The Romantic Trope of the Investigator: Pros and My Personal Reservations
- Rinzing Yongewa
- Jul 17
- 4 min read
I read dozens and dozens of historical mysteries, and I have noticed a tendency, especially in the independently published series, to follow a certain opening pattern.
Tell me if you have heard this one:
The Trope
The lady- a nice girl in her 20's who probably has red hair and a job that is very feminine, though maybe not- brushes against murder in some fairly personal way. Brother was offed, boss's client winds up dead, it was her favorite client, etc.
The very next person who shows up on page is a handsome police officer (in a recent one I read, he was a lawyer and I got excited at the subversion of the trope) who is, in some way, not like other boys.
The subplot for the rest of the series is these two people hooking up. Often, they are married by book three, and they are the dynamic crime-solving duo for the rest of the time.
Timeline
'The Carter Street Hangman' was published in 1979, and that is all of this trope. In fact, Anne Perry did it at least twice: Thomas and Charlotte Pitt, and then William Monk and Hester Latterly. So, this has been common since the advent of historical mysteries as a genre. I read all over the timeline, so I assure you, that this isn't a new trope. It just feels a little more prevalent, with pairings of two guys who are friends or coworkers taking up the rest of the books. I don't know what the percentages are, but those are most common set-ups I see.
Understanding the Attraction
It's the world's easiest subplot, and a way to flesh out your investigators. Mysteries are famously plot-centric, which can be a little sterile and can deprive a historically-minded mystery reader of good world-building.
It also allows for our female protagonist to be involved in solving a mystery when the story is set in an era that the writer can't make her a police officer and can't figure out a graceful way to insert her otherwise (I know there are ways to do this- there were the finders and aleconners in Medieval England, all of whom were women. In eras with no police force and people were supposed to bring murderers to justice on their own account, there are plenty of opportunities. So, this is a writer preferring romance to research.)
Most importantly, why are you rooting for people to solve this case? Sometimes it's because the murder was intricate; sometimes it's because the time-period and characters are fascinating. When you have a romantic couple investigating the crime, you are leaning on the second option.
Reservations
I'm making a bit of an assumption here, but many of the independently published mystery series with this trope seem to think 'murmur' is another word for 'said.' They also spend more time on the pining than on the solving.
I know for a fact that the woman who wrote the Midnight Louis series was a romance writer first, and I suspect there are many more. This is fine; the more the merrier; bring all the romantic subplots you want.
But 'murmur' is not a substitute for 'said.' The police officer is not murmuring during an interrogation. That's not how that works. I know mystery has a rep for bad prose, but that isn't an invitation to do more of same. 'Said' is a fine word. Use it.
And, you know, subplots take word count. It's great that you can explore a romantic relationship past the meet-cute through criminal investigation, but you have to be careful to give both the investigation and the relationship the space to come to a satisfying ending. It's a difficult balancing act.
I'm also just really jonesing for investigating pairs who are platonic friends. I love it when people are friends and work together. I got a book off Smashwords (yes, the sale is still on) specifically because it promised me by it's title that the investigators would be two ladies who are friends. It was called 'Two Spinsters and a Corpse,' and it delivered. There were two women who are opposites in personality who are brought together because they overhear a lady get poisoned at a party. Reading as these two become friends is great.
It's not a flawless book. I would have preferred more investigating. But I spent $1.25 on three more books just to see more of these two ladies solving crimes together. We're short on these kinds of pairings, and I miss it.
Mostly, it's two guys who are buds when they aren't a romantic couple, which is great. I love this too. I absolutely read the Matthew Bartholomew series mostly because I love how Brother Micheal and Matthew Bartholomew get along. Unfortunately, it's a pairing that can sometimes veer into the original 'Holmes/Watson' set up where one is the brilliant ubermensch and his bumbling (sycophantic) buddy is just there to buff the main man's image. This can get a little cloying.
Anyway...
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