Crime Writer Margot Kinberg

Plenty of authors write more than one series. That gives them the flexibility to explore different characters, premises, and settings. And in a lot of cases, those characters don’t meet each other. But there are some authors whose characters cross over from one to another series. That can be an effective way to encourage readers to try a series they may not know. It’s also a clever nod to readers of both series. When it’s done carefully, it can work very well.

Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot never meet in her work. Nor does either main character meet with Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. And yet, there are Christie characters who cross between books. For example, if you’ve read the Poirot novels, you’ll know that detective novelist Ariadne Oliver appears in a few of those stories (e.g. Cards on the Table and Mrs. McGinty’s Dead). She also appears in The Case of the Discontented Soldier, which is a short story featuring private detective Mr. Parker Pyne. She’s mentioned very briefly in another Parker Pyne story, The Case of the Rich Woman. She’s also an important figure in the standalone novel The Pale Horse. It’s interesting that Christie didn’t give Mrs. Oliver her own series, but she does figure in the overall Christie canon.

Cat Connor has two series and a trilogy. The Byte series features FBI Special Agent (later, Special Agent in Charge) Ellie Conway Iverson. Her other series features former New Zealand Intelligence agent Veronica ‘Ronnie’ Tracey, who’s now a PI. Ronnie owns her own agency, Wherefore Art Thou. Because of her past connection with the intelligence community, Ronnie is sometimes tapped to take on cases with an international scope. So it makes sense that some of the characters from the Byte series also appear in the Veronica Tracey, PI series. For instance, Ellie’s husband, Mitch Iverson, works with US Intelligence, so he appears in the PI series. The trilogy, Fates Entwined: The Spellbound Bookshop Trilogy, takes place in Upper Hutt, where Ronnie Tracey lives. So, characters from that trilogy also appear in the PI series. It’s an interesting way to encourage readers of one series or the trilogy to try the other work.

Michael Connelly fans can tell you that there are several examples of characters who cross over from one of his series to another. For instance, his best-known character, Harry Bosch, has his own long-standing and highly regarded series. Bosch also plays an important role in some of Connelly’s Mickey Haller novels and his Renée Ballard novels. Haller’s a lawyer and Bosch is a cop, so it makes sense that their paths would cross. As you’ll also know if you’ve read the books, Bosch and Haller are half-brothers. And Ballard’s first appearance is in a Bosch novel, after which she gets her own series. There’s also journalist Jack McEvoy, who ‘stars’ in his own short series: The Poet, The Scarecrow, and Fair Warning. He also makes minor appearances in a Bosch novel, A Darkness More Than Night, and in the Bosch/Haller novel The Brass Verdict. There are other crossovers, too, of Connelly characters.

Peter Temple is probably best known for his series featuring private investigator/sometimes lawyer Jack Irish. Irish is based in Melbourne, and although he does occasionally travel, his ‘home base’ is that city. Also living and working in the Melbourne area is police detective Stephen Villani, the main character in Truth. In that novel, Villani is faced with several murders as well as a real threat from bush fires. He happens to go into a pub in which Irish is sitting, having a drink. Irish doesn’t play a major role in the story, but it’s interesting to see him make an appearance. Villani himself makes an appearance in The Broken Shore, which features homicide detective Joe Cashin. It’s a believable set of crossovers, considering that both Cashin and Villani are Melbourne police, and that Irish lives and works in the same city.

There’s also Anthony Bidulka’s Quant, the ninth of his novels to feature Saskatoon-based PI Russell Quant. In the novel, Quant travels to his hometown of Howell, Saskatchewan, to help his mother make the transition from independent living to a more assisted situation. While he’s there, he investigates the murder of one of Howell’s residents. The novel includes several Quant series characters fans already know (like Anthony Gatt, Quant’s mentor). It also includes characters from Bidulka’s other work. For example, one possibility for Quant’s mother is a facility in the town of Beautiful. That town is the main setting for Going to Beautiful, which features celebrity chef Jake Hardy. And Hardy is a character in Quant. There are mentions, too, of Mary Bell, the main character from Bidulka’s Livingsky trilogy. There’s even a reference to Adam Saint, the protagonist from When the Saints Come Marching In and The Women of Skawa Island. And it’s all woven together and believable, because those characters also live in small-town Saskatchewan. It makes sense that they’d meet.

And that’s the thing about crossover characters. When those crossovers are believable (because of related professions, geography, etc.), they can be effective. They can invite readers to try series they might not otherwise know, and they allow the author flexibility. They’re also nods to fans of the author who are familiar with all of the author’s work.

*NOTE: The title of this post is the title of an Eric Clapton song.