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More from Martin Edwards
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Writing Legal Mysteries
Writing Legal Mysteries by Martin Edwards Long before I ever dreamed of becoming a lawyer, I knew that I wanted to write novels. And, specifically, crime novels. Entering the law was a way of earning enough money to keep myself going while I wrote. But I was luckier than I expected or, perhaps, deserved. As well as becoming a published crime writer, I find my job, as a partner in a solicitors firm in the North West of England, and head of the practice labour law department, fascinating in the extreme. My own work does not provide me directly with much technical research material for my novels. I have never handled criminal cases but it did offer me the chance to become a published author, years before my first novel was accepted. When I qualified as a solicitor, exactly twenty years ago, I decided to specialise in labour law. I was still uncertain whether I would enjoy the job but I had to eat. Within a few months of starting work, I was hooked on the subject. The law of employment seldom involves crime, but it often provides intriguing insights into the way that people behave at work, and I am sure that the job has helped me to gain a better understanding of human nature than I would have had if I had starved quietly in a garret while pounding away at the typewriter. I began to have legal articles published in professional magazines and when I was 27 I was commissioned to write a book. The only problem was that I knew little or nothing about the subject: the then embryonic law of computer contracts. But I had a go, the reviews were fine and I gained invaluable experience of dealing with publishers. More legal books, as well as hundreds of articles followed. At present I am co-writing my seventh non-fiction book on equal opportunities law and I am contracted to write four articles a month. Fun to do: but I would never want the legal writing to get in the way of my fiction. Of course, the discipline of writing technically accurate non-fiction is a world away from the creative exercise of writing a mystery novel. But self-discipline is not a bad habit for a novelist to acquire and I suppose that my preference for writing detailed outlines of my books about Harry Devlin before I start on chapter one has something to do with my legal training. I hardly ever write courtroom scenes, for the very good reason that I have hardly ever been inside a criminal court (employment tribunals are rather different). Harry Devlin is, like me, a solicitor with an office in Liverpool, but I am always keen to make it clear that the resemblance ends there. (My clients, who have reacted warmly and with a great deal of generosity ever since they learned their legal adviser was also a purveyor of murder and mayhem, tend to be relieved when I say this: I am afraid Harry is not exactly a workaholic). I certainly like Harry a great deal and I feel I have come to know him better the more I have written about him: one of the benefits of creating a series character. Of course, he and I have things in common. But they tend mostly to be superficial things. The two of us would react quite differently to the same events. Faced with a murder case, I guess I would run a mile. Harry is insatiably curious, curious about things that perhaps I would rather not know about and he simply can't help getting involved. Harry handles criminal work and divorce law, areas I know little or nothing about, with which I'm unfamiliar. Fortunately, I have helpful partners who give me valuable insights into their work. I have been given ideas about a mortgage fraud (for I Remember You) and a disputed will (for The Devil In Disguise) by colleagues dealing with property and probate law, but, in truth, I have to research these subjects by talking to experts in much the same way as a non-lawyer would. One of these days, I shall write a book which makes more use of my knowledge of employment law, but it may not be a Harry Devlin story. Write about what you know is a cliche, although like most cliches it contains a grain of truth. I suppose that in one way I am writing about what I know by setting my books in a city rich in history as well as contemporary interest and by giving my hero the same job as mine. On another and more important level, though, it is all made up: I just don't come across many murderers in my life, and I'm not too unhappy about that. The legal stuff provides the books with a framework which I, and, I hope, my readers, find enjoyable. But what really matters to me is stretching my imagination as far as I can as I try to write books that are not only entertaining but also, with any luck, distinctive. |
