Writers Who Kill

 

Love is in the Air! Happy Valentine’s Day!

By Heather Weidner

There are a lot of celebrations around my house in February. My birthday was yesterday, and today’s Valentine’s Day. Besides birthday cake, February always brings chocolate, roses, and red and pink hearts to my mind. With all the love and romance in the air and on store shelves, I decided to start a list of favorite romantic/literary entanglements.

But just as mysteries have lots of twists and turns, love or passion are not always X’s and O’s or the perfect happily-ever-after. Authors use romantic encounters and relationships to show a more human side of their sleuth, to highlight a vulnerability or a weakness, or to create tension or conflict in the story or among characters (not to mention with some readers who love or hate the pairing).

Here's my list.

Rhys Bowen

·        Lady Georgiana and Darcy O’Mara

Michael Connelly

·        Harry Bosch and ex-wife Eleanor Wish and others

·        Mickey Haller and first wife, Maggie McPherson, and second wife, Lorna Crane and others

Arthur Conan Doyle

·        Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler (in later adaptations)

Dashiell Hammett

·        Nick and Nora Charles

Carolyn Keene

·        Nancy Drew and Ned Nickerson

Faye Kellerman

·        Peter Decker and Rena Lazarus

Robert B. Parker

·        Spenser and Susan Silverman

Louise Penny

·        Chief Inspector Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache

Elizabeth Peters

·        Amelia Peabody Emerson and Professor Radcliffe Emerson

J. D. Robb

·        Eve Dallas and Roarke

Dorothy Sayers

·        Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane

Tom Shaw

·        Richard Castle and Kate Beckett

·        Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook

·        Derrick Storm and Clara Strike

Karin Slaughter

·        Will Trent and Sara Linton

Ellie Alexander

·        Jules and Carlos

Jacqueline Frost

·        Holly and Sheriff Evan Gray

My Characters

·        Delanie Fitzgerald and Special Agent Eric Ellington (Johnny Velvet was just a fling.)

·        Jules Keene and Jake Evans

·        Jade Hicks and Nick Driscoll

 We also cannot forget about the fictional love triangles that create all kinds of suspense, frustration, and havoc among the characters and the readers who take opposing sides.

 Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum and Joseph Morelli and Ranger

 Libby Klein

Poppy McAllister and Tim and Gia

 Joanne Fluke

Hannah and Norman and Mike

 Korina Moss

Willa and Roman and Detective Heath

 Who are your favorite literary couples? And are there any that you love to hate?

 

Through the years, Heather Weidner has been a cop’s kid, technical writer, editor, college professor, software tester, and IT manager. She writes the Pearly Girls Mysteries, the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries, The Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, and The Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries.

Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew. She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a pair of Jack Russell terriers.

Check out her Valentine cozy, Deadlines and Valentines. Available at your favorite bookseller.