I’m nearing the end of a mystery that has me completely riveted. I haven’t been able to put it down for three days now, and I know I’m going to be bummed when I finish.
The title is “A Killing in the Hills” by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Julia Keller. The prose is distinctive and original, the characters intense yet believable, and the story is artfully compelling. But when I analyze why I am so enjoying this book, I have to say, it’s the location. It takes place in a small, poverty-ridden town in West Virginia. Keller paints a grim and sorrowful image of a backwards country town thrown into chaos by a horrifying triple murder.
The idea made me think of other books in which the location kept me turning the page. Peter May’s “The Black House” takes place on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. A forbidding and dark, cold place and perfect for murder. Then there are TV series like “The Killing.” The Killing takes place in Seattle, but somehow the filmmakers managed to film only on days when it was raining — pouring buckets, actually. Bleh.
I guess I have a penchant for dark, cold, wet, poverty-stricken and forbidding places. It seems like crime would be rampant. But crime is pretty darn rampant in Las Vegas and Los Angeles and they’re not exactly dark and cold locations.
I also like big city grit. New York, LA, Chicago but there’s something about small, isolated towns that calls to me. To prove that location is an important factor for me, I’ve tried three of Louise Penny’s books now and really haven’t been thrilled. But I keep trying because they’re set in Québec and I’m fascinated by the area.
I’ve enjoyed the Amish series by Linda Castillo, which takes place in a small town, Painters Mill, in Ohio. Love the backdrop. And Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” Trilogy. I guess I love cold and snow as well as dark, dirty and cold.
Obviously, my feelings about location feed into my own writing. First book, the poverty-stricken tenements of the Lower East Side in NYC, second, the Civil War battlegrounds with its dead and dying, and third, Nazi Germany and France during the occupation. Can’t get much grimmer than that.
How about you? Does location fit prominently in your choice of where to set your stories? Do you pick places that are familiar, or those that are foreign and exotic, so you have to learn about them? A good trick for getting a travel write-off. How do you select the books you read? Does location play a role? Think about it.
Now, lest you think I live in one of these cold, dark, grim places . . . you’d be wrong. I don’t want to live there. I just want to read about them. Jeez, in San Diego, if the sun isn’t out 350 days, I’m depressed.
Hmm, I wonder if Jack the Ripper would have equated our morning marine layer with London fog.
No way is London fog akin to the San Diego marine layer. Born and bred in London myself but now decades in coastal California, I know about both weathers. Jill Schaefer author. http://home.earthlink.net/~schaefer234/
Indeed!
Location is key for me when I’m writing. All my novels have lots of scenes set in the outdoors, preferably forests and woodland. But, thinking about some of my favorite books, I have to admit that when it comes to reading, some times it’s more about the characters, such as Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. But then Dune and Lord of the Rings all have sweeping landscapes that are an important element of the story. I think you’re correct about the location setting the tone and mood though!
I agree.
Location is KEY. I also prefer stories with dreary locations.. For some reason I’m always happier when it rains.. I’m honestly not sure if it’s only because I’m such a contrary person by nature that I can only be truly happy if it’s a rainy crappy day outside and therefore that allows me to give myself permission to be cheerful since no one usually expects anyone to be happy on a rainy day and therefore rainy days make me happier than sunny days because there is no real social pressure to act particularly cheerful on a rainy day in the same way that most people expect everyone else to be in a good mood on sunny days… anywho..
Good thoughts, April. It’s up to the writer to set the stage, both with setting and mood. Being happy on a rainy day says a lot about character — a great way to get to know the character.
Hmm, I actually think the location is of second order. It’s the character’s view on the scenery that makes the difference. Sinister and grim can lurk in sunny San Diego as well, or wherever.
One of my assignments to writers I coach is to write about a funeral of a 8-year old girl while it’s sunny, 85°F, and the setting is a beautiful park, birds singing, crowded with butterflies. Can you write in such a way that I, the reader, feel deserted by God? That I feel the despair and devastation of the parents? Likewise, I ask to write about a wedding ceremony in a cold, dark church on a rainy day in January with only 20 people attending. Can you make me feel happy, despite the grim surroundings?
The whole idea behind these assignments is to write from the character’s perception as this has the effect to draw readers in. The readers become participants in the story, not simply bystanders. To me, that’s one of the secrets of good writing.
Excellent comments, Leonardo. It’s the writer’s job to take a setting and turn it into something contrary to what we expect. That’s a great skill.
I think location is very important. I set one of my mystery series in north central Idaho, where I grew up and where I lived for a number of years as an adult. I know the area, and the people there want to read about their part of the country. My other series is set in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, where I now live. I use fictitious names, but people are constantly trying to figure out where everything is. They feel a connection to the characters and events in the books. Another novel where I think the setting is admirably used as an important part of the mystery is “The Singing Sands” by Josephine Tey.
Hi Florence. Thanks for your comments. The Okanagan Valley sounds intriguing. It’s a bonus if you can find a location that’s both creepy, gritty and even beautiful at times, isn’t it?
I totally agree about the importance of setting, Lynne. I am a sucker for any story set in an unusual location. I love Nevada Barr’s national park settings in books, and in movies I especially like submarines and spaceships, because they add a layer of hazards and suspense not found at the local coffee shop. My own Summer Westin series uses the setting of various wilderness areas (because I’m an outdoor gal and because you can’t call 9-1-1 in the wild and expect to get help soon). And my Neema series uses a mythical gossipy small town in Washington State, crawling with student reporters from the local college, to make life more difficult for my detective and a scientist trying to teach (and understand) a signing gorilla.
Thanks, Pamela. I love outdoor series. Will check yours out. Nevada Barr is a favorite, well, some, anyway. They’re a little fluffy for me. But I do love the settings.
Yes! Location is huge for me. A few years ago we bought a camping trailer. I couldn’t read anything that didn’t take place in a state park for months. I devoured C.J.Box and Navada Barr. I love beach and island stories in the summer and small town or gothic reads in the winter. I’m working on a story that takes place in Laguna Niguel, California among real housewife types. Trying to make sunny So. Cal. creepy is a challenge.
Ha. Laguna Niguel- gritty. I like it. Let me know how it goes. Thanks.
Location takes on the aspect of a character in some fiction. I strive to do this in my novels, which are as much about places as they are about people and a good story. The books mentioned here are now on my TBR, thank you – I love writers who understand how important background is. To make a story “artfully compelling” as you so well put it, one cannot have a story and characters suspended in thin air, they’ve got to be SOMEWHERE equally engaging as what they are doing.
Thank you so much, Rosanne. Always gratifying to hear others who agree.
I, too, am big on the location factor. And, like you, I tend to like the small town settings and/or the dark and gritty, the seamy side of big city life. Check out my dark and gritty book trailer for my novella, The Prank. I guarantee you’ll dig it. 🙂
http://youtu.be/JMUvmvExj54
By the way, I was born and raised in Seattle. It does rain a lot here and the winters seem to last forever. I’d much rather live down in sunny San Diego!
Thanks for the tip about A Killing in the Hills. I’ll have to pick up a copy.
Just watched the trailer. Wow- real gritty!
Wow! I just read the description and sample chapters of your book, The Triangle Murders. Couldn’t resist. Just downloaded the Kindle edition. 🙂
Thanks so much, Gary. I hope you enjoy!