Is "the detective with a mysterious death in his family" a genre cliche?

[Sophia]

Hello,

I am writing an SF novel where my main character, an aging detective, does not know the exact circumstances surrounding the death of his wife a decade earlier. Although his finding out isn't the main focus of the novel, it is something that is always on his mind, and it ends up as a major plot thread.

I have not read much detective fiction, but I have the impression that having a personal tragedy, perhaps unsolved, among the family or friends of the detective, is fairly common. Would you say that it is common to the point of being a cliche of the genre? I want to stay with this idea, but if it elicits, "Not another mysterious death of a wife!" groans, I'll know I need to try harder to make it less predictable.

[Clair Dickson]

I (sadly) have not read enough to say it's cliche, but my first thought was "oh, like Monk." Just my two cents.

[Sophia]

That's a major one I'd forgotten about. Thank you, Clair!

[dpaterso]

I'm always suspicious of those detectives, like Columbo, who talk about the missus all the time, but no one has ever seen her. (And the neighbors keep complaining about this smell...)

I'm not sensing the cliché, although (fictional) detectives deal with crime and this sometimes intrudes into their personal lives as villains they've crossed seek revenge, etc. Which seems possible. But is it overdone to the point of cliché? Not sure.

What doesn't seem likely is that some past tragedy like the wife's mysterious death would drive the protag to become a cop. But I'm probably going down the wrong track here...

-Derek

[Sophia]

(fictional) detectives deal with crime and this sometimes intrudes into their personal lives as villains they've crossed seek revenge, etc. Which seems possible. But is it overdone to the point of cliché? Not sure.

I think this way of it happening might be overdone; at least, it makes me think of old TV cop series where the family or friend character is mostly treated as a hapless victim just to cause the main character angst, and it doesn't appeal to me as a reader. It does remind me to check carefully for something like it creeping in, though, as I think it may have - thank you!

What doesn't seem likely is that some past tragedy like the wife's mysterious death would drive the protag to become a cop. But I'm probably going down the wrong track here...

No fear, they were both detectives (of a sort) for a large part of their lives.

Many thanks, Derek! Specifics like these and Clair's response above were what I was hoping for, and it's been very helpful.

[Captain Howdy]

two things come to mind:

Dave Robicheaux (James Lee Burke's character) has two dead wives, one was murdered, one died of Lupus.

Fox Mulder (TV's the X Files) sister was abducted by aliens when he was young. Any fan of the show knows how important this event is in his ongoing growth as a character.

I can't answer if it is a cliche, but if your intuition tells you it is part of your character's history, it should be there.

[Manderley]

I'm always suspicious of those detectives, like Columbo, who talk about the missus all the time, but no one has ever seen her. (And the neighbors keep complaining about this smell...)


I like these never seen wives. Norm in Cheers had one too, Vera. Like the Blair Witch Project, they become all the more scarier because they're never seen. :D

[C A Winters]

Most know that agents and publishers are looking for originality these days. Depending on genre, that can be a hard call. I've read and seen not so much the spouse (outside of Monk) but the niece/nephew, aunt, or other family member murdered or disappeared and has their spouse/uncle/aunt upset.

I love mysteries, yet I have recently been bored to frustration with the redundancy in books and made for TV movies. So, I think if you like to write the genre, try to give your idea a new twist or interesting sub-plot that is fresh. Good luck.

[Sophia]

C A Winters: Would you mind giving an example of what you mean by redundancy, here? I don't think my idea would strictly be a mystery; I see it more as a straight SF story, but having a detective as the main character suggested a particular approach, and I want to make sure that I'm not falling into very obvious cliches that would be readily apparent to M/T/S readers.

I can't answer if it is a cliche, but if your intuition tells you it is part of your character's history, it should be there.

That's a very nice way of putting it. :)

[Shadow_Ferret]

I (sadly) have not read enough to say it's cliche, but my first thought was "oh, like Monk." Just my two cents.
For some reason I read this as "oh, like MORK." and I'm thinking, what? What wife did Mork have? Granted I didn't watch the show so maybe he had a wife back on Ork he rarely talked about.

But it was MONK, so... nevermind.

But I don't know if this is a cliche, other than the ones mentioned here, most detectives either have a wife or they're divorced from a wife, or there was a concrete reason why the wife is no longer around.

[Sophia]

But I don't know if this is a cliche, other than the ones mentioned here, most detectives either have a wife or they're divorced from a wife, or there was a concrete reason why the wife is no longer around.

That does seem to be common, especially among TV detectives. I'm wondering though, if this is because it applies to many people across a variety of professions. For detectives, the reasons behind it may include specific things related to their work; for characters of another profession, there may be reasons specific to their work.

[czjaba]

I think it all depends on how you bring the characters and events into your story. There are lots of detectives who always seem to have some sort of 'haunting' past, whether it be a case that wasn't solved or a family member that he/she neglected while trying to solve that unsolvable case.
Everyone that old enough to actually have a past has something in that past they can't figure out. Especially 'an aging detective.' So, in my opinion, if you write the story well, it would not be a cliche to use his wife mysterious death as one of the threads. Just as long as he didn't kill her himself.

[Sophia]

Everyone that old enough to actually have a past has something in that past they can't figure out. Especially 'an aging detective.'

Good point!

Thanks very much, czjaba. :)

[Chase]

Despite the few examples, I don’t think the detective with the cold cased relative has been done to death (so far). And as others pointed out, you can make your sc-fi mystery fresh.

But I know what you’re talking about. Eureka is a sci-fi TV series with crimes/mysteries. It had such potential with its wit and premise of a hidden town of geniuses, but it started out with the tattered, same ol’ same ol’ cliché where the busy dad never showed up to plays and soccer games, giving the otherwise pampered kid the excuse to be a total brat. I still try to watch, but turn off closed captions when that old saw plays again and again.

I’m writing a new TV series in which there will be no clichés. It’s a guy who used to be a retired auto shop teacher here on the Oregon coast, maybe in some tiny harbor town. I think I’ll call it Homicide, He Typed, ’cause he’s so old-fashioned that he doesn’t have a computer. Wait, maybe I'll make him a math teacher who scribles with markers on every flat surface. Anyway, his dog gets run over, which gives him an aversion to cars, so he rides a three-wheeler around looking for cars with suspiciously new bumpers or paint. Here’s the good part: While looking around a town with a population of 92, he finds one or two vehicular homicides a week! He reluctantly solves them with his car know-how for this clueless sheriff who. . . .

[Andreya]

Well, I don't know if it's a cliche.. But basically it depends how you do it.. :)

You can play around with cliches too, make it original & surprising etc.

Or you can have 'original' stuff & make it boring lol.. at least that's my 2c... :)
Really depends how it's done.. :)

& if you have a mystery I'd expect to see it tied up sometime in the future.. (?) Or at least significant to the plot now & then.. (but in novel/original/unexpected ways.. :))

[minervaK]

I have a corollary question: how about dead or estranged or otherwise mysteriously absent parents? Is it actually a cliche, or does it just happen to be included in the limited number of books I've read?

MK

[Chase]

Now that you mention it, I recall lots of orphaned protagonists as well. Do you suppose it's to uncomplicate the writing? Simplify the hero's environment?

In the case of my mystery, all the 'rents are gone, too: One set so one protagonist could inherit his residence. Another mom 'n' pop are victims of a car crash so the other main charcater must fend for herself. It also makes the protagonists more needy. But I certainly have fallen into a stereotype, haven't I?

[narnia]

Now that you mention it, I recall lots of orphaned protagonists as well. Do you suppose it's to uncomplicate the writing? Simplify the hero's environment?

In the case of my mystery, all the 'rents are gone, too: One set so one protagonist could inherit his residence. Another mom 'n' pop are victims of a car crash so the other main charcater must fend for herself. It also makes the protagonists more needy. But I certainly have fallen into a stereotype, haven't I?

Interesting. I started down the same track but for different reasons at first. My MC had a mom who drove her nuts in typical nit-picky over-critical mom-type behavior and took the mom out because I didn't want my own mom to be personally offended. Then I thought that it would make my MC more free if she didn't have any immediate family at all, and simplify my life too. I wouldn't have to answer any questions like why didn't she call her family for help? The answer is that it didn't serve the plot (calling her family I mean) but it may be subconscious laziness. :D

As for the OP's question, I see nothing wrong with the mysterious death of the wife as long as it's not, well, predictable! :tongue Not knowing specifics I am sure there are tons of ways you could weave that in and make it fresh and intriguing.

Best of luck!

:Sun:

[minervaK]

Well, personally, I think the dead/missing/troubled parents thing is used to both enlist sympathy for the character and free her from family ties that she might otherwise rely on when she gets into trouble. This seems almost essential in mystery/suspense stories. The main character almost has to be independent or estranged from her family, or else she'd run home to mom every time the going got tough.

Actually, that almost suggests an interesting story line -- a character who *does* run home to mom when the going gets tough, but ultimately decides she has to stop doing so, for one reason or another (she's a grownup, running home to mom endangers mom, etc.). It might detract from the main plot, though.

The most common thing I've seen is not to mention family/parents at all. The exceptions I can think of use family members as a major part of the story (Janet Evanovich springs to mind).

MK

[gothicangel]

In my crime novel my main protaganist is estranged from his father following a massive bust-up (the plot is hinged on this relationship).

[Vito]

I have not read much detective fiction, but I have the impression that having a personal tragedy, perhaps unsolved, among the family or friends of the detective, is fairly common. Would you say that it is common to the point of being a cliche of the genre? I want to stay with this idea, but if it elicits, "Not another mysterious death of a wife!" groans, I'll know I need to try harder to make it less predictable.

Unless I'm having a major memory lapse, I can't think of many fictional series detectives created by any of the major mystery novelists who have that type of personal tragedy in their past. So I'd say that it's really not a cliche. However, my exposure to detective fiction is limited to the classic authors (Chandler, Hammett, the MacDonalds) and current bestselling authors (Parker, Block, Grafton, etc.), so maybe there's a few such characters that I've not yet read about.

[Good Word]

Doesn't sound cliche to me. My first reaction to your post Elara, is that you should go with what you've got if it's coming out in an authentic way and not second-guess yourself. If it's a good story it won't matter if someone has done something a little similar. Look at how many vampire books there are...

[Sophia]

Thank you very much, Good Word and everyone, for your helpful and thought-provoking responses.

I have gone ahead with these characters, and have tried to make it as true to the setting and circumstances as I can, and hopefully it will seem plausible. Thanks again; I've borne all your comments in mind.

[Gravity]

For what it's worth, the protag for my Joe Box series (currently three books out, commercially published), many years ago was a young cop who lost his wife and unborn son in a car wreck on Christmas Eve. This resulted in him losing his faith (which he's slowly regaining), as well as him becoming a private detective after a twelve-year alcoholic slide. Is Joe's situation a cliche? I dunno. The books were a kick to write, and the readers seemed to like 'em, so what do I know...

[Serious Desi]

I don't know I haven't read much detective mystries...in mine my MC's nephew gets kidnapped....I think....
In the few detective stories I have read they haven't had wives, and they never talked about them.

[minervaK]

I don't know I haven't read much detective mystries...in mine my MC's nephew gets kidnapped....I think....
In the few detective stories I have read they haven't had wives, and they never talked about them.

This is part of the mystery/detective canon, to wit:

http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/vandine.htm

MK

[cbenoi1]

> I have the impression that having a personal tragedy,
> perhaps unsolved, among the family or friends of the detective, is fairly common.

The Maltese Falcon. Sam's buddy gets killed.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Eddie Valiant's brother Teddy killed years earlier.
Golden City (french comics). MC's wife gets killed early and haunts him the whole series.
Lethal Weapon. MC has lost his wife.

I have others in mind, but can't remember their titles. It's one way to introduce a flaw in your character. It's fine if it works. But, please (pretty please?), don't have a 'femme fatale' client... THAT would be cliche.

-cb