Many current best-selling mystery series revolve around a married couple or a happily committed couple who solve crimes together. Does a romantic relationship add a whole new dimension to the plot? Is there an extra layer of emotional conflict when the marriage is threatened or turns rocky? Here's what I found.
True love can withstand the test of time.
In EXPLOITED, a thriller by Pamela Callow, lawyer Kate Lange is reunited with Randall Barrett, her former boss and the managing partner of one of the top law firms in Halifax. Kate defended him in an earlier book in the series when he was accused of murdering his ex-wife. With limited criminal law experience, Kate performed brilliantly in a case that seemed unwinnable, while battling her own demons and resisting her white-hot attraction to Randall. Ten months later, they meet again in EXPLOITED, but much has changed. Kate is packing her office to begin a job at a different firm, when Randall appears at the door. She glances up, and “the gaze that met hers was the one she’d been waiting for all morning. In fact, it was one she’d been waiting for the past ten months.” In spite of the passage of time and the stressors in their lives, they seem destined to have a romantic relationship. EXPLOITED is the fourth book in the best-selling Kate Lange thriller series, which is now under option for television development
Marriage can offer a relationship "tested by time."
In Carolyn Hart's DEATH AT THE DOOR, the 24th release in the Death on Demand series, Annie and Max Darling have enjoyed a long history together on Broward's Rock. Has their relationship ever been tested? Yes. In a previous book, DEAD DAYS OF SUMMER, Max was accused of murder and adultery, but Annie stood by him. This daunting experience left them with the sense that every day is precious and nothing can be taken for granted. Annie and Max are different, but complementary. Annie loves to work, and Max is more equable, much more interested in enjoying the moment. Their relationship is as fresh and compelling in this book as in the very first one in the series.
Marriage can be bliss when you find your soul mate.
Marie Force, author of the wildly successful Fatal series, always planned that her two lead characters, Lt. Sam Holland and Sen. Nick Cappuano, would be married. In FATAL AFFAIR, the first book in the series, Sam and Nick haven't seen each other in six years. They had a sizzling one-night affair, but circumstances kept them apart. Their relationship takes off at a roller-coaster pace in book one and continues to blaze as their connection becomes more powerful. Marie says, "They were both committed at the end of the first book, and I didn't want to let it drag on with the readers wondering if they would get married. That's why they get married after book three." In book eight, FATAL SCANDAL, they remain passionately devoted to each other.
Marriage can have a calming influence.
Police chief Wally Boyd is calm in emergencies in MURDER OF A NEEDLED KNITTER by Denise Swanson. He's also madly in love with Skye Dennison, his bride in the Scumble River Mysteries series. As the book opens, the couple is enjoying a honeymoon cruise in the Caribbean, complete with romantic dinners on the balcony of their suite. When Skye's parents show up as fellow passengers and a murderer stalks the cruise ship, Wally manages to adapt to the new situation with grace and courage. Skye realizes that Wally had "not only unlocked her heart but her soul." Skye was in love with Wally the first time she saw him and their honeymoon cements her feelings for him.
Marriage can make a good relationship a great one.
In FESTIVE IN DEATH, book 39 in the In Death series, J.D. Robb explores the longstanding relationship between police lieutenant Eve Dallas and her billionaire husband, Roarke. Their lives are different yet intertwined by their common history (both had incredibly painful childhoods) and the perfect way they complement each other. In this book, we see a more sentimental side of Eve's nature when she gives him a lapel pin in the shape of a white gardenia, her "wedding flower." Roarke rereads the Yeats book she gave him one Christmas and gifts her with private sessions with a martial arts expert. Each is finely attuned to the other. Their work lives are connected and in a previous book, Eve receives the highest commendation given to a police officer and Roarke receives the top commendation for a civilian consultant. Marriage has only ramped up the wild attraction they feel for each other.
The verdict is in. A romantic relationship can add a whole new dimension to mysteries as the pair solve murders together.
Mary Kennedy is a licensed psychologist and the author of the Talk Radio Mysteries and the Dream Club Mysteries. She’s written nearly fifty novels and has four million copies in print. Her first thirty-five books were young adult novels published by Scholastic nationwide and in several countries. She lives in the northeast with an eccentric cat. She’s tried unsuccessfully to psychoanalyze him but she remains optimistic.
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