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Celebrity Sleuths
161 Plays2 years ago
Can you imagine a famous singer solving crimes? Or a former president and vice president? Brook and Sarah discuss this fun sub-genre of mystery fiction featuring real celebrities. Listen to find out who they would write as their own celebrity sleuths.
Books and authors mentioned
Hope Never Dies: An Obama Biden Mystery (2018) Andrew Shaffer
White House Pantry Murder (1987) Elliott Roosevelt (featuring Eleanor Roosevelt)
Pale Blue Eye (2003) Louis Bayard
The Windsor Knot (2020) S.J. Bennet
Magpie Murders (2016) Anthony Horowitz
Laura Ingalls Wilder
For more information
Instagram: @cluedinmystery
Contact us: hello@cluedinmystery.com
Music: Signs To Nowhere by Shane Ivers – www.silvermansound.com
Transcript
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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, Sarah. It's that day of the week again when we get to chat about our favorite topic, mysteries. I know. It is my favorite day of the week. I know. Mine too.
Why Are Celebrities as Detectives Appealing?
00:00:30
Speaker
And today we are going to be talking about celebrity sleuths. Yes. Yes. And I'll just start us out with a little summary here.
00:00:40
Speaker
In a recent episode of Clued in Mystery, Sarah and I discussed novels where the amateur sleuth is or was a real life author. We discovered that these titles drew us in because of the fact we already felt a connection to or had an understanding of who that main character was. There was built an interest for us as readers to follow along with the author's sleuth to unravel a mystery.
00:01:04
Speaker
Not only authors have been put in the role of detective. Real-life celebrities, politicians, and historical figures have been fictionalized to act as sleuths as well. And similarly, this notion is very attractive.
00:01:20
Speaker
face it. We read People magazine or watch tabloid news shows because we're interested in famous people's lives behind the scenes. What could be more interesting to mystery fans than to accompany one of these already popular people on the hunt for a killer or missing treasure?
Parody vs Serious Celebrity Detective Stories
00:01:39
Speaker
Some of the titles we'll discuss today border on parody or fan fiction rather than being serious attempts at detective stories. And listeners will remember that parody is an imitation of an art form or style with deliberate exaggeration in order to create a comedic effect.
00:01:58
Speaker
And fan fiction is a story written by a fan of a character or series to expand the story or place those characters in new inventive situations. Interestingly, there is likely a mystery with one of your favorite famous people in the lead role.
Historical Figures as Fictional Detectives
00:02:17
Speaker
To prove this, here is a list of real life figures that we've found fictionalized as detectives.
00:02:26
Speaker
Benjamin Franklin, Jane Austen, Clara Claremont, who was Lord Byron's mistress, Abraham Lincoln, American explorer Matthew Henson, Barack Obama and Joe Biden as sidekicks, of course, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe,
00:02:49
Speaker
NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton, Taylor Swift, Groucho Marx, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Steve Allen, who was a comedian and radio personality in the 1960s, Nellie Bly, famous female reporter, Abigail Adams,
00:03:11
Speaker
Sir John Fielding, who was the founder of the first police force in London, Ernest Hemingway, Elvis Presley, Beatrix Potter, WC Fields, and last but not least, the Queen of England herself, Queen Elizabeth II.
00:03:29
Speaker
So you see, if there is a famous figure that you're especially interested in, I would do a bit of investigation if I were you. A mystery writer just may have reimagined them as a sleuth.
Authors and Celebrities as Sleuths
00:03:42
Speaker
Sarah and I both read a selection from this subgenre, and we'll talk about our experiences today.
00:03:48
Speaker
But I'm wondering why authors and readers find this concept so interesting. In the authors as sleuths category, there was a more obvious connection for me. A bookish literary connection at the least. And then of course some of those authors, take Agatha Christie for example, were mystery fiction authors themselves.
00:04:09
Speaker
But when we get into political figures and pop stars, why is placing them in a mystery such a tantalizing idea? And I will admit that I'd like to sample several more of those on that list. So let's talk about it, Sarah. What do you like about this category?
00:04:25
Speaker
Thanks Brooke, that was a really great introduction. And I'd come across some of the names on your list, but not all of them.
Excelling Celebrities Solving Mysteries
00:04:35
Speaker
For me, I think it's, I love the idea of these celebrities not only excelling at whatever they're known for, so whether it's politics,
00:04:44
Speaker
being a royal, singing, but also solving mysteries. I think we build celebrities up in our minds as these super people, right? And so why wouldn't they also be able to solve mysteries?
00:05:03
Speaker
Yeah, I think you're right. Yeah, they are so excellent in whatever their field is that it makes you think, well, heck, they could probably solve a mystery too. And because of those special skills that they have, I know that that showed up in the title that I read this week, that then maybe that can become part of their toolbox as a sleuth.
00:05:30
Speaker
Well, exactly. And you think of the setup certainly for Mystery Series, where there's some situation that the sleuth finds themselves in where there's a body or some other mysterious circumstance. The life of a celebrity, someone who's traveling a lot, who's in different locations, meeting lots of different people, that seems like a really
00:05:56
Speaker
easy entry into that kind of mystery scenario.
00:06:04
Speaker
Yeah, that's a great point. And they also have all the resources at their fingertips, right? You know, if they need to get on a jet and fly across the country or they need a specialist, they probably know of someone or could afford to employ someone's specialty. So yeah, it makes it really
Fascination with Celebrity Lives and Mysteries
00:06:24
Speaker
fun. And like I said at the top, I think that we are so intrigued and we found this with the authors as well. We want
00:06:30
Speaker
to know what's going on in the background of these people's lives. We like to know what they do on the weekend and what they eat when they go out to dinner. And so it's this idea of what if this was happening in their personal life that they were also solving these mysteries. Totally. And the other thing that I think about is there's lots of books where the sleuth is
00:06:56
Speaker
fictional but is a celebrity, right? Or someone who's well known. And so it's kind of logical to think, okay, well, if we extend that and we say, well, let's put a real person in that
00:07:11
Speaker
in that scenario, right? But I think there's a risk, like you mentioned in the introduction, there's a risk of kind of crossing that line into fan fiction or parody because we don't really know what their lives are like. And
00:07:30
Speaker
I read the first book about Obama and Biden as the sleuths. So I'm reading that as a Canadian, and I have some knowledge of US politics and US politicians, but they're not my politicians. But I definitely felt like it was
00:07:51
Speaker
very close to that line of fan fiction, you know, trying to imagine what that relationship between the two of them was like. And there was a lot about Biden that I didn't know that came through in this book, and I don't know how much of that was based in truth or based in the author's imaginings.
00:08:14
Speaker
Yeah. Well, and even just the cover, right? Um, you know, you have this like Obama and Biden crime fighters feel to it. So even the cover gives it just a little bit of that parody feel. Um, but I, I experienced some of the same because I chose to read, um, the Eleanor Roosevelt as sleuth, uh,
00:08:37
Speaker
It's written by Elliot Roosevelt in the title I read. There's a series, and the title I read was The White House Pantry Murder. I started thinking the same thing, like how much of this is true?
00:08:50
Speaker
There are events that get talked about in the story, and so I dug a little bit. There is a lot of true references to some of the things that they underwent. This one is set right at the entry of the U.S. in World War II, and Churchill is a side character.
00:09:13
Speaker
One thing that I was struck by is that I expected this sub-genre or category to be really similar to our authors as sleuths. But what I didn't anticipate
Real Events in Celebrity Sleuth Narratives
00:09:25
Speaker
is that it has some overlay with our continuing the story episode because of the research and the reference to real life events and kind of that adding to the legend of a person. There's a crossover there as well.
00:09:42
Speaker
Oh yeah, interesting. Maybe that was demonstrated more in the Roosevelt book because it wasn't quite as of a parody leaning. It was done as more of a serious detective fiction. And so maybe that is why I felt that way because there were definite references to historical events. They would say things that you know that they've been quoted in history of saying and things like that.
00:10:11
Speaker
And that brings up a really good point, Brooke, in terms of which celebrities have been written about as sleuths. Because you think about the immediate appeal of someone who is a celebrity right now. And people are familiar with them, right?
00:10:33
Speaker
Um, but if their popularity fades with time, the appeal of that book may also dwindle, right?
Choosing Historical Celebrities for Detective Stories
00:10:41
Speaker
I'm thinking about, um, the, the series that you mentioned, uh, or sorry, I'm thinking about the, the, um, the person you mentioned, Steve Allen. So that character or that, that series of books is likely to have a limited appeal to anybody who's, I don't know, younger than 50.
00:11:02
Speaker
Um, and so that hook doesn't really work as well, right? Because that I hadn't ever heard of him. Um, and I wonder, you know, how, unless that celebrity is, you know, legendary, um, and I'm trying to think, well, I guess like the queen, um,
00:11:28
Speaker
If you were writing that a series using a celebrity as a sleuth, you'd have to be really careful, I think, about choosing who your celebrity was if you wanted to have longevity in that series, unless you chose someone who is historical and continues to have some relevance or some resonance now. Right. And there, I think, is where we
00:11:57
Speaker
borderline on fan fiction, right? And when you're talking about fan fiction, the author isn't necessarily wanting to market to the masses, they're wanting to reach other fans. And I thought of that definitely with the NBA star that I listed and then Steve Allen, the talk show and comedian.
00:12:18
Speaker
If you aren't already a fan of those people, you're probably not going to be interested. But I'm sure they're fun. I'm sure they're a really fun ride. Yeah, totally. And like you, I am definitely going to read some others in this subgenre.
00:12:40
Speaker
if for no other reason than to just see how someone else is imagining a celebrity's life to be. Yeah, exactly. Well, and you will not be surprised in the least that I am interested in reading The Pale Blue Eye, which puts Poe as a detective sidekick. The premise is he's a young cadet at West Point, which we know Poe actually did attend West Point.
00:13:08
Speaker
And as this young cadet, he helps a detective investigate a series of murders. And I would like to read this. The novel came out in 2003, apparently written by Louis Bayard, but Netflix is going to create this into a film. And I believe that it's going to release in January, 2023. So it would be fun to read the novel first. And I really like the idea of, and here we're overlaying that author celebrity once again,
00:13:37
Speaker
the idea of Poe as a young person helping with these series of investigations. And then how did that, you imagine, how did that influence his becoming a Gothic mystery author himself? Yeah, totally. And maybe that's why that author is sleuth category works really well. If we're still reading their work,
00:14:06
Speaker
right? And so there's that they've retained that presence in kind of our minds, right? And so, you know, I mean, I love reading the author notes at the end of books, and I often will visit an author's website to just learn a little bit more about them, right? And so, you know, I think that's part of the appeal of even the celebrity sleuths, right?
The Appeal of Author Notes
00:14:35
Speaker
It's that
00:14:36
Speaker
Yes, I know it's a fictional imagination or a fictional imagining of their life. But if, as you say, if like you're a real fan of someone, it's definitely appealing to read a little bit more and kind of imagine what that what their life might be like.
00:14:55
Speaker
Mm hmm. Definitely. So I have read both of the books in S.J. Bennett's series, and that's the series where Queen Elizabeth is the sleuth. And I love them. I think it's such a it's such a wonderful, wonderful premise. This the idea that while she was the queen, she was also
00:15:20
Speaker
managing investigations into mysteries. It's just so brilliant.
00:15:27
Speaker
Absolutely. Yeah. And, um, coincidentally enough, the Windsor knot was, uh, showed up in my inbox this morning for a promo. And I thought, how perfect is this? The SJ Bennett book shows up on the day that we're talking about this. So those, uh, this trope, if you want to think of it, that is, is very popular.
Fictionalizing Personal Celebrity Choices
00:15:49
Speaker
So Sarah, if you were going to fictionalize a real life person and put them in the role of sleuth, who would you choose?
00:15:57
Speaker
Oh, this is a good question, Brooke. I think maybe I'd go super meta and I would choose Angela Lansbury and I would have her investigating crimes while she was filming Murder, She Wrote. Oh my gosh, I love this. I love this. And Anthony Horowitz would be really proud of this idea, Sarah.
00:16:21
Speaker
It has a very magpie murders feel to it. Yeah, totally. He's put himself as the sleuth. And we talked about this in the author's sleuth episode, where he's written himself as the investigator in one of his series. So yeah, he's already done a pretty meta version of this.
00:16:46
Speaker
Definitely. But your idea is fantastic. And I imagine how popular that could be, because let's face it, the Murder She Wrote fandom is immense. You only have to poke around a little bit on social media to find lots and lots of fans of this.
00:17:06
Speaker
And I imagine how much fun that could be for fans of not just Angela Lansbury, but the show Murder She Wrote. I mean, this could be a whole franchise, Sarah. I think you should go for it.
00:17:22
Speaker
Thanks, Rick. What about you? Okay. So I think that I would choose, um, this is kind of, I was thinking about the Taylor Swift girl detective, um, title that we discovered in our research and I'm taking it back to Nancy Drew of the 1800s. I want to have Laura Ingalls Wilder pioneer girl detective.
00:17:46
Speaker
Oh, I love it. Yes. I think that could be really fun. That was one of my favorite television series growing up. But of course, Laura Ingalls Wilder is an actual person. She wrote her series about pioneer life based on her own life. And so I think that she needs to solve some crimes in Walnut Grove.
00:18:08
Speaker
Oh, yeah, I think that would be great. Yeah. I mean, I think there's so many people that could be chosen. I do think if I were to do this, I would do like the idea of choosing someone who historically is significant.
00:18:24
Speaker
Yeah. It's like what you mentioned earlier that their notoriety will be enduring either because there's somebody that you study in history class or they've just reached that legendary level such as Mozart. He's not going away. I think you're right. You need to pick someone who is enduring.
00:18:47
Speaker
Well, this episode is scheduled to release the week of Thanksgiving here in the U.S.
Gratitude and Podcast Reflections
00:18:52
Speaker
And on that note, I would just like to express how immensely thankful I am, Sarah, that you invited me to join you in this endeavor to begin Clued in Mystery just about a year ago. And we've accomplished a lot together, met some amazing authors and other mystery fans, and I can't wait to see what the future brings for our partnership.
00:19:13
Speaker
Well, thank you, Brooke. I was reflecting on something similar because it was about a year ago that we decided to do this and it's been a great year and I too look forward to continuing to see what great things we're going to do.
00:19:31
Speaker
I know I can't wait. So, Brooke, thanks. This has been another really great conversation. I think we've we've got a couple of other celebrity sleuths we can we
Conclusion and Invitation to Listeners
00:19:41
Speaker
can read. I think I'm going to see if I can track down the Taylor Swift one because I think that that sounds like so much fun.
00:19:46
Speaker
Yeah, that looks great. And I hope we've inspired some of you to look up some of your most favorite famous people to see if they have been cast as the sleuth. But for today, thank you for listening to Clued in Mystery. I'm Brooke. And I'm Sarah. And we both love mystery.
00:20:05
Speaker
Clued In Mystery is produced by Brooke Peterson and Sarah M. Stephen. Music is by Shane Ivers at Silvermansound.com. Visit us online at CluedInMystery.com or social media at CluedInMystery. If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or telling your friends.