This week: The Drama of the Lone Detective Edited by: Joy  
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Unless you are good at guessing, it is not much use being a detective.
Agatha Christie
They say that genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains," he remarked with a smile. "It's a very bad definition, but it does apply to detective work.
Arthur Conan Doyle
Most detective story readers are an educated audience and know there are only a certain number of plots. The interest lies in what the writer does with them.
Kerry Greenwood
As I work, I see my writing - each scene, each chapter, each section, each book - in three-act structures and classic myths, and I analyze them through the handy filter of the detective story.
Nick Harkaway
I really believe that studying organization, even in the form of studying detective story organization, is very, very valuable for a playwright, a budding playwright.
Peter Shaffer
Hello, I am Joy , this week's drama editor. This issue is about the drama of the lone detective.
Thank you for reading our newsletters and for supplying the editors with feedback and encouragement. |
Welcome to the Drama newsletter
I grew up reading the stories of Arsène Lupin, the French thief-detective. I read his escapades, sometimes hiding under the table, since my mother thought he was putting immoral ideas in my head. She preferred I read the gentlemanly Sherlock instead since he was so righteous.
Then, at the beginning of the twentieth century, there was also Nat Pinkerton who traveled around the world, solving crimes. He even tried to solve the conspiracy behind President McKinley's assassination. Although his stories were quite imaginative, they didn't attract me like those of Arsène Lupin's.
I had access to these stories that were published in different languages and were also translated into English before my time because one of my grandfathers was into publishing and crime fiction, and he had a storage of those old publications.
Still, reading such books and others, I didn't care much for police procedurals that sometimes dominated the action. I thought the detectives themselves were to die for and they were, in my child's-mind, closer to God than anyone else. In hindsight, maybe my mother had a point.
Even so, there is some romance and drama offered by these lone-detective archetypes. They entered a corrupt world with a cynical sneer and an unusual moral compass, and they tried to fix what was wrong. Take Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, for example. Marlowe himself was witty and often accepted cases with low pay. Then, there was Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade, detached and professional and he mostly went by his own rules. The lone detectives that came later, such as Lee Child's Jack Reacher, Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone, and several others had some of the values of the earlier lone detectives, as well; however, they had to fit themselves to the changing times.
All these detectives I mentioned and several others, even those who arrived during the last decades, were detached, solitary figures who worked through life and the world of crime with an unwavering dedication. Above all, in my earliest days, they taught me about the power of the individual who can make a difference.
So, how can we, as writers, create drama in our lone-detective stories? Keep in mind that, in such fiction, the story is not only in the puzzle of a case, but more so, it rests on the lone detective who carries the story's weight physically, psychologically, and ethically, while he solves it.
If we wish to create such a character, we might possibly think about these ideas about the character's specific attributes:
* The lone detective is often emotionally or socially cut off, which may create some internal drama on its own for the detective. Who this lone detective is, therefore, becomes important. What is the detective's voice and speech like, cynical, jovial, cross or what? We have to keep in mind that the detective's personality can always create some dramatic texture.
* The lone detective, however rarely, can be untouched by the case. When that happens, we might wish to give them something personal attached to the case, such as a memory triggered by the crime or a temptation to cross the line or a moral dilemma. This might be best pictured in situations where true justice and legality do not match.
* We might place the story in a setting that might mirror the detective's inner world. Good descriptions of scenes such as late-night diners, deserted roads etc., may make the story feel loaded with drama.
* We might give our detective some vulnerability to heighten the suspense. Corrupt officials, time running-out, or the detective having no back-up, for example.
* We might end the story with a sad twist or a different outcome. This is because drama comes from uncertainty. Justice may not have been served the way the detective hoped, for example, or the one person the detective trusted was the poison in the pot. As such, leaving room for complexity and ambiguity are always our options in writing stories.
When all is said and done, at the end, the crime may drive the plot, but the drama of the character, that lone-detective, possesses the heart of the story.
Until next time! 
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 This Issue's Tip: When writing a crime drama, give the opposition layers. A corrupt mayor, a charming killer, a client with secrets—all of them should challenge your lone detective intellectually and morally. When the antagonist isn’t just evil but eerily human, it sharpens the emotional stakes.
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Feedback for "That Most Important Scene"
To the July 16 Drama NL's question, "Which scene, in your fiction, do you pay the most attention to?" most of you replied "the climax scene."
So, I guess the majority wins!
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Drama: August 13, 2025 Issue [#13277]
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