Deborah Crombie--It Takes a Village

DEBORAH CROMBIE: In mid-July I'm doing this fabulous panel at the virtual Malice Domestic, MORE THAN MALICE, with four of my very favorite authors, Elly Griffiths, Ann Cleeves, Peter Robinson, and Michael Nava. 

 

We all have series novels under our belts, and in the case of Ann and Elly, more than one series. (I am in awe!) We'll be moderated by the fabulous Oline Cogdill, and we'll be chatting about those subsidiary characters who fill out our novels and help bring our canvases depth and interest. I know that in all these authors' works I love the secondary characters as much as the primary protagonists.

But with every new book, we always hope to bring new readers into the series, and feeding in the backstories of this varied cast can be a challenge. Longtime readers of a series may need a little refresher as well--I know I sometimes do myself!

In this scene from the book in progress, the 19th Kincaid/James, Duncan is going to see the Howards, the mother and son who were first introduced way back in AND JUSTICE THERE IS NONE, the eighth book in the series, and who have appeared regularly in the subsequent books. Here, they have a personal connection to the victim in the murder Duncan and his team are investigating.

Just to set the scene, here's the Sun in Splendour pub, just at dusk, on a much nicer day than Duncan's.

Less than half an hour later, Kincaid emerged at Notting Hill Gate and hailed another taxi. It was already getting dark, the twilight accelerated by the overcast sky and intermittent drizzle. The market would be breaking down, and as they passed the end of Portobello Road he could see the throngs of shoppers heading back towards the tube station. Light shone cheerfully from the big windows of the Sun in Splendour on the corner.

The taxi trundled down Pembridge Crescent, avoiding Portobello which would be chock-a-block with stall holders’ vans as well as tourists. It snaked around Powis Square, where their vet, Bryony Poole, lived, then passed the Tabernacle, where Toby had been rehearsing for the ballet—a rehearsal which Kincaid had once again missed. Well, maybe he could go some way towards making that up if he asked Toby to show him his part tonight.

At Westbourne Park Kincaid got out, paid his fare, and stood gazing up at the multi-hued terraced houses. It seemed every other one was covered with scaffolding these days. The properties were scooped up by investors, renovated, then resold for amounts no one but hedge fund managers could afford. But Betty Howard and her son Wesley had so far managed to hold on to their third-floor flat, which had been in Betty’s family since her parents had emigrated from Trinidad in the days when the notorious slumlord Peter Rachman had controlled many of the tenements in Notting Hill. Betty’s parents had eventually managed to buy their flat, and after their deaths, Betty and her late husband had raised their children here. The five girls all now had families of their own and only Wesley, the youngest and only boy, still lived in the flat with Betty.

Now, glancing up, he saw that all the flat’s windows were lit. The Howards were home. With a last glance at his watch, Kincaid rang the bell.

You can tell I'm missing Notting Hill here! 

Readers, do you like having little reminders of who recurring characters are and how they fit into the series? And how much information is too much?