What Can I Get You to Drink? By KM Rockwood

I love Dashiell Hammet’s Nick and Nora Charles mysteries.

He only wrote one as a novel, The Thin Man, but the characters lived on in a series of movies, radio broadcasts, TV shows, a Broadway presentation, and another stage play.

A quick aside—originally, the thin man referenced in the title was not Nick himself, who was described as overweight and out of shape. The thin man was the victim, Clyde Wynant. When the novel was adapted for a movie, William Powell, a much more attractive man than the written description might imply, was selected to play Nick Charles. Nora was played by Myrna Loy.

With the dashing, svelte Powell as Nick, the “thin man” soon became synonymous with Nick Charles in the public’s eyes.

One thing that caught my attention was the constant consumption of alcohol by the characters. As all creative works, the stories are products of their time.

Prohibition had just ended in 1933. The country was in the throes of the Great Depression. A glamorous couple, especially one with a character (Nick) who rose from a poor immigrant background to great wealth, appealed to the public.

Nick and Nora’s drinking reflect their identity. Urbane, witty, and effortlessly stylish. Along with other comic aspects, their tipsy exchanges lighten the tone of the murder investigations, making the stories feel more entertaining than grim. Nick’s perpetual drinking, and his casual side exploits in search of a drink at inopportune times, display nonchalance in the face of danger.

Alcohol drenches much of the Golden Age detective fiction, although its purpose was often functional rather than psychological.

Agatha Christie used drinks, both alcoholic and non-, as a murder vehicle. In Sparkling Cyanide, poisoned champagne shows up at a dinner party. Death in the Clouds brings us murder by coffee.

Dorothy Sayer’s Lord Peter Wimsey is particular about his wine and port, signaling

education, wealth, cultural sophistication, and a casual acceptance of class structure, with him decidedly in the upper echelons.

Ngaio Marsh often used drinking parties to create crowded, chaotic environments where motives and opportunities for crime were rampant. In Vintage Murder, a celebration featuring wine sets the stage.

As the mystery genre advances, we see more characters turning to alcohol as a crutch or an escape, sometimes to the point of interfering with their ability to proceed with the tasks at hand.

Is the consumption of alcohol important to your characters? Do they drink to socialize? To celebrate? To forget? Or do they abstain?