SMFS Member Guest Post: What Makes A Southern Crime Story? by Justin Murphy

Please welcome our fellow member, Justin Murphy, to the blog today... 

As someone born and half raised in Dothan, Alabama with the other half of my upbringing and more in Central Florida (only debatably part of The South), I’ve wondered what constitutes a Southern Crime writer or crime tale set in this region. Many have discussed and debated the works of literary authors in the vein of William Faulkner or Flannery O’Connor. Yet what I plan to explore and question ties more into the crime element. A few recent works I’ve read somewhat deal with this, as do several more books on my shelf.

While Harper Lee’s works To Kill A Mockingbird and Go Set A Watchman, set in Maycomb, Alabama, don’t strike many as being in the Crime genre. They do include the simple fact Atticus Finch is a lawyer and the trial of Tom Robinson for the alleged rape of Mayella Ewell. John D. MacDonald’s North Carolina based novel The Executioners, spawning two film adaptations titled Cape Fear, also focuses on attorney Sam Bowden. Yet this story isn’t about inclusion or racial injustice. His client Max Cady got sent to prison for raping and beating an underage girl. Years later, the man targets and attacks his wife and children for revenge, leading his former legal counsel to defend them in a final showdown.

The former works are merely literary or coming of age stories from the perspective of Jean Louise ’’Scout’’ Finch which ’’happens to depict’’ her father defending a wrongly accused man in a legal proceeding. The latter also involves a protagonist who defended a client in a trial many years earlier, but this story leans full tilt into a more extreme portion of the genre. A suspense thriller where he must protect his family from the guilty man he himself wronged. No matter what side of the genre spectrum these stories fall on, they are an interesting study of mirrors and contrasts in how the characters Atticus Finch and Sam Bowden are both barristers who deal with issues regarding work and family in different ways. One tries to separate his children from the dangers of the Tom Robinson case while the other’s wife and child are already in such waters thanks to Max Cady’s pursuits. On a side note, the fact Gregory Peck played both roles in film adaptations makes this even more interesting and a testament to his talent as an actor.

Furthering this notion is how, in James Lee Burke’s novel The Glass Rainbow, New Iberia, Louisiana based detective Dave Robicheaux’s daughter Alafair dates a questionable man who’s involved with another shady individual who might be at the center of the crime. One could argue Southern Crime involves more personal stakes, instead of being some high-octane thriller in an urban setting. Though Hannibal Lecter novels Red Dragon and The Silence of The Lambs have Southern characters and aspects despite sometimes being linked with the latter. Such as how F.B.I. profiler Will Graham is from Louisiana in the former and investigates murders in Birmingham, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia while maintaining a home and family life in Marathon, Florida. Trainee Clarice Starling hails from West Virginia, where one of the murder victims is found and the follow up tale partially takes place in Tennessee where Catherine Martin is being held by Buffalo Bill. Yet both novels hit close to home for their characters. Graham must defend and protect his family from Francis Dolarhyde in the end. Likewise, Starling shooting Buffalo Bill and rescuing Catherine Martin allows her to overcome the childhood trauma of losing her parents. Even more so with the failed rescue attempt of a lamb about to be slaughtered at her cousin’s ranch before being sent to a Lutheran orphanage.

Perhaps the biggest anomaly is Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil. A real-life true crime story set in Savannah, Georgia. It centers on Jim Williams, a man who bought and renovated properties and antiques, killing his lover Danny Hansford and being tried four times for his murder. A lot of the emphasis is on quirky characters, like fictional works of Southern Literature. Such as transgender entertainer The Lady Chablis, Sonny Seiler, an attorney who breeds and keeps mascots for The Georgia Bulldogs football team. Like with the above examples, the matter is personal between Williams and Hansford. This may be the takeaway from Southern Crime, regardless of fiction or non-fiction, these tales appear to have more personal stakes than the big or brash criminal activity of their urban counterparts. Alongside the much-discussed intimate settings, is how the nature of the crimes also tend to be such. Whether it be a literary story which ’’happens’’ to feature criminal aspects or a full blown genre story submerged in it.

 

Justin Murphy ©2023

Justin Murphy has self-published many works of Fiction and Non-Fiction through Amazon Kindle and Audible. For many years, he has also attempted the leap to traditional publishing and is now trying to get noticed in mystery magazines and anthologies. He deals with a mild case of Cerebral Palsy and helps care for a young brother who is Autistic. He considers him to be the joy of his life and wouldn’t have it any other way. He also dabbles in Photograph. They and their mother have traveled cross country, even making it to Yellowstone. All three are nomadic, doing so full time. Here are my pages for Amazon and Audible:  Justin Murphy Amazon Page and Justin Murphy Audible Page