Law & Order Syndrome Almost Buries D Isabella

Part 3.There’s a phenomenon I call “The Law & Order Syndrome.” It happens when viewers and readers get used to too many Cop programs & books where the murder occurs in the first scene, then the police solve it. Well, that’s not how I write. I prefer to develop characters first.

IMO, Doña Isabella also deserves much more. I consider her to be key to understanding both Issy and the series. So originally, I wrote her death scene as a prologue. But my editor told me this was a no-no. “Nobody likes prologues, and the murder should come right away.” But, I countered, it takes Issy a while to fall in love with the victim so she can be devastated when he is killed around 1/3 of the way in the book. My editor wouldn’t have it. And to be fair, publishers know what sells and are more attuned to the market than I am. Being new as a fiction writer, I accepted my editor’s suggestions.

So in Scent of Murder, Eddy is killed right away and Issy is suspected right away. Also her ancestor, who my editor considered to be a superfluous character, is relegated to a weird dream around chapter 9. Not what I’d envisioned. I’ve had a few justifiable complaints about this from readers. So in my next post, I’ll copy the Prologue to the series that I originally intended. If you’ve read both versions of Scent of Murder, please email me with your opinion. I always pay attention to readers’ opinions.