Robert B. Parker has a Blog

[pecunium]

I like his work. I have some minor annoyances with the way the subplots in the individual books mirror the arc of continuing story, but hey, that's something which is a painful aspect of dramatic fiction in the modern age (The Closer is awful for this; then again, I dislike aspects of it on a professional level. Her interrogation strategy bothers me. Cops' interrogation strategies bother me, and hers are cop strategies on steroids, but I digress).

His books are hard-boiled detective stories, in the mold of wisecracking; but intelligent (one can also say sensitive). Spenser ("like the poet") cooks, reads, is a baseball fan (and basketball, but he has his priorities, in the season, Baseball takes precedence), enjoys poetry and is tolerant (which doesn't mean he isn't jugemental; there's a difference).

His blog is much the same. Erratic, but readable (add a dose of working writer stuff. Not so process oriented as matociquala, but some interesting insight to the life).

Robert B. Parker

Comments

[jonathankorman.livejournal.com]

The Closer is awful for this

I, for one, would appreciate your thoughts on this subject if you ever feel moved to write about it.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

What thoughts, the cheap device of her personal life giving her the clue she needs to solve the crime?

Or her interrogational methods?

[jonathankorman.livejournal.com]

Her interrogational methods. The Closer is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. I've kind of soured on police procedurals — when they catch the bad guy at the end of an episode of CSI, it's such an anticlimax that I feel a little dirty — but between the pleasures of watching Sedgewick work and the gimmick of her character wringing an “impossible” confession out of the villain, I enjoy the show.

At the same time, I've read some of the disturbing recent journalism about police interrogations drawing people into false confessions, which makes the whole thing seem a little too parallel to cop shows that glorify police brutality. And there's something about the mechanics of her interrogations that feels like a phony TV conceit in some murky way I cannot figure out.

So getting the thoughts of a proper interrogator would be very illuminating.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Police interrogation bothers me. First, they have an agenda; get the suspect to confess. Why? Because confessions equal plea-bargains. What percentage of the accused go to trial? Damned few. What percentage of them are acquitted, even less.

This doesn't mean, per se, the cops are getting the wrong guy, but get a confession out of someone, and the odds are good she's going to jail.

That's problem the first.

Problem the second, those interrogaations would probably work. Conveniently the scriptwrier is on her side. She never has a not-guilty subject when she actually starts doing her magic. But the sorts of things she has, the staff; textbook for an interrogation where one has the means to do it (the team at the transit camp Hans Sharff worked at had huge amounds of data. They knew what airfield a pilot was from; and from that who is commander was. They kept detailed records of the names of all the pilots who were ever mentioned; and the petty little things they could find out, such as home town, etc.).

They have the power of the law behind them. They are threatening people with long stretches in prison; and offering them a way out; just talk to me.

The subjects are isolated. They are being told they are likely to be arrested; i.e. never let go. It's not torture, but it's sure not a level playing field.

Truth to tell, the thing to do when a cop wants to do "an interview" is tell them you will; when you have a lawyer. They will get pissy. They will tell you that you don't need a lawyer; esp. if you aren't guilty.

They are wrong. The time you most need a lawyer is when you are not guilty. If they should decide, at any point in the investigation that you are suspect; they will start trying to get comments from you in support of that theory. It's really easy to talk yourself into jail. Its really hard to talk yourself out.

"Hey, if I'm not a suspect you have nothing to lose by waiting for a lawyer. I'll answer questions when he gets here."

And stick to it. Don't answer anything until the lawyer gets there. Really, the thing to do is leave, and come back with the lawyer; because they will be reading you for, "clues" as soon as you say you want one. They will see it as the sign of a guilty mind. But better to spend the money, and not go to jail, than to be be honest, and get locked up.