Can I supplement with another reason for sidekicks. A mystery often turns on the detective putting together clues rather than physically doing something, as in a police procedural. Since some of the crucial steps happen inside the detective's mind, we readers have no direct access to the crucial events. A sidekick gives the detective someone to explain the deduction too. This is the role of Dr. Watson -- Sherlock Holmes explains his thought processes to Watson. So, my theory is, the sidekick serves as a way for us to access the detective's internal thought process.
That sounds right to me. Since novelists (of all kinds) use dialogue to reveal what a character is thinking, giving the detective a sidekick means you can set up a series of conversations. Then you can use the dialogue between the two to show what's on the detective's mind as the investigation moves along.. It's a great addition to the list..
Thanks. I do hope readers will be interested. When people ask me about the novel, many are surprised to learn that five men were executed as Anne Boleyn's lovers and that one of them was a musician in his early twenties.. I wanted to tell his story.
Jean, I'm sure you're away of the PBS series, Miss Scarlet and the Duke. If not, it's your cuppa. Also I've read all the Sherlocki stories, many of them two or three times.
Can I supplement with another reason for sidekicks. A mystery often turns on the detective putting together clues rather than physically doing something, as in a police procedural. Since some of the crucial steps happen inside the detective's mind, we readers have no direct access to the crucial events. A sidekick gives the detective someone to explain the deduction too. This is the role of Dr. Watson -- Sherlock Holmes explains his thought processes to Watson. So, my theory is, the sidekick serves as a way for us to access the detective's internal thought process.
That sounds right to me. Since novelists (of all kinds) use dialogue to reveal what a character is thinking, giving the detective a sidekick means you can set up a series of conversations. Then you can use the dialogue between the two to show what's on the detective's mind as the investigation moves along.. It's a great addition to the list..
For some reason Jane Austen popped to mind. Her heroines usually have a sister or friend who plays the role of a sidekick as you've defined.
I did too! I thought about Elizabeth and Jane Bennett while I was writing this.
A novel about Mark Smeaton?? That sounds awesome!
Thanks. I do hope readers will be interested. When people ask me about the novel, many are surprised to learn that five men were executed as Anne Boleyn's lovers and that one of them was a musician in his early twenties.. I wanted to tell his story.
Jean, I'm sure you're away of the PBS series, Miss Scarlet and the Duke. If not, it's your cuppa. Also I've read all the Sherlocki stories, many of them two or three times.