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True Crime Stories: When Do They End?
DNA Cuts Both Ways to End Cases
When we in the writer’s trade set out to create an interesting story, the first thing we must create for our characters is jeopardy, a very bad thing that has happened, is happening, or will happen unless the hero can stop it.
If our story is realistic, a logical place to look for a credible threat is in the world of crime. That world offers the narrative advantage that the story can be told from the point of view of the victim, the law enforcement officer, the perpetrator, or the major players in a court case: prosecutor, defense lawyer, judge.
Sometimes our story is literally real, and we call the genre “true crime.” After working on and around real crimes for about 45 years, I find the “true crime” genre too challenging for many writers — myself included — -because it’s too difficult to make the stories credible.
Whether pure fiction, true crime, or a little of both, most of the stories have in common one of two ending points: apprehension or verdict. The perp is taken into custody or, sometimes, killed. The defendant is convicted or, sometimes, acquitted. The law enforcement officer or the judge moves a case file from pending to resolved.
The rare case that does not fit this paradigm can generate unending stories. Think, for example, of the…
