How Hollywood Lent a Hand

I wanted to write a murder mystery. My sleuth was an environmental health officer. But he didn’t have a name.

And that’s where Hollywood lent a hand.

And I don't mean Oscar.

Going back to the beginning

My desire to write murder mystery novels began as little more than a vague collection of ideas, inspired by Miss Marple, Inspector Morse and Kinsey Millhone, the feisty private eye on Sue Grafton’s Alphabet Murder series.

I wanted to create a sleuth like Kinsey for the English murder mystery market.

But I needed a name to bring him to life.

Being an environmental health officer, like me, wasn’t enough.

Not that I would have got away with solving murders, ruffling feathers and bending rules in between food hygiene inspections.

I wouldn’t have kept my job for long.

Which meant I had to be clever if my sleuth was going to push against authority and remain successful.

The answer came from an unlikely place.

An author friend asked me if I’d ever Googled my name to see what sort of presence I had on the search engine.

It had never occurred to me. But every time I opened Google to research a detail, his suggestion nagged at me. It wasn’t vanity. It was fun. And maybe I’d get a few surprises.

I typed in Robert Crouch and pressed the search button.

And there, on the first page of results, a name stopped me in my tracks.

Robert Fisher Crouch.

A farmer and Conservative MP who represented North Dorset.

It felt like an omen.

It set my mind racing with ideas.

What if my sleuth's father was the local MP? Or a cabinet minister.

Would that afford his son some leeway? The hierarchy in the local council wouldn’t want to upset their local MP, would they?

Then I recalled the day I'd once visited a local landowner, who could trace his ancestry back to the Norman Conquest. The family tree, pinned to a wall in the house, fascinated me.

And gave me an idea.

My sleuth would come from a wealthy, traditional family, where names passed down the generations.

I went through so many first names on the internet, looking at their meanings. But I couldn’t imagine a sleuth called Rupert or Montgomery.

His name had to suggest someone who could handle himself when danger threatened. Someone brave and courageous.

My thoughts turned to Superman and Clark Kent.

Kent sounded different. Right, but different.

How would you end up with a name like that?

Perhaps it’s where he was conceived. Or born.

Or maybe he’d shortened it from Kenneth.

That sounded like a name a traditional family might use.

But Kent sounded daring and distinctive.

All I needed was the right surname to go with it.

And that’s where Hollywood stepped in.

I'd seen Carrie Fisher in Star Wars, but knew next to nothing about her. Until the evening Clive James interviewed her on his television show.

Sharp, witty, and funny, she had just enough vulnerability to make her utterly captivating.

I was hooked.

And so was Kent.

I could see him lying in his bedroom, surrounded by posters of Carrie Fisher on the wall. He imagined being with her, laughing at her jokes, captivated by her personality.

And that’s when the last piece of the puzzle dropped into place.

Kent could pretend they were married.

After all, they shared the same surname, didn’t they?

Kent Fisher was more than a name.

Those two words unlocked the character I'd been trying to find. With that name, my sleuth came to life.

My journey towards writing murder mystery novels took a huge leap forward.

Thanks to a farmer, an MP, and Hollywood, Kent Fisher came to life.

*****

If you'd like to uncover more secrets behind the murder mysteries, why not come and join me in my Readers' Group?

You can connect directly with me to share insights and learn more about the characters, the inspiration behind the novels and their settings. You'll also receive a free short story that reveals the origins of Kent Fisher's relentless pursuit of justice.