dialogue in fiction
The Wedding Guest
Writing about some of the best-known detectives in crime fiction recently got me thinking about others that didn’t instantly spring to mind. Cue LAPD Lieutenant Milo Sturgis with his sidekick psychologist Dr Alex Delaware, creations from the mind of Jonathan Kellerman (himself a psychologist as well as best-selling novelist). It will come as no surprise that psychology is closer to my field of interest than crime, so I’ve enjoyed previous books in the series where Delaware shares his insights as a first person narrator.
And what d’you know, there on my tbr shelf was an unread volume featuring this duo picked up in a charity shop recently: The Wedding Guest.
The scene is a wedding reception with a Saints and Sinners theme in a rather seedy venue that used to be a strip club. A pathologically self-centred bride and a wimpish groom do nothing to endear the tale to us. Then one of the bridesmaids discovers the body of a beautiful young woman draped over the cistern in a grotty backroom toilet, a stranger whom no one in the party recognises. There are no means of identification on her and we don’t discover who she is till almost exactly half way through the book.
It’s an easy read with a linear story line but I confess the plot of this one didn’t appeal and I really didn’t care about any of the characters. 
However, I’m mentioning it because it serves to remind me that there are many facets of writing which can be valuable, even those we thoroughly dislike. In this case one thing Kellerman does do well is dialogue. Whether it’s the easy banter between Delaware and Sturgis, or the obfuscation and incriminating cues dropped by those with something to hide, or the coded exchanges of colleagues, they drive the narrative on and flesh out the characters.
As the saying goes, no reading is wasted for a writer.