Romance with your murder?

heyjude,

Where's the selection for gratuitous sex? Or is that understood, as part of the romantic subplot?

--Stan

I was tempted to click the last option...


Yes, I like romantic subplots. Just as long as it isn't overpowering the murder case. The murder must always be more interesting.

Well, in that case, I vote yes.

--Stan

heyjude said:

I love a good romantic subplot, sex or no.

Click to expand...

Agreed.

Well, I more prefer ones without sex because that kind of pushes it to the point where I may be more interested in the romance than the crime and I don't like that.

I like a romance/sex subplot as long as it's not overdone and as long as the female lead (if there is one) doesn't go all wimpy and need her guy to ride in to the rescue.

Depends.

I like a bit of sexual tension a la Tony Hill and Carol Jordan; but I don't want to read a romance novel masquerading as a crime novel.

Wait a minute, heyjude said mysteries, THRILLERS, and suspense.

Since mystery is just thriller without the tech and sex, and suspense is thriller without the tech, seems all the mystery writers will vote no and and all the thriller and suspense writers will vote yes, so we don't know any more than when we started.



-- with fire retardant suit on.

I've written a mystery and am in the process of writing a thriller. I voted yes, because I have a small romance in each one. So not EVERY mystery writer will say no and not EVERY suspense and thriller writer will say yes.

I voted yes, but don't overdo it.

I guess I like the chemistry and the sparks. Kind of like the Remington Steele/Laura Holt thing where we know they are sooo in love, but it takes forever for them to get together. (Did I just date myself?) Maybe Castle would be a more recent illustration.

But I also like the chemistry of a male/female sleuthing team--like the Thin Man movies, or Hart to Hart. (And yes, I watch too much television)

Not fond of gratuitous or 'onscreen' sex though. And yes, I loathe mystery books written by frustrated romance writers. If they can make the switch well, fine. But they are structured differently, and I have tossed a couple across the room. (And yes, I'm a drama queen.)

I also voted yes, but don't overdo it. I like romances with some mystery in them, but I don't care too much if my mysteries have romance. A little sexy banter, however, is always welcome. If there's more, that's fine too so long as it serves the story and isn't tacked on as "oh yeah, subplot!" or merely to show a female MC isn't always a bitch (says she who tends to write bitchy female MCs).

I love romantic mysteries and mysterious romances. I don't mind a little gratuitous sex either.

I voted yes, because romance attraction is part and parcel of most lives. I really liked books with sleuth teams who are couples, such as the Mr. and Mrs. North detective series by a husband and wife team. Ditto Nick and Nora Charles from the pen of Dashiell Hammett. There are others. My current work-in-progress features amateur sleuths attracted to each other.

As long as it's done well I'm good with the mix. It can surely up the ante in certain circumstances and that's never a bad thing, is it?

I chose to interpret 'romance' as 'themes of love and sexual attraction', as opposed to 'idealisation of love and sexual attraction'. A lot of crime is based on sexual competition -- our greed for wealth; our aggression toward sexual competitors; our devastation and wrath at rejection; and our blind and unthinking defence of our families, no matter how unworthy they may be. So love, sexual attraction, sexual identity and reproductive rights have huge roles to play in crime stories.

I'm not one for idealising it though. I like to see it portrayed fairly and unflinchingly. Humans are not at their best when they're in a frenzy to prosecute or defend their reproduction -- like every other species, we're generally out of our minds. Fiction is an emotional journey and so some of the madness needs to be captured subjectively and sympathetically, but crime fiction is very much about restoring equity and order so the subjective side can't be the only side we see. And that being so, I can see no good reason to treat a hero's love one way, and a perp's love another.

I picked yes but don't overdo it, too. Actually, one sure fire way to get me hooked on something even if it's not particularly good is to give me two characters I want to hook up. Yeah, I'm girly like that.

Stanmiller said:

Wait a minute, heyjude said mysteries, THRILLERS, and suspense.

Since mystery is just thriller without the tech and sex, and suspense is thriller without the tech, seems all the mystery writers will vote no and and all the thriller and suspense writers will vote yes, so we don't know any more than when we started.



-- with fire retardant suit on.

Click to expand...

I write mystery, and I voted yes. I don't think mystries have anything to do with a thriller minus the tech and sex. Or anything to do with a thriller at all, for that matter.

I voted yes but don't overdo it. It's not so much the romance I like as the sexual tension. Once they hook up it gets less interesting to me unless each character has a separate and necessary reason to be part of the story.

Only if it helps to further a main character in a series (i.e. Harry Bosch's relationship with Eleanor Wish). Otherwise, its almost useless.

I voted yes but don't over do it.

Quite frankly, a true to life character acts like a person and people have relationships. It's life.

I don't feel the occasional love scene or romantic scene ruins the story, nor does it have to progress the plot. As I said, people have relationships and let's face it, having the angsty MC who feels they can't love or be loved is as played out as any cliche. But it can't be the point of the story. That's what romance novels are for.

It's all about character development. If it develops the character, it's all good in my opinion.

Sex is part of human nature- so if fits the storyline - then yeah- I like a little sex with my Mystery/thriller/suspense- but if the hero decides to ravish the woman in the middle of saving the world- not so much-
Even if its gratuitous- of it fits with the character then go for it- if it feels like your trying to hard then you probably are and it doesn't belong in the story-

I think if it fits the character then by definition it's not gratuitous, ne?