Eh, what's up, geneticist/bioethicist/computer programmer?
I bought a collection of R. Austin Freeman's Dr. Thorndyke stories today. Freeman was a physician, like Conan Doyle. This happened a week after I read a theory that connected the rise of the mystery story with the rise of more rational legal systems in Western Europe. (The theory seems to hold true for China, also, where the heroes of the traditional crime stories were judges.)
Later, reporters, lawyers, insurance investigators and forensic pathologists starred in crime novels. It's easy to understand why. All these fields involve asking questions and solving puzzles, just as solving a crime does.
So, here's today's question: What professions are naturals for future crime novels? What sorts of workers who have not yet been protagonists of crime stories would make good fictional sleuths?
© Peter Rozovsky 2006
Later, reporters, lawyers, insurance investigators and forensic pathologists starred in crime novels. It's easy to understand why. All these fields involve asking questions and solving puzzles, just as solving a crime does.
So, here's today's question: What professions are naturals for future crime novels? What sorts of workers who have not yet been protagonists of crime stories would make good fictional sleuths?
© Peter Rozovsky 2006
Labels: amateur detectives
posted by Peter Rozovsky at 2:51 AM
2 Comments:
Well I don't know of any dentists who have starred in crime novels. They are usually the criminals!
You could have a family dentist, who was also a police forensic odontologist.
I have a rather whimsical dentist. We once discussed The Marathon Man while I was in the chair.
That's a good suggestion. Considering how widespread the body-so-badly-burned-it-could-be-identified-only-by-dental-records motif is, it's surprising that dentist protagonists have not turned up from time to time.
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