We have picked the bones out of many crime novels and have read several that needed a good editor. It is a popular genre, but goodness there are some bad novels out there!
Our five key bugbears are:
1. Obvious plot holes (please re-read your work before handing it in!)
2. Too much detail, demonstrating the copious research done by the author (no need to show your work)
3. A cast of unpleasant characters, including the hero (leaves us no-one to root for apart from the corpse)
4. Detectives with an, often unnamed, ‘tragedy’ in their past or the maverick detective (too much of a cliché and gets in the way of the plot)
5. A baddie (or goodie) with access to endless resources: money, weapons, special forces training (often obscures poor plotting)
