In general, crime fiction fans want some credibility in their stories. Even in speculative fiction, things ought to be relatable and resonate in some way. And that can create a challenge for crime writers who create amateur sleuths. It’s easy to imagine a fictional police detective, PI, journalist, or medical examiner to get involved in solving mysteries. It’s harder if the sleuth is your average person. But it can happen, and when it’s done well, those sleuths can also be credible.

In Agatha Christie’s The Boomerang Clue (AKA Why Didn’t They Ask Evans), an ordinary person, Bobby Jones, is golfing with his friend, Dr. Thomas on an ordinary day. When one golf ball goes over a cliff, the two men discover a man who’s just on the point of death. Bobby agrees to stay with the man while the doctor goes for help. While he’s there, the man utters a cryptic question: ‘Why didn’t they ask Evans?’ It doesn’t mean anything to Bobby, but it becomes an important piece of information when it turns out that the man was murdered. Bobby isn’t stupid, but he is an ordinary person who gets mixed up in an extraordinary puzzle that’s a lot more complicated than it seems on the surface. I know, fans of The Man in the Brown Suit; that’s a great example of what I had in mind with this post, too.

In Eric Ambler’s The Mask of Dimitros/A Coffin For Dimitrios, we are introduced to Charles Latimer. He’s a mystery writer who feels in need of a rest. So on the advice of a friend, he travels to Istanbul. While he’s there, he hears the story of Dimitrious Makropoulos, a criminal who’s engaged in lots of illegal activity. It seems that Makropoulos’ body has just been pulled from the Bosporus, and Latimer is invited to the morgue to see it. Believing that a crime writer should have varied experiences, Latimer agrees to go. He gets curious, and although he knows it’s irrational, he decides to trace Makropoulos’ steps to see how he ended up in the Bosporus. Latimer doesn’t know just how much danger he’s going to find as he seeks to learn more about Makropoulos. He’s just an ordinary writer who didn’t at first imagine he’d be following the trail of an international criminal.

Gail Bowen’s Deadly Appearances is her first novel to feature academician and political scientist Joanne Kilbourn. She is an ordinary person who’s been raising three children since the murder of her husband Ian. Like many people, she juggles home life, child rearing, and work. One day, she’s invited to a community barbecue that will feature a speech by Androu ‘Andy’ Boychuck, an up-and-coming politician who is also a political ally. During his speech, he suddenly collapses and dies of what turns out to be poison. Joanne grieves his loss greatly, so she decides to face her grief by writing a biography of Andy. As she slowly begins to learn more and more about him, she also uncovers some clues about what happened to him. And that puts her in quite a lot of danger. She didn’t plan to become a sleuth, but she was drawn into the case.

You might say the same about Nelson Brunanski’s John ‘Bart’ Bartowski. He’s an ordinary man who lives with his wife, Rosie, and their two children in the small town of Crooked Lake, Saskatchewan. Together, he and Rosie own Stuart Lake Lodge, a fishing lodge in the north of the province. He and his family live what you’d call a normal life. That is, until, in Crooked Lake, the body of Harvey Kristoff is discovered on a local golf course. Bart’s friend Nick Taylor is the most likely suspect. Kristoff had recently fired him, and Nick’s temper had exploded. But Nick says he’s innocent. Since he’s been arrested, there’s not a lot that Nick can do to clear his name, so he asks Bart to find out the truth. Bart’s reluctant at first; he’s not a police officer or a PI. But, for the sake of friendship (and because he doesn’t want an innocent man jailed), Bart agrees to help. It’s an interesting of an everyday man getting drawn into solving a case.

Phoebe Atwood Taylor created a series featuring Asa ‘Asey’ Mayo. He’s a handyman and jack-of-all-trades who lives and works in Cape Cod. He has a certain philosophical bent, but he is an ordinary sort of person. He’s good with tools, general repairs, and looking after his boss, Bill Porter. Asey’s not the kind of person to pry into people’s lives or look for evidence. But he gets drawn into cases, especially when they involve people he knows. For instance, in the first novel, The Cape Cod Murder, Bill Porter is accused of murdering a visiting writer called Dale Sanborn. Asey knows his boss isn’t a murderer, so he does everything he can to find out the truth.

It’s very tricky to have an ordinary, everyday person as a sleuth. They don’t have the power of the law behind them and aren’t trained to deal with the risks of investigation. Still, such characters can have powerful motives for wanting to solve a mystery, and they can be interesting characters.

*NOTE: The title of this post is the title of a song by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe.