's a great example, Sarah.
00:14:31
Speaker
Well, in preparing for today, you know, I was kind of looking around to see what other options there were for reading about classic literature in mysteries. And um I was reminded of a book that I had seen the cover of before. It's A Tale of Two Murders. It's part of a series by Heather Redmond, and it places Dickens in the seat of the sleuth. um And doing some digging, it turns out that Dickens was actually really fascinated by detective work. And of course, this is when they were just starting to like inaugurate the city's first detectives in London. And apparently he was an insomniac. And so he would ride along with these
00:15:19
Speaker
newly minted detectives as they were solving crimes in the middle of the night, which I thought was just really fun. And it reminds me of the type of tidbits you get when you read these type of mysteries. And then and in an article that um from Crime Reads, which is a site that you and I really love to research with, Sarah, they reported that in his novel, Bleak House, the character of Inspector Bucket was apparently based on one of these city's first detectives. And knowing that he apparently rode around and kind of picked their brains a little bit, it it kind of holds true that that's a possibility, although he did deny it.
00:16:02
Speaker
Mm-hmm. ah That's super interesting. And um if I recall, ah it was the Dickens publication that Wilkie Collins work appeared in.
00:16:13
Speaker
Right. So maybe that speaks to his interest in mystery and what would become ah mystery fiction.
00:16:24
Speaker
Oh, that's fantastic. I hadn't remembered that, but yes, you're right. And then ah speaking of Dickens, Alan Nolan wrote a children's book entitled The Riddle of the Disappearing Dickens. And in this story, young Bram Stoker and Molly Malone solve the mystery of the kidnapped Charles Dickens in 1859 London.
Exploring Unexplored Literary Mysteries
00:16:48
Speaker
I want to get my hands on one of these, Sarah. Oh, that sounds really fun. And yeah, fits in um Perhaps it's not the author is sleuth, but the the author as the victim.
00:17:03
Speaker
Yes. So I think, Brooke, there are lots of examples. I haven't read... um all of them. But, you know, if you think about, you know, we mentioned Jane Austen and and Death Comes to Pemberley as an example from her world, but she wrote a lot of books. And so I imagine that there are other um authors who have picked up where Austen left off and, you know, ah imagined those characters as investigators. And really, like,
00:17:40
Speaker
And a lot of her characters who spend a lot of time observing the world around them, that makes them, I'm sure, excellent sleuths.
00:17:51
Speaker
Definitely. And it reminds me of, um i don't know if it's something Miss Marple says about herself or someone says about her, but that These were a lot of women who would, you know, have to sit quietly in the corner, maybe with their handwork and just observe. and So people in those roles kind of become invisible and they're able to ah pick up on all the little details. And people may not think that they're listening, but they are.
00:18:22
Speaker
Yes, there are lots of different options if this is a subgenre that interests you. um I have not read other characters, but there are Shakespeare murder mysteries, even a series that places Mark Twain as the ah sleuth, which takes us to a whole different era. we We're going to be in the Wild West, I imagine. um And so there are lots of options if you're a fan of classic literature and mystery. I think just doing a little bit of searching and you could probably find a lot of characters or authors in those roles. Well, if our listeners have any suggestions, maybe they can send them to us.
Episode Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:19:05
Speaker
That would be fantastic. Well, thank you, Brooke. It's been really interesting to think about famous literary figures and how they may be involved in mystery.
00:19:17
Speaker
I've loved it, Sarah. It's been another great conversation. And we hope that you enjoyed today's episode too, listeners. But for now, thank you for joining us on Clued in Mystery.
00:19:28
Speaker
I'm Brooke. And I'm Sarah. And we both love mystery. Clued in Mystery is written and produced by Brooke Peterson and Sarah M. Stephen. Music is by Shane Ivers.
00:19:41
Speaker
If you liked what you heard, please consider telling a friend, leaving a review, or subscribing with your favorite podcast listening app. Visit our website to sign up for our newsletter, The Clued in Chronicle, and get mystery news, podcast updates, and bonus episodes.
00:19:55
Speaker
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