Why are so many murder-mysteries set in upper class life?

Mr TeacakeMr Teacake Posts: 6,593
Forum Member
Is it because the richest people were the first readers of fiction before literacy became widespread?
«1

Comments

  • tremetreme Posts: 5,445
    Forum Member
    Probably because of the drama and an early form of celeb voyeurism, where we are fascinated with "how the other half live" kind of thing. An aspirational appeal maybe?
  • James FrederickJames Frederick Posts: 53,184
    Forum Member
    Mr Teacake wrote: »
    Is it because the richest people were the first readers of fiction before literacy became widespread?

    I think it's more likely the writers were so they wrote about the lifestyle they knew they probably didn't know to much about how the poor or lower classes lived
  • Shoe LaceShoe Lace Posts: 612
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    Because poor people are too dumb to kill others off in an interesting way. What would be discussion worthy if some pheasant whacked another with a bottle of lager? Nothing.
  • Trsvis_BickleTrsvis_Bickle Posts: 9,202
    Forum Member
    I think it's more likely the writers were so they wrote about the lifestyle they knew they probably didn't know to much about how the poor or lower classes lived

    Pretty much this. Go back to the earliest crime fiction writers and they're all upper-middle class. They set their stories in the milieus that they were famiiar with.
  • christina83christina83 Posts: 11,115
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    Because poor people are like wild animals, always killing eachother. :p
  • Mr TeacakeMr Teacake Posts: 6,593
    Forum Member
    treme wrote: »
    Probably because of the drama and an early form of celeb voyeurism, where we are fascinated with "how the other half live" kind of thing. An aspirational appeal maybe?

    I'm also thinking these environments are ideal for msteries:

    several possible suspects around the house e.g. groundsmen, servants, waiters etc

    Grand houses make it plausible for a murder to take place unknown

    Mannerisms e.g. Mr Harpinson always has tea at 3pm in the conservatory so he was disturbed when his waiter appeared at 3:01
  • TakaeTakae Posts: 13,555
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    Edit: ^ I like that as it makes sense.

    Didn't someone once say "upper class people are different from you and I"?
  • ElectraElectra Posts: 55,660
    Forum Member
    Shoe Lace wrote: »
    Because poor people are too dumb to kill others off in an interesting way. What would be discussion worthy if some pheasant whacked another with a bottle of lager? Nothing.

    If pheasants were whacking each other with bottles of lager, that would be pretty interesting. Peasants, not so much.
  • EmmasmytheEmmasmythe Posts: 530
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    Any cases? Aka jonbenet ramsey? O j simpson? Mccanns? Jack the ripper, lord lucan?
  • Shoe LaceShoe Lace Posts: 612
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    Electra wrote: »
    If pheasants were whacking each other with bottles of lager, that would be pretty interesting. Peasants, not so much.
    God damn it, I really need to start paying better attention to my spelling:o. But English is not my first language and that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
  • TheEricPollardTheEricPollard Posts: 11,582
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    Rich people are weird.
  • flashgordon1952flashgordon1952 Posts: 3,799
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    because it would look silly from a council estate and all the best murders are done in the country and miles awayfrom anyone.
    In general in films people get murdered for money or sex .
    so big toff with a huge estate gets murdered by his siblings comparfed with an unemnployed council tenant
  • Si_CreweSi_Crewe Posts: 40,202
    Forum Member
    treme wrote: »
    Probably because of the drama and an early form of celeb voyeurism, where we are fascinated with "how the other half live" kind of thing. An aspirational appeal maybe?

    That's sort of what I was going to say.

    Thing is, books and movies and TV shows are, all else aside, supposed to be entertainment.
    That being the case, it creates a better opportunity to provide entertainment when you can set your story in some glitzy, jet-setting world rather than dull old suburbia.

    I suppose that such settings also allow for less moral ambiguity too.
    When you've got, say, some rich git who decides to bump off his business partner to keep all the money for himself or some playboy who gets his jollies by murdering women it's much easier to provoke dislike for the character than if it was a story about some poor sod who decided to shoot the manager of Brighthouse because he was in a heap of debt or summat.
  • moonvisagemoonvisage Posts: 292
    Forum Member
    I noticed a lot of horror films,like hammer,were always set in mostly upper class houses,or one of the main characters was a ranking officer in the army.Vampires seem to have been moved to the elite industrialists of society.
  • ganderpoke66ganderpoke66 Posts: 2,128
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Did Murder/Whodunnit books exist before Agatha Christie came along ?
  • annette kurtenannette kurten Posts: 39,543
    Forum Member
    Did Murder/Whodunnit books exist before Agatha Christie came along ?

    this is what made her want to write whodunnits.

    http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/book/mystery-of-the-yellow-room-by-gaston-leroux
  • NewExampleNewExample Posts: 1,196
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    In the tv world, upper class people are seen as good and moral, and they wouldn't harm others. Lower classes are scummy and are drug addicts. So in order to keep Shameless on channel 4, they insist on this tradition.
  • juliancarswelljuliancarswell Posts: 8,896
    Forum Member
    Try Frost next time. His stuff is often set in working class enviroments.
  • Deb ArkleDeb Arkle Posts: 12,584
    Forum Member
    ✭✭

    That's free to download onto Kindle! Thanks Annette. :)
  • annette kurtenannette kurten Posts: 39,543
    Forum Member
    Deb Arkle wrote: »
    That's free to download onto Kindle! Thanks Annette. :)

    my pleasure. there`s loads of really good stuff on there.
  • BerBer Posts: 24,562
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Try Frost next time. His stuff is often set in working class enviroments.

    Rebus is good as well but they dont make the show anymore.
  • Hootenanny123Hootenanny123 Posts: 206
    Forum Member
    Its most likely due to the first novels being set in a higher class environment. Its more interesting to set it with rich people, there are so many more possibilities than there would be in a working class setting. Of course there is also the issue of race, it was not long ago there was some bother with a producer of midsummer murders. (The latest episode seems to have been produced on a lower budget judging by some of the scenes.)
  • Ghengis CanGhengis Can Posts: 759
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    NewExample wrote: »
    In the tv world, upper class people are seen as good and moral, and they wouldn't harm others. Lower classes are scummy and are drug addicts. So in order to keep Shameless on channel 4, they insist on this tradition.

    Midsomer Murders clearly follows this principle, along with Poirot. :D
  • Bobbity-booBobbity-boo Posts: 974
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    Shoe Lace wrote: »
    Because poor people are too dumb to kill others off in an interesting way. What would be discussion worthy if some pheasant whacked another with a bottle of lager? Nothing.

    I'd say that would be pretty remarkable - no?
  • jsmith99jsmith99 Posts: 20,382
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    There's a very good series of crime novels by Sheila Quigley, set on a council estate based on the one in which she lives.

    The novels are set in the town of Houghton-le-Spring, close to Hebburn, of TV fame.

    She didn't start writing until she was 57, and she writes in a very natural style.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Quigley
Sign In or Register to comment.