So, I’m thinking of trying my hand at a silly little mystery novel. You know, the light and funny kind. I’m good at light and funny. What I’m not good at is the whole “what comes between the body and the arrest” thing, particularly when it comes to the feds.
Now, there’s plenty of information about the FBI’s jurisdiction and invitations to help out local LEOs with, oh, you know, your average gruesome serial killer on their website and elsewhere. (Quite a good website, by the way.) And there’s plenty of information on “how do the police process a crime scene” and “how are police departments organized”.
What I haven’t been able to find much of is “how are FBI agents assigned to cases” and “what exactly do regional branch offices do” and “do agents always wear suits like in the movies” and “describe the day to day life of a special agent, and also tell me how much freedom they have to move between offices and how much stability there is with regards to location.” We’ve got some books at the library specifically for mystery authors, but I really didn’t find anything useful at all.
Suggestions? If I just call the local office with questions would they give me good answers? I know the cops will let you do ride-alongs if you ask nice, but I can’t imagine the wing-tip set being as welcoming. Any suggestions for good books on the subject? I need current stuff, and not just extraordinary cases. It bugs the shit out of me when people get my profession all wrong and I have no desire to do that to somebody else if I can avoid it.
Have your buddy the mayor get the local police to let you shadow one of their detectives on a case or three. Be witty and urbane while doing so, and provide the key jump in logic that lets the cops solve the case. Be Nathan Fillion.
Okay, so now that it’s Monday morning and everybody’s more or less alert, can I get some real answers? Don’t make me call the FBI and get put on somebody’s list!
Except for “your buddy the mayor” part, I think silenus actually gave pretty solid information. I read scores of detective novels and mysteries, and almost without exception, the authors’ acknowledgements will contain names of all the police officers, FBI agents, forensic scientists, etc. who were patient and generous enough to answer the authors’ questions. Many, many times, the author says that he or she went on ridealongs with said agents.
Even the books I’ve been most recently reading, the Cleveland-based detective novels of Michael Koryta: Until his newest book, released just last week, the author was working as a private investigator all the time he was writing his five previous books. So he knows the ins and outs of being a detective. And still he cites other sources, like the Cleveland Metroparks Police, for how they’d handle crimes in their jurisdictions.
Contact your local PD. They probably have a Public Relations officer who can arrange for you to do ride-alongs with officers on patrol. I spent many, many hours riding with the Austin PD when I lived there; it sparked my interest highly enough that I actually entered law enforcement.
