When most people think of crime novels, they think of mysteries, thrillers, or suspense. And some crime novels are very dark. You might not think of crime fiction as an effective tool for poking fun or satire, but there are plenty of authors who use their crime novels to poke fun at a person, an institution, or even the genre itself. Here are just a few examples; I know you’ll think of others.
Agatha Christie is said to have created her detective novelist character Ariadne Oliver, as a way to poke fun at herself. Mrs. Oliver is smart, more observant than she seems, and a good judge of character. At the same time, she can be a little scatterbrained, and she doesn’t always get it right when it comes to finding out who the murderer is. Fans of Ariadne Olver know that she can be just a bit much at times, but she’s a welcome addition to the stories in which she appears, and she has more insight than people sometimes think.
Simon Brett has been a playwright and television/radio producer and writer, among other things. So, he has some valuable insights into the world of the theatre. He uses them to great advantage in his Charles Paris series. Paris is an actor who spends his share of time ‘resting between roles.’ He’s got an on again/off again wife and a fondness for the bottle, but he’s not really a self-pitying damaged detective. He takes roles whenever his agent finds them, so sometimes he is cast in some undesirable roles in backwater productions. Throughout the series, Brett uses Paris to poke fun at theatre types, at actors’ foibles, and at what goes on as theatre troupes prepare their roles.
Robert Barnard pokes fun at the academic life in Death of an Old Goat. In the novel, distinguished Oxford Professor Belville-Smith is planning to do a speaking tour of Australia. One of his stops will be the small town of Drummondale, where Bobby Wickham and the English faculty will welcome him to the university there. As it is, there’s a lot of stress involved in preparing for such a luminary, and it doesn’t help that Belville-Smith is snobbish, pedantic, and, quite frankly, boring. He’s given his lectures so many times that he even starts one lecture and switches to another during one of his talks. All in all, it’s not working out to be a successful visit. Matters get worse when Belville-Smith is found murdered after a ‘meet the faculty’ event. As the police investigate. Barnard pokes fun at several academic types, including arrogant distinguished professors.
There are also crime novels that poke fun at, well, crime novels. For example, there’s Anthony Horowitz’ Magpie Murders. In this novel, we are introduced to Susan Ryland, an editor with Cloverleaf Books. Her latest project is Alan Conway’s Magpie Murders, the last in his series. As she goes through the book, we read the story, too. It has to do with the 1955 murder of Mary Blackistone. The story abruptly stops as Susan discovers that the last chapter of the novel is missing. She goes in search of the material and ends up getting involved in investigating Conway’s own death. On the surface, it looks like a suicide, but there are hints that it wasn’t. Now, Susan’s not just trying to find out who killed the author; she’s also trying to find out how his last novel ends. It’s a story-within-a story that takes pokes at crime fiction, at some crime fiction tropes, and at the editing/publishing business, too.
And then there’s Benjamin Stevenson’s Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, which also pokes fun at crime fiction. Ernie ‘Ern’ Cunningham is an Australian teacher and crime fiction fan, who happens to come from a crime family. Years earlier, he witnessed his brother Michael committing a murder, and turned him in to the police. Now, Michael’s been released from prison, and the family is planning a gathering to welcome him back. Ern isn’t exactly welcomed by everyone, but he is part of the family. Then, a major snowstorm hits the lodge where the family is staying, trapping everyone there. When the body of a stranger is discovered in the snow, the local police investigate. Michael is soon arrested, and his mother insists that the least Ern could do is clear his brother’s name. The novel includes several sendups of crime families and other crime-fictional tropes.
When they’re done well, satire and poking fun can lighten a story, and can add a dimension to a crime novel. Some novels even poke fun at the genre itself. After all, who can’t benefit from a laugh?
*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from the Beatles’ Good Day Sunshine.
Crime Writer Margot Kinberg 
I’m reminded of cartoons that make fun of gangsters. Really funny stuff. I have Magpie murders at home. I think I’m going to read it soon. Sounds super interesting. Satire is a really effective tool. I happen to love academia novels, so I think I’m going to check out Death of an old goat too. Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem is a satirical novel (to an extent). I haven’t finished it yet though. Really interesting post Margot.
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Thanks, OP – I’m glad you enjoyed the post. I hope you’ll enjoy Magpie Murders if/when you get to it. It is an interesting way to tell a story. And I did like Death of an Old Goat; I thought Barnard did an effective job of poking fun at academics.
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I thought Magpie Murders was unusual and fun. I would never have thought it could be filmed but actually the BBC did a pretty good job of it at the beginning of the year. It was very well cast which helps. Horowitz is a good writer, I first came across him as the writer of Foyle’s War.
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Horowitz really is a skilled writer, Cath. I’m very glad you enjoyed Magpie Murders. It isn’t your usual crime fiction fare, is it? But I think that adds to its appeal, and Horowitz carries it off well, in my opinion.
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I have been enjoying humor in the crime novels I read more and more in the last couple of years. And I guess even before then, because I read a lot of the Simon Brett Charles Paris novels when they first came out. I also enjoy any of Christie’s books where Ariadne Oliver shows up as a character.
Robert Barnard is one of my favorite authors of mystery fiction and I would like to read all of his books. He has written quite a few.
I haven’t read Benjamin Stevenson’s Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone but I am sure I will someday.
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I like Ariadne Oliver’s character very much, Tracy, and I think Christie used Mrs. Oliver effectively to poke a little fun at herself. And I’m not surprised you’ve read so many of the Charles Paris novels. They really do have the right touch of wit, don’t they? Barnard did that well, too. And as f or the Stevenson, I thought it was really an interesting plot line, and certainly does have some dry wit in it. I’m hoping to read the next one at some point.
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Humor helps to keep a reader’s interest in a mystery and is also a great way to break the tension. Then the tension can be intensified when least expected!
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You’ve got a very good point, Morgan. Using satire or other wit does draw the reader in, and yes, it breaks the tension. I hadn’t thought as much about the way it can be used to surprise the reader with more tension, but you’re right!
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I am very resistant to anything called Comedy Crime, or the word caper – but I do enjoy books with a humorous side – it’s a fine line! Of your choices, the ones I have read are exactly the kind of book I like, so I am going to take that as a recommendation for your others. Like Tracy, I would like to read ‘Everyone in my Family…’
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There really is a fine line between books that effectively use satire, and those that are comic, Moira, isn’t there? I like books that have some wit in them, but not the literary equivalent of sitcoms, either. If you do read Everybody…, I hope you’ll enjoy it.
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Margot, as mysteries now don’t have that kind of knock-out punch in the end (on account of having read so many) I appreciate the author’s ability to make the reader laugh more and more. Humour (though not the forced variety) pulls me more and more in the novel. That’s why I like Anthony Gilbert so much. She has just that turn of phrase that makes me laugh out loud.
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I like Gilbert’s work, too, on that score, Neeru – thanks for mentioning it. And you make a well-taken point about how our perspective on mysteries changes once we’ve read a lot of them. People who read a lot of crime fiction get to the point where they see what’s coming perhaps more than people with less crime-fictional experience. That’s something to think about, so thanks.
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I think of the Lillian Jackson Braun ‘Cat WHO’ mysteries and the #1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith when I think of comic crime fighters. Braun takes aim at every small town in Minnesota, and McCall sees humor in oddball characters and folksy wisdom.
Fun subject, thanks.
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I’m glad you enjoyed the post, Chuckster. You make a good point about the way Braun and McCall Smith use wit in their work, too. In both cases, there are quirky, sometimes oddball characters who bring that wit into the story at hand. Those characters lighten up the stories and I think add some ‘seasoning’ to them.
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