There are several things that help to give a novel its personality, for lack of a better word. They can be useful tools for the reader, too, depending on how they’re managed in a story. But the thing is, not all tools are right for every book. So, the author (and/or publisher) decides which of those tools will best tell the story. Here are just a few to show you what I mean. I’d be really interested in your thoughts on them.

Maps and Diagrams

Plenty of authors use maps and diagrams in their stories. They can be really helpful if, for instance, the location of one or another room or item is important in a story. There are plenty of examples of this, too; I’ll just offer one. In RV Raman’s A Will to Kill, seasoned investigator Harith Athreya is invited to Greybrooke Manor for a visit with its owner, wealthy Bhaskar Fernandez. It’s not just a social visit, either. Fernandez has created two wills: one to be executed if he dies of natural causes; the other to be executed if he is murdered. Fernandez wants Athreya to investigate in the event he is murdered. And this particular weekend, several of Fernandez’ relatives are present, so it’s not a far reach to suspect he’ll be killed. Athreya spends a little time getting to know the people at the house, but he’s no sooner acquainted with them than there’s a murder. Raman includes a diagram of Greybrooke Manor and the area around it, so that readers can get a sense of who was where at the time of the murder, and he’s not the only one who’s done that.

Casts of Characters

It can be very helpful to have a cast of characters in a novel, especially if there are several of them. Readers of longer historical novels will probably already be familiar with lists of characters or even family trees. But they’re also useful in crime novels. Agatha Christie used them in a few of her novels, including Hickory Dickory Dock. In that novel, Hercule Poirot investigates the murder of Celia Austin, a resident of a student hostel. In the process, he uncovers several secrets that residents are keeping, and it turns out a few of them are involved in not-exactly legal activity. Poirot also gets to know the residents of the hostel as people, and there are several of them, each with a unique personality.  Christie helps readers remember the characters by providing a list of them at the beginning of the novel (at least, of my edition of the novel). That list and the descriptions that go with each character are helpful as we get to know the people who live at the hostel.

Glossaries

Glossaries can actually be a proverbial two-edged sword. When the characters use a language or dialect that isn’t familiar, having a glossary can be very helpful. Those words and phrases can help set the atmosphere, so they have an important place in the story. That said, though, some readers find a glossary to be a bit distracting, especially if they are reading paper books, where you can’t just click and find out what a word means. Still, many readers find them useful. Rhys Bowen’s Evanly Bodies, for instance, takes place mostly in the Welsh village of Llanfair, where Constable Evan Evans is the local bobby. In one plot thread of the novel, a man is shot through the window while he’s sitting in his kitchen. His wife is suspected, and even jailed. But then, two other men are shot. Now, Evans may be looking for a serial killer. Many people in the village speak mostly (or only) Welsh, and even those who speak English know at least some Welsh. So there are several Welsh words and expressions in the novel. Bowen provides a glossary at the end of the novel so that readers who aren’t familiar with the language can understand the Welsh used in the book.

Historical and Translation Notes

Not all readers have the same background knowledge, so authors can’t assume what readers do or don’t know. Some authors address this by providing historical notes or notes on a particular translation. Fans of Andrea Camilleri’s Salvo Montalbano series, for instance, know that much of his work has been translated into English by Stephen Sartarelli. In several places in the series, Sartarelli provides end-of-chapter notes about the expressions used in the chapter, where they come from, and what they mean in everyday language. Some of the notes are simply definitions or one-word translations. Others are more detailed discussions of, say, historical incidents. These are especially helpful when a character is speaking metaphorically.  And it’s much easier to understand the wit in Camilleri’s writing when you understand where the expressions used have their origin.

Introductions

A post like this wouldn’t be complete without a mention of the introductions that many authors provide. Sometimes, introductions are written by others, who offer perspective and who put the author’s work into context. Other times, introductions are written by authors themselves, who explain how the story came about, or perhaps how their own experience impacted a story. Martin Edwards, for instance, has written many informative and thoughtful introductions to Golden Age and classic mystery stories. Those introductions provide background and interesting biographical information. Some introductions, for example, the introductions Graeme Macrae Burnet writes, are actually part of the story, and are best understood that way. Some readers prefer not to read introductions, but many readers find them as interesting as the story is – even more so in some cases.

Tools like diagrams, introductions, and glossaries can give a story more depth and can help the reader understand a story better. On the other hand, some readers find them distracting. Where do you stand? Do you use those tools?

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Ry Cooder’s Simple Tools.