Our opinions and presumptions are often shaped by our underlying perceptions. Those perceptions, in turn, are often shaped by what’s happening in society. Consider our thinking about it means to be ‘old.’ As our lifespans increase, as medicine improves, and as economic necessity dictates, many people who once would have been considered ‘old’ are still in very good health. Many are full-time employees. Even those who’ve retired from professional life may work part-time, or volunteer, or in some other way remain very active members of the community. As you might have guessed, crime fiction reflects this change, too.
Agatha Christie wrote several elderly characters (including, of course, Miss Jane Marple). In The Hollow, for instance, we meet Lady Lucy Angkatell. Christie describes her as having:
‘…extraordinary pervasive charm that Lucy had wielded all her life and that even now, at over sixty, had not failed her.’
Lady Lucy is an older woman, with ‘…still graceful shoulders.’ Her husband, Sir Henry, has retired from diplomatic life. They’re portrayed as old, but not what you’d call feeble. They’re both intelligent and take an interest in life. And, when a murder occurs at a weekend house party they host, they are mixed up in the investigation.
Not all of Christie’s elderly characters are as vibrant, if that’s the word. In Taken at the Flood, there’s an elderly former soldier, Major Porter, who belongs to the same club as Hercule Poirot, and who is ‘the club bore.’ He goes on about the past and certainly isn’t spry. His ramblings play a role in Poirot’s investigation of some unexplained deaths in the small town of Warmsley Vale.
Fans of Patricia Wentworth’s Maude Silver will know that she is elderly, and in many ways, is treated in the traditionally ‘old lady’ way. She spends a lot of time knitting, she doesn’t get about a lot (although she’s not housebound or an invalid), and so on. She’s often underestimated, too, as people don’t imagine that a ‘little old lady’ like Miss Silver can really contribute. And yet, as we know, Miss Silver has her ways to getting involved in cases, of solving crimes, and of being heard, if you like.
Older characters in modern crime fiction are even more active and involved in life. For example, Inger Ash Wolfe/Michael Redhill’s Chief Inspector Hazel Micallef is a member of the Ontario Police Service (OPS). In her sixties, she works in the small town of Port Dundas and has a more-than-full-time job. Her mother, Emily, who is in her eighties, is retired, but she’s a very active member of the local community, and her experience as the former mayor of Port Dundas means that she knows a lot about the town. That knowledge is often helpful to her daughter.
In Tim Svart’s Sacrifice, Essen police detective Karrenburg and his team investigate the death of a young woman who, it turns out, was an escort who did occasional sex work. In the course of finding out about her clients and the other people in her life, the team interviews Karl-Heinz Köenig and his wife. Köenig retired from running a very successful construction company. He’s by no means feeble, although he did have a heart attack. In fact, he has a strong personality. He takes an active interest in life and in his business, despite no longer working full-time. His insights prove very helpful to Kerrenburg and the team.
Vito Zuppardo’s True Blue Detective introduces us to seventy-one-year-old Zack Nelson, who’s a retired New Orleans police detective. He’s moved to a senior living facility called Riverside Hotel and has started to make some friends. Then, a series of disturbing incidents, including deaths, begin to take place at the facility. Those incidents seem to be linked to an attempt on the life of Zack’s daughter-in-law, so as you can guess, he’s very much involved. Detective Mario DeLuca investigates what’s going on, and he works closely with Zack and three of his fellow residents to find out the truth. Zack and his friends may be older, but they are active and involved in life. They’re portrayed as smart and capable, and more than once, they get in and out of dangerous situations.
There’s also Erik D’Souza’s Suzanne Rickman and her husband, Charles. They’ve retired and are now living in a senior community on Canada’s West Coast. In Death in Halfmoon Bay, they are drawn in a murder investigation when a fellow resident is poisoned. The members of the community are in their sixties and older, but they are active and have busy lives. Some work, some are involved in the local community, and some do other things. But they’re portrayed as having full modern lives.
And that’s the thing about the way older characters are now being portrayed. Yes, older adults have aches and pains and sometimes have a bad back, use a cane or wear hearing aids. But, as times have changed and lifespans have increased, older people are taking on much more active roles than they used to, even if they’re retired from working life. No longer are they always the stereotypical older person sitting on a porch in a rocking chair or wearing a ‘granny’ dress and baking cakes and pies. Today’s older adults are creators, political activists, teachers, business entrepreneurs, and more. So, it’s no wonder that modern crime novels portray them as important characters.
*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from the Beatles’ When I’m Sixty-Four.
Crime Writer Margot Kinberg 
Yes, there’s been a real change in perceptions of ‘old’, hasn’t there? I must admit some of these elderly detectives make me feel quite exhausted, though! They think nothing of jumping over fences, wild swimming, tackling bad guys, etc. I want whatever it is they have for breakfast!
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Haha! Yes, FictionFan, I want to know their secrets, too! You make a very good point along those lines, actually. How does an author create a story with the right sort of action to draw readers in, but that still acknowledges that older people do slow down physically, may need more reaction time, and so on? It can be done effectively (L.R. Wright’s The Suspect is one example. One of the main characters is eighty, and has just committed a murder). but it’s not easy!
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I feel like I would like to read more elderly people helping to solve crimes so will look some of these up. I’ve read the Christies you mention I think. But gosh yes, our perception of what is ‘old’ has changed radically over the last, what?, twenty, thirty years. Seventy is now looked upon as late middle-aged rather than, as in my childhood, ‘ancient’. We act and dress differently these days, and I also wonder how much computers and the internet have had to do with staying young, aside from the obvious health advancements and so forth. Looking around at my older friends and family, the more engaged people are online. The two I know who are not, proudly announce the fact that they are not, but to me seem older than their years. My son-in-law tells me that a certain mental agility is required to use computers, tablets, phones etc. and it’s helpful to our older brains to learn to deal with it and keep up with it all. It’s an interesting subject.
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That really is interesting, Cath! I could well imagine that mental agility is a part of staying young, so what your son-in-law says makes sense. I don’t know if there are studies on that, but I can see it. You’re right, too, that people in their seventies used to be thought of as ‘soooo old,’ but not so much now. As you say, people in those years act and dress differently to the way they used to. I wonder if that trend will continue. In any case, it’s good to read about them.
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J.Jefferson Farjeon often exasperates me but in The Double Turn, the aged father of the prime suspect turns sleuth in order to save his middle-aged son. It was pretty well done.
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That’s a good example of exactly what I had in mind with this post, Neeru, so thanks. And it sounds like an interesting story, too. Sometimes even writers who can be annoying can also produce some solid work.
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Maybe the crime fiction authors have caught on that a lot of their readers fall into the middle-aged category, so they are including more characters of a similar age? It’s certainly working if we are to judge by the success of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club and Robert Thorogood’s Marlow Murder Club.
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You know, Marina Sofia, I’ve wondered the same thing. The population is ageing, and even if that weren’t the case, there are a lot of middle-aged readers. So it makes sense that books featuring characters of the same age would be of interest. And I love your examples Osman’s and Thorogood’s work. Both are, as you say, quite popular, and feature middle-aged/late middle-aged characters.
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It’s fascinating how our perceptions of age have changed. I often find when I read older crime fiction that I’m taken aback by the way someone in their forties (usually a woman…) is considered old!! Thankfully that attitude is changing, though not necessarily quick enough for me!!
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Oh, I agree, KBR! A lot of GA crime fiction considers women in their 40’s to be old. It is disconcerting, and like you, I’m glad things are changing, if too slowly! It’s interesting, too, isn’t it, how that seems to be more true of female than of male characters. Hm……
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This is a very nice list of older mystery protagonists. Miss Marple and Miss Silver are favorites. I have read the first two books about Chief Inspector Hazel Micallef and enjoyed them, especially with the Canadian setting.
One of my favorite pairs of “elderly” sleuths (actually spies, but that is just quibbling) are featured in Michael Gilbert’s Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens short stories. These men are in their fifties and the author refers to them as elderly. The stories were published in the 1960s and 70s. I am in my mid-seventies and people in their 50s seem like youngsters to me.
I will try that series by Erik D’Souza.
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Thanks for the kind words, Tracy. I’m glad you thought the post worked. Older sleuths are so interesting as characters that I enjoyed putting those examples together. In my opinion, Miss Marple and Miss Silver are absolute classics as older sleuths. And Hazel Micallef is, I think, a well-drawn sleuth. And, yes, that Canadian setting adds to the appeal!
I think you’d like Erik D’Souza’s work; if you try it, I hope you’ll enjoy it!
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