Between
the two of us, we witness three or more murders a week. Happily, many of these
vicious crimes are solved within fifty minutes or so, not counting commercial
breaks. And in most cases, we have to use English-language closed captioning to
understand what is going on, particularly for British crimes (even though one
of us is British).
The
authorities working these cases vary, depending on the country where the murder
occurs. American female crime-solvers generally resemble ex-supermodels, with
long, flowing hair that the perpetrator could, but never does, grab during an
altercation. British female cops usually
arrive at the crime scene looking like they just made breakfast for four kids
and dropped them off at school. Australian policewomen often have a healthy,
outdoorsy look, almost as if they stored their surfboard in the trunk of their
car before putting on their blue rubber gloves. The men, in nearly all countries,
are typically either very good-looking or hopelessly rumpled and disheveled. As a rule of thumb, the more disheveled the guy, and the more
he mumbles, the more likely he is to be brilliant and solve the case.
So,
as a murder-mystery writing duo, does this watching we do help or hinder us? Is
it a form of research, since we are unlikely (we hope) to come across real
murders in our everyday lives except on
TV? Well, we’ve learned a lot about police tape, not compromising the murder
scene, and the popularity of the blunt-force object used to bash in skulls. In
the US the preferred weapon appears to be a gun, whereas knives are widely
popular in the UK (not withstanding an Agatha Christie adaptation, where poison
is very popular).
We’ve
also learned a lot about DNA, which on the surface would seem to make any crime
solvable. And we’ve learned police jargon. And the importance of CCTV cameras
and cell phones—or mobile phones, as the case may be—both excellent deterrents
when it comes to proving false alibis.
Same goes for good old social media and Google, which appear to play an
important role in modern police investigating.
Whatever
the source (e.g., Prime Video, Netflix, or, heaven forbid, regular TV), it
doesn’t hurt us a bit to plunk down on the couch, often still in our pajamas,
with a cup of coffee and a TV remote. Let the bingeing—er, research—begin!!!!!
