This week: Just a peaceful small town Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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Quote for the week: Even if you live in a big city, everybody lives in a small town. We identify ourselves by our neighborhoods--'I live in the Village, or in Chelsea.'
~Karin Slaughter |
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How big is the town where you live? If you are from a small town, you might think you know everything that goes on there, but chances are that is not true. Every town has its secrets. People might go to greater lengths to hide potentially damaging information in a town where everybody knows everybody else's business.
If you are from a large city, the area where you live might also have a small town dynamic. Many neighborhoods in larger cities are like small towns themselves. We often think of people in small towns as being sheltered and naive, but some city people have never been out of their city neighborhood in their lives. In some cases, an apartment building or office might also function like a small town.
Some mystery writers manage to make their small town settings inviting even in the midst of a murder investigation or other serious crime. In some stories, the town or location is almost like a character itself. Two of my favorite fictional mystery towns are Sinful, Louisiana in Jana Deleon's Miss Fortune series and Three Pines, Quebec in Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series. I'd love to move to either one of these towns in spite of the bad things that always seem to happen around them.
Small towns and villages are effective settings for mysteries because they are often deceptively quiet and peaceful. Secret business dealings, illicit love affairs, and murder plots are unexpected in an idyllic setting, even though people are people no matter where they live.
Since personalities and relationships between characters are so important in a small town mystery setting, make sure they are well developed in your mind before you get too far with the story. Do you want the detective or other investigator to be a resident of the small town or someone who comes from outside? A resident might have the advantage of knowing the people and the area, but an outsider might actually do better because they don't know those things. For example, a resident might assume incorrectly that someone they have known all their lives is either innocent or guilty depending on their history. In a small, close knit town, it might be difficult for a long time resident to be impartial enough to investigate a crime.
Something to try: Make up a small town in your mind and fill it with characters. What are their jobs, relationships, and personalities? When your characters are developed, give them a mystery to solve.
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Mystery: December 16, 2020 Issue [#10517]
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