Safari Saturday searching the web for writers and readers — research for crime writers

Defrosting Cold Cases is a blog set up by Alice de Sturler and based in Virginia, USA. In the past she has worked in universities and for the human rights organisation Amnesty International, now she devotes a lot of time getting more media attention for the victims of unsolved murder cases. Through blogging and social media she has been able to shine a new light on some of these old cases because she has the time to search through old paperwork and she is determined to focus attention on forgotten cases that haven’t attracted publicity. Here she explains what she does:

I think of a cold case as a puzzle. You try to fit the pieces together. Usually people start with the edges and then continue with the best or most recognizable part of the (perceived) image. Sometimes that works very well. However, if after decades the puzzle pieces still do not fit together then maybe it is time to think outside the box.

Maybe the bits of information that formed a single puzzle piece were never meant to be placed together. Maybe we started the puzzle with the wrong pieces or, in the wrong order. So, what would happen if we started in another order or with different pieces?

That is exactly what I like to do.

Alice has an interest in unsolved crimes and miscarriages of justice wherever they occur. At the moment she is taking a keen – and somewhat skeptical – interest in the re-opening of the Crewe case. A tragic double murder that rocked New Zealand in the 1970s and led to  an innocent man being convicted after the police planted evidence.
This is a great site if you’re interested in true crime stories and campaigns for justice, but I decided to flag it up here because I think it is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in writing in crime fiction. This is a site written by an expert and she links to other sites where writer’s questions can be answered.
It is said that crime fiction becomes more popular in times of economic uncertainty…perhaps because some psychological comfort can be drawn from the blood and gore and spine chilling wrong turns. As P.D. James said, crime fiction isn’t about who done it – it’s about the restoration of order.

(Ooops my Safari Friday has slipped into Saturday again – I think I might as well give in and rename this slot)

Safari = Swahili for long journey.I am on the look out for anything accessible from a keyboard that educates, entertains, intrigues, raises a smile. Anything that helps a reader get through the day or a writer the next draft. Let me know if you write a website that you’d like featured or discover something that really should be shared.