We now live in a world where lies are considered to be the equal of truth, cruelty is the norm and old friends are being stabbed in the back. Diplomacy now consists of shouting louder than the other guy and breaking all your promises. Malignant narcissism is in fashion.

My late wife was a historian and she was especially interested in the English Revolution (popularly known as the English Civil War). ‘The World Turned Upside Down’ was a popular ballad at the time and was also the title of her favourite book. My wife thought that it a good description of the time when a King’s power was absolute. Many thought that these powers were oppressive and groups such as the Diggers and Levellers tried to build a world where everyone had certain inalienable rights. They were, of course, hounded and oppressed by the King for daring to say such things. Many suffered greatly at the King’s hand and so chose to leave England behind and look for a land where they would be free of absolute rulers. These men and women founded the United States of America. Considering that the USA has now elected a King, I find that there is some irony in this.

I’m beginning to think that it might also be a good description of these times too.

So, where does crime writing come into it? In thinking about this, I was reminded of a wonderful old movie called ‘Sullivan’s Travels‘. In the movie a successful director of Hollywood comedies wants to do something serious. He is living in serious times where many men are unemployed and poverty is the norm. So, he wants to portray the plight of his country in a movie called ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’. (This may sound familiar as the Coen Brothers used it as the title of one of their movies.) He dresses up as a hobo and, of course, no-one believes that he’s a famous movie director. He then gets a taste of what it’s really like to be poor and on the breadline. He ends up in jail where he has an epiphany when, for a rare treat, a Disney cartoon is shown. He laughs along with the rest of the prisoners and he realises that, in hard times, comedy is important too. He ends up going back to Hollywood and back to directing comedies.

Like comedy, I think that the crime novel has something to offer in hard times. Terrible things may happen, but only on the page. At the end, all is known and justice is served. Crime writers offer their readers a world that might be dark and unpleasant in the knowledge that wrongs will be righted and, in the end, humanity wins.

If only we could be so sure that humanity will win out in the real world.