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YOU_AGAIN

                                                   April 6, 2009

    A common scene,
    though not quite
    a required scene:

    The police arrive and
    discover that our hero          A Perry Mason episode: Tragg arrives
    has once again got there        at the crime scene, and finds Mason
    ahead of them.                  and Drake standing in the living room,
                                    talking.  He glares at them darkly and
                                    aburptly snaps "Where's the body?"
                                    Mason says nothing, he just points
                                    helpfully to a doorway, and Tragg
                                    stalks through.
    Alternately: the
    police demand to know
    if the detectives are      This, of course,
    working on some case,      describes nearly    One suspects actual cops
    and are told               every Nero Wolfe    would be less shocked at
    definitely not.  Then      story.              a professional lie, but
    the detectives are                             reality has little to do
    hired to do so, and                            with these scenes.
    the police come back
    in screaming, with                          Does that bear
    accusations of lies.                        repeating?

                                    Private or amateur
                                    detectives don't
    Or, once upon a time:           regularly investigate
    Scottland Yard                  murders, and actual
    reluctantly consults            murders don't often
    the great amateur               work as logical
    expert once again.              puzzles-- typically the     Further:
                                    murderer is either          unsolved
                                    obvious or never found.     domestic
                                                                murders are
                                      So, you might             hardly a
                                      wonder what one           huge social
                                      would mean by             problem,
                                      "realistic mystery        compared to,
                                      novel".  And you          say, drunk
    These are all a                   might ponder why          drivers.
    variation of                      our fictions are
    "the praise of                    dominated by              Or compared
    one's enemies".                   scenarios that are        to the
                                      so obviously              all-too-easily
    The official experts              fictional.                "solved"
    have a grudging,                                            international
    suspicious respect                                          murders.
    for the hero.

        PRAISE_OF_ONES_ENEMIES





         You might look at this as a
         solution to a technical problem
         with a series detective-- the           The problem gets
         main character is repeatedly            worse if the hero is
         getting involved in what would          a private detective,
         really be once-in-a-lifetime            and still worse if
         situations.                             an amateur detective.


                    This issue could just be ignored--
                    some improbabilities only get
                    worse when explained-- but if
                    commenting on it can be made use
                    of, then that's what you should do.








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