Police, camera, action!

So while my son and his band The Divisional were out on Saturday night playing a gig in town, I was watching the previous night's episode of Castle. (Yes, I know how sad that makes me look, but it's a guilty pleasure.) In case you haven't come across this gem of American TV, the premise is that Richard Castle is a crime writer who has managed to get himself attached to the police department of the implausibly glamorous Detective Kate Beckett. He 'helps' her to solve crimes.

Well, this week's episode was about the death of the singer in a rock band and was full of scenes of musicians and drugs, musicians and guns, musicians and unscrupulous managers. Gulp! Not much to worry a mother there, then!

Meanwhile, in the May edition of Writing Magazine there is an interesting article by police trainer Ian Sales on how the real police force operates. There is also a mock scenario like those used to train real detectives. What would we readers do in that first 'golden hour' after the discovery of a body? Can't wait for next month's solution to see how I've got on.

I enjoy a bit of TV detection. The trouble is, the more episodes you watch, the easier they become to solve - e.g., in Midsomer Murders the culprit is always the first famous actor you see. Once you've worked out the grammar of the show, you can forget about following the plot and just let the story unfold in a warm, comforting way.

Not that I could write one, of course!