Heart-pounding Crime Stories

The human race has always been fascinated with crime, both true crime and fictional. A crime story is considered to be entertainment and a large chunk of films, books and movies is devoted to criminal subjects. Wilkie Collins is said to be the novelist who invented the modern crime thriller. Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories enthralled Victorian readers and their use of forensic investigation influences crime writers today. Later, Agatha Christie wrote a string of murder novels set amongst the British upper class.

In America, the genre was popularized by Raymond Chandler, whose novels were the basis of several film noir movies, including The Big Sleep starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Films about maverick private investigators have prevailed ever since. TV shows have also been dominated by crime story series. The 1970s was the decade of Starksy and Hutch, Cagney and Lacey and Charlie’s Angels. Michael Douglas’s career was launched in The Streets of San Francisco. Some of these shows tried to look different, as in Ironside, which featured a wheelchair bound detective. There were shows just for escapism and those, which were grittier.

Criminals have been portrayed as the anti-hero or Robin Hood type of figure. The true crime story of Bonnie and Clyde was criticized for glamorizing the bank robbers. Steve McQueen played a gentleman thief in The Thomas Crown Affair and it was difficult not to be rooting for him. Crime capers such as Ocean’s Eleven made the audience identify with the thieves.

The world of the Mafia and organized crime has also been explored in film and in books. The Godfather trilogy, based on the novel by Mario Puzo, was a graphic depiction of the inner world of modern day gangsters. Goodfellas told the true story of how gangsters live and what makes them tick.

Real crime holds a special fascination for people, especially in the case of serial murderers or particularly brutal killings. One of the best selling novels of a true crime story is In Cold Blood, written by Truman Capote. It tells the story of the two men who slaughtered an entire family in their own home. Books and films have also been written about notorious murderers such as Ted Bundy and John Gacy. In fact, Gacy was the inspiration behind the Hannibal Lecter character in Silence of the Lambs. The account of the Manson Family murders called Helter Skelter, written by Vincent Bugliosi, was another bestseller. Perhaps our enthusiasm to learn about such tales is an attempt to understand the motives of cold-blooded killers.

Today, shows like The Sopranos, CSI and Cold Case keep the interest going. There is a lot of emphasis on forensics and police use of scientific methods as we’ve gone into the 21st century. However it’s presented, we all like a good whodunit and a safe peep into the underbelly of society.