Writing Sleuths – Depicting Rural Surveillance

Writing a whodunnit, an amateur sleuth, or a hardboiled private eye story? Whatever kind of sleuth you’re writing, part of his/her skill set is to conduct surveillance, but keep in mind that surveying someone in the city is different than in the country. This article offers tips for accurately depicting a rural surveillance, of if you’d like to add some story conflict, simply have your sleuth do the opposite of these tips!
Before your fictional sleuth travels to a rural region, he/she should:
1. Know the Region. Have your fictional sleuth study the area before he/she travels there. In our state, we have some big stretches of country outside “the big cities.” When we’re going into the country, we’ll check online maps (for example, MapQuest, Google Earth). Have your fictional sleuth do the same. On the other hand, if you’re looking for more conflict in your story, have your sleuth circling around and attracting unwanted attention in that small town!
2. Use an Appropriate Vehicle. Maybe your fictional sleuth scoots around town in a lime-green VW, but that dog won’t hunt in the country. In a small town, everybody knows everybody else, including what car they drive. A sleuth wanting to avoid detection will drive a vehicle that blends in, is nondescript, and can handle the terrain.
3. Have a Good Reason for Being Parked There. A sleuth can be parked on a country public road and document whatever he/she sees “in plain view”-but they’d better have a good reason for being there if someone asks. For example, most professional PI’s keep props ready, such as binoculars and a bird guide (pretending they’re bird watchers), car-repair tools (pretending to be fixing a car), etc.
4. Look the Part. Just as a professional PI will wear clothes appropriate for surveillance at a city location, your fictional sleuth should wear clothes that blend in for surveillance in a particular part of the country and its season. For example, if it’s a small country town in the dead of winter, your fictional sleuth might wear jeans, boots, hat, and a heavy jacket. On the other hand, imagine how a sleuth would stick out in that same scenario wearing an evening gown, fur coat, and heels!
5. Choose Useful Equipment. It’s always iffy if a cell phone will have adequate transmission in remote areas (which can add a twist to your story), but other equipment can be selected for surveillance in the country (cameras with increased optical zoom, video equipment that is functional, portable, and low profile). And you never know-maybe a PDA (or laptop with wireless connectivity) can connect to some farmhouse’s wireless Internet service, which would give your fictional sleuth access to email, Internet. Of course, there’s also numerous wireless networks real-life sleuths can plug into on the fly, and maybe you’ll use some of these more sophisticated options for your sleuth, too.
Use these tips to add plausibility and realistic touches to your sleuth working in rural settings. If, however, you’re more interested in writing a bumbling, funny sleuth a la Inspector Clouseau, turn these tips inside-out so he/she will stand out and fumble their way through the story, and into your readers’ hearts.