Crime writers create lots of fictional characters, many of whom we’ve come to love over the years. What’s a lot less common, though, is when authors write themselves as characters in their own stories. It’s not easy to pull that off and still create an engaging story that’s not autobiographical. But the results can be interesting. And of course, it’s fascinating to see how authors portray themselves.
Many people think that Agatha Christie’s Ariadne Oliver was at least semi-autobiographical. Like her creator, Mrs. Oliver is a detective novelist who’s gotten fed up with her main character (in Christie’s case, it was Hercule Poirot; in Mrs. Oliver’s case, it’s Sven Hjerson). The two have other parallels in life as well, and what’s really interesting is that Mrs. Oliver is a fictional character who creates fiction but solves (for her) real mysteries. Agatha Christie and Ariadne Oliver don’t share a name, but it’s not hard to believe that Christie could have used Mrs. Oliver as a stand-in for herself.
There are other novelists who use themselves – as they are in real life – as protagonists or other characters. For example, Teresa Solana’s The Sound of One Hand Killing is the third in her series about Barcelona private investigators Eduard and Josep “Pep” (who goes by the name Borja) Martínez. The Martínez brothers are twins, but they’re quite different in appearance, temperament, and outlook. Best-selling author Teresa Solana contacts the brothers to hire them for some research. She is planning a book about alternative therapies and wants the Martínez brothers to do some research for her. They’re always in need of a paying client, so they take on the job. As part of their research, the brothers sign up at Zen Moments, an alternative therapy center. Not long afterwards, Horaci Bou, director of Zen Moments, is murdered. Now the Martínez brothers are caught up in a lot more than research. And it only complicates matters when Borja’s neighbor Brian Morgan is killed. It turns out that Morgan was a CIA operative, so now, the brothers are drawn into two murders and international intrigue.
Graeme Macrae Burnet’s His Bloody Project begins as Burnet researches his grandfather’s life. As it happens, he comes across some information about another ancestor, seventeen-year-old Roderick Macrae. It seems that Macrae was arrested and tried for the murders of three people in Culduie, on Scotland’s Applecross Peninsula. The story soon moves from Burnet’s discovery of Macrae, to the narrative of Macrae’s life, the trial, and its outcome. That part of the story includes Macrae’s own memoir, trial transcripts, official documents, and newspaper clippings. It was assumed at the time that Macrae was guilty, but it turns out that there was a lot more to the murders and their background than it seemed on the surface. As that part of the story goes on, we learn about Macrae’s youth, his relationships in the small village he lived in, and what led to the murders. It’s an interesting fictional look at the author finding his own fictional roots, so to speak.
Anthony Horowitz’ The Word is Murder is the first of his Hawthorne and Horowitz series. In it, wealthy Diana Cowper pays a visit to a London funeral home, Cornwallis and Sons. She’s there to pre-plan her funeral. Six hours later, she is murdered. Police detective Daniel Hawthorne begins the investigation. He’s not easy to be around; in fact, he’s already in disgrace. But he is good at what he does. Hawthorne wants a ghost writer to tell the story of his cases, à la Dr. Watson. So, he hires Anthony Horowitz. Hawthorne has a way of getting under his biographer’s skin, but a job is a job. The two of them begin the task of finding out who killed Diana Cowper and why, and in the course of the investigation, they begin to learn to work together.
And then there’s Cat Connor’s Written in Leaves. Sisters Violet, Poppy, and Lily McClelland have inherited Spellbound Books, a New Zealand bookshop, from their parents. They do their best to keep the store going well, and they’re planning a major multi-author event to draw people in and broaden the store’s customer base. But Violet has a secret, something neither of her sisters knows. As the preparations for the major event go on, Violet has to work harder and harder to keep her secret. If the secret comes out, it would change everything for the store, and the McClelland sisters have enough to deal with. In several scenes in the story, Vitolet talks to the authors who are going to be at the big event; one of them is Cat Connor herself. It’s a clever way to share insights about writing, bookshops, and author events.
It really can be tricky to write about oneself, especially in a work of fiction. But some authors are able to make it work. Have you read books where the author is a character? If so, what did you think?
*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Morris Day’s The Character.
Crime Writer Margot Kinberg 
What a fascinating post. I’ve read the occasional “Mary Sue” in fanfiction but never come across the concept in other fiction. It feels like it would mess with my mind!
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Thanks Fiona! It is difficult to pull off, I’ve never tried it myself, and I’m not sure I’d be able to; I think it would mess with my mind, too!
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Hi Margot
As always a terrific and interesting piece. With regard to the Agatha Christie have you seen the TV series – Sven Hjerson? Swedish TV took this character and based an 8 episode television series around him. I enjoyed it and also found it interesting that he was the character of a book within a book by Christie. It is quite mind boggling and does make you wonder how Christie was able to write a character writing a character seemingly with such ease! Janet
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Thanks so much for the kind words, Janet – that’s very kind of you. I haven’t seen Sven Hjerson, but I can imagine the show’s a good one. And yes it is really interesting that he’s a fictional character in a fictional character’s detective novels. It’s a real credit to Christie that she pulled it off as she did!
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I must admit that my first thought was Anthony Horowitz and my second was Tess Gerritsen. It’s always felt to me that her Maura Isles is based on herself as she had a similar kind of career to Maura I believe. I could, of course, be quite wrong!
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Horowitz is great at putting himself in his work as a character, isn’t he, Cath? I don’t know for sure if Isles is based on Tess Gerritsen herself, but I can certainly imagine it. Perhaps you’re right!
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That’s very interesting, Margot – most of those are author I haven’t read, but I can see how the meta element of building yourself into a crime narrative could be difficult. But if done well it’s obviously very effective. As for Ariadne Oliver, I love the humour Christie builds into her stories by using her alter ego. I would happily have had her in more mysteries!
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Thanks, KBR. The meta element does work well when it’s done deftly, but yes, it can fail, too. If you get a chance to try some of the authors here, I hope you’ll enjoy the way they’ve used it. It’s definitely aa variation on the usual storytelling setup! And I completely agree about Ariadne Oliver. She’s a terrific character, and I’d have loved to see her in more stories, too – even some where she’s the main character!
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I cannot think of an example of reading an author inserting himself/herself into their fiction. I do have the experience of being a character in Anthony Bidulka’s latest book, From Sweetgrass Bridge. It was an excellent if somewhat surreal experience.
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I have to say, Bill, I’ve never been a character in a book – not in one I’ve written or one I’ve read. That must have been a great experience, even if it was a bit surreal. And folks, do read Anthony Bidulka’s work; it’s excellent.
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Great piece as ever, Margot, and some fascinating-sounding books.
My first thought was Ellery Queen – but that’s not quite the same is it? He hasn’t put himself into a book, he’s just pretending to write them. At least I think that’s the situation…? I’ve never really understood the EQ scenario….
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Thanks, Moira. And I agree that the EQ scenario is a bit off. I think you’re right that he’s pretending to write them, but at the same time, even though we know it was a pair of cousins doing the writing, I think it’s that they took the name Ellery Queen that makes it feel different.
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Have you watched The unbearable weight of massive talent? Nicolas Cage plays himself in that movie. It’s quite interesting. For some reason I’m also reminded of a creepy Chinese author who killed people and then wrote murder mysteries. He was sentenced to death. I don’t know what his name is.
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I’ve not watched The Unbearable Fate…, OP, although I know of it. It does sound quite meta, doesn’t it? It’s funny, there was a story in the US of a woman who wrote a book on how to kill a husband – and then was arrested for just that crime. Those stories really are creepy!
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I can’t think of an example that I’ve known for sure, although I often wondered if Sue Grafton was in Kinsey Milhone. I have known non-lead characters who’ve reflected real characters and that can be fun to read if you’re in the know.
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You have an interesting point about Sue Grafton, Anthony. I don’t know for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you were right. And it is fun if you know a real person who’s part of a story; it’s like a wink between author and readers.
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