A good plot, extraordinary writing and a reflection on the fate of the world: these are the ingredients of a successful thriller, according to the collaborator of the Duty Michel Bélair. A lover of this literary genre which exposes human and social flaws, he recently published Black on whitean essay that portrays 20 major authors of detective novels.
Having become a crime fiction critic in the early 2000s, DutyMichel Bélair retired from the Montreal daily in 2012, while continuing to contribute regularly thereafter. In his book published in May, he delves into the dark world of writers who are, according to him, among the most important in this literary genre.
His essay features, among others, the French author Fred Vargas, the Swede Henning Mankell and the American James Lee Burke. “These authors are people who know how to bear witness to everyday life, as well as the world in which we live and the divisions that inhabit it at all levels,” he believes.
Contrary to what the uninitiated might believe, the plots of many detective novels go beyond car chases and bloodstains, he points out. “Whether you think of the migrant crisis, the housing crisis or social inequality, all of these things exist in detective novels.”
Throughout the pages illustrated by Christian Tiffet, Michel Bélair demonstrates that certain authors were avant-garde. They tackled thorny issues before they were on everyone’s lips, he says. The Italian novelist Andrea Camilleri, who brought Commissioner Montalbano to life, notably depicted migrants colliding with the doors of Europe in some of his books from the early 2000s. “There are people who have just come to become aware of this phenomenon. Crime fiction has been talking about this for a very long time. »
By exploring these complex realities, certain detective novels have the power to make readers more empathetic, he believes. “These writers know how to involve us personally in their plots. The characters struggle with issues that we all face. »
Extreme world, excessive detectives
In thrillers, it is not uncommon to find investigators with unpredictable behavior who have a strong penchant for the bottle. We only have to think of Harry Hole, famous police inspector created by Norwegian author Jo Nesbø. “It lives up to its name. He is a walking black hole and a fabulous character who is at the extremes,” maintains Michel Bélair.
According to him, the presence of excessive heroes in several thrillers is explained by the fact that the plots of these books are set in times of crisis. “It highlights the extremes,” he says.
Not all detective novel investigators are at the extremes, he adds. “Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander, for example, is a gentleman like everyone else who is torn by doubt and who always questions everything. »
Several investigators also have the distinction of having been at the heart of major historical moments, such as the Vietnam War. This is the case of veteran Walt Longmire, a character created by American author Craig Johnson. “Some heroes have lived through the conflicts imposed by their leaders and have been deeply marked by it. Most of them come out of it torn, but several are still balanced,” says Michel Bélair.
Through thrillers, certain writers decide to explore a period of history that fascinates them, he continues. The Scottish author Philip Kerr, for example, set his intrigues particularly in Nazi Germany. “A Germanophile, he never understood why the Germans suddenly changed course and fell in love with a figure like Hitler. All his work tries to account for this and explain it,” he says.
And in Quebec?
As elsewhere, thrillers have been generating real enthusiasm in Quebec for a while, believes Michel Bélair. More and more novelists here are devoting themselves to detective stories, he observes. “We could easily think of a dozen Quebec writers who are really very good in this literary genre. »
Among the lot, we notably include the “doyenne”, Chrystine Brouillet, he notes. Last November, she published The month of the deadthe twenty-first investigation by Maud Graham, his favorite heroine. Other authors in Quebec are essential, such as Louise Penny, Martin Michaud or Jean-Jacques Pelletier, he adds.
Inexhaustible on the subject of detective novels from here and elsewhere, Michel Bélair is thinking of writing a sequel to his essay Black on white. He could thus present key writers that he had to abandon in his book published in May. “I am thinking, among others, of the Americans Michael Connelly, James Ellroy and Donald E. Westlake,” he lists.
“The great crime writers, they completely move us,” he says. It’s not just the question of “who killed who” that we find in their books. It is much more the whole investigation which is carried out and which aims firstly to elucidate how it happened and how it was that we got there. »