Of all the genres out there, crime fiction has perhaps the strangest relationship to tropes. Its purpose is to shock us; after all, there’s no point reading a whodunnit if the solution is obvious. Yet it is also some of the most formulaic fiction out there: at least one person gets murdered, another investigates, and the culprit is revealed. Dozens more mini-clichés seem to crop up everywhere too, from the useless sidekick to “the butler did it”. So if we know what’s going to happen, why do we keep reading? And how do thrillers manage to keep us on our toes anyway?
In this mini-series, I’ll be investigating four of the most common tropes in an attempt to solve this mystery, starting with the biggest culprit of all: getting stranded. Ever since Golden Age writers dreamed up the first country house murders, crime authors haven’t stopped putting their characters in an isolated location with a killer. Destination thrillers and other modern reinventions might have made the settings stranger or more exotic than ever, but the trope itself just never seems to die…
What Is It?
It all starts innocently enough. A group of friends, family, or strangers gather together in a remote location, but they’re all there for a good reason. Maybe it’s for a wedding on an idyllic island, or a hiking holiday in the mountains. Maybe they’re at work: crew on a ship about to embark on a long journey across the seas, or influencers seeking their big break on a reality show. Or maybe they don’t even know why they’re there: a seemingly random group, all anonymously invited to the same cut-off spot, each with their own motivations for saying yes.
Any which way, everything seems fine at first—that is, until the first body turns up, and it becomes clear that something is very wrong indeed. There’s no way of getting back home to safety, no help on the way, and no knowing who to trust. How long will it be until the next disaster strikes?
How Does It Work?
Much like most tropes, this classic set-up has a very practical reason for existing: it’s just so irresistibly convenient. If you’ve ever read a murder mystery set in a normal-sized town and thought, “But wait: shouldn’t everyone in the area be a suspect? Why are we only focused on these six?”, then this trope is for you. It immediately narrows down the suspect list to whoever is on the island/boat/train etc., because no one else can get in or out. The writer can put a manageable number of characters in their chosen isolated spot, and the reader can rest assured the eventual victim(s) and killer alike is amongst them.
Practicalities aside, it’s also an incredibly effective way to build tension—a.k.a. the thriller’s raison d’être. As soon as everyone’s stranded, there’s immediate peril. There is only a limited amount of time until supplies run out, and if they’re on an island or up a mountain you can be almost certain that a life-threatening storm is on its way. Alternatively, in classic country house set-ups, a blizzard or flash flooding will make sure the police can’t get there any time soon. The stranded also have a nasty habit of being picked off one by one, until only a few survivors remain. You know the murderer has to be one of them, but which will it be?
Plus, in the complete absence of the authorities, it’s up to the unfortunate individuals trapped together to work this out for themselves. This gives the author free reign to explore what happens when the usual societal norms break down and survival instincts come to the fore. Characters begin to fall into types, from the obnoxious one who’s obviously going to get killed off next to the plucky heroine you’re rooting for to make it out alive. As the dramatic finale approaches, you aren’t just asking yourself who the killer is, but how far you might go to survive in the same situation.
The Best Of The Best
There are so many examples of this particular trope that it’s almost hard to know where to start. Nevertheless, here’s a few especially strong contenders:
- Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None: The original and (whisper it) the best. Ten strangers are invited to an island only to be gradually killed off in accordance with a nursery rhyme’s gruesome lyrics. It seems simple at first, but there’s a reason why this is the world’s all-time best-selling murder mystery.
- Lucy Foley, The Guest List: 80 years later, remote islands are still just as dangerous. A wedding party full of secrets gathers on a storm-hit isle for the extravagant marriage of two terrible people everyone hates. It doesn’t end well.
- Emma Haughton, The Dark: Islands are not obligatory; any other hostile environment works just as well. Haughton’s suspects are all scientists working in 24-hour darkness at an Antarctic research facility. The setting’s intrinsic creepiness adds to the impending threat posed by a murderer on the loose.
- Lauren Forry, The Launch Party: I said there was no end to the places you can find yourself stranded with a killer, and I wasn’t exaggerating. Forry takes this to extremes by setting her whodunnit in the first hotel on the Moon, where there really is no escape route. It sounds bizarre, but it’s actually a stroke of genius.
Love crime fiction? This is the first of a four–part series exploring the tropes which keep thrillers thrilling. Come back next week for a deep dive into The Rich Family we all love to hate.
Words by Eleanor Harvey
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