Clicking Our Heels – Our Personal Favorites – Police, Investigators, or Researchers

Clicking Our Heels – Our Personal Favorites – Police,  Investigator, or Researchers

Crime fiction writers often depend upon others to make sure our stories are accurate. Today, we talk about police, investigators, or researchers we have encountered who are our favorites – whether real or fictional.

Barbara J. Eikmeier – A conversation with a forensic anthropologist. She knows a lot about markers in bones!

Mary Lee Ashford (1/2 Sparkle Abbey) – The investigator/researcher that I find fascinating is the forensic anthropologist who uses their scientific knowledge to reveal the human side of a victim. It’s fascinating to me that the sum of hard data about a victim can be translated to a more complete picture. And how that can result in perhaps identifying the person.

Judy Penz Sheluk – I love Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch, but I grew up reading Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series. In my opinion, he set the gold standard.

Gay Yellen – Hmm… Sara Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski comes to mind, because she was an early kickass female private investigator that caught on with a legion of fans.

Donalee Moulton – Right now, and in keeping with the times, it would be AI and how AI can be used to provide information about a crime scene. I understand this is the tip of a very big iceberg.

Paula G. Benson – An assistant coroner came to speak to our local SinC chapter. While giving his talk, He received a call about a human skeleton that had been located and needed to be identified. He showed us the photos he was receiving by text and allowed us to determine gender and other factors with him.

Bethany Maines – I don’t write a lot of procedurals, but I’m fascinated by genealogy and I love Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. I’d love to work a genealogist crime solver into one of my stories.

Debra H. Goldstein – Because I am a Perry Mason fan, it would be Paul Drake.

Donnell Ann Bell – Oh, gosh what a tough question. Steven Kerry Brown, John J. Robinson, Steve Pease, writing as Michael Chandos, Wally Lind, Wesley Harris, Lee Lofland, Kathy Bennett, Robin, Burcell, Brooke Terpening, Katherine Ramsland, Dr. Fred Collins, Chris Herndon, Pete Klismet …I could go on and on…

Saralyn Richard – I write police procedurals, and my investigator is Detective Oliver Parrott. After four novels in the series, Parrott continues to fascinate me. When I first met him, he reminded me of Connolly’s Harry Bosch and Patterson’s Alex Cross. I named him Parrott as a nod to Christie’s Hercule Poirot.

T.K. Thorne – D.P.Lyle is a cardiologist who writes forensic books (as well as his own fiction) to guide writers. He is full of the most interesting information!

Lois Winston – I belong to CrimeSceneWriter. There are experts in every field who answer authors’ questions whether medical, forensic, legal, or technical. I’ve learned quite a bit from these experts, and they’ve kept me from making huge mistakes in my books. It would be impossible to pick just one of them because they’re all such fabulous sources.

Anita Clark (1/2 of Sparkle Abbey) – Well, about 20 years ago we moved into our new house and found a pipe bomb in our backyard. After the bomb squad detonated it, I chatted up the sergeant and invited him to speak at my local writing group. He was a great resource for years until he moved on.