CONVENTIONAL CRIME SETTINGS

Setting is the TIME and PLACE in which a story occurs. The detective thriller deals with a wide scope of characters from low-life crims to ultra-wealthy crime bosses and the setting reflect this same range. People read crime fiction mostly for entertainment so the writers often set the stories in places that most ordinary people do not normally go. They give their readers a taste of the high life of the wealthy and the dangerous backstreet world of the criminal.

Modern detective fiction is set in the inner city rather than the country or suburbs because the city is the centre of most criminal activity. The city is a tough, dangerous place and you have to be street-wise to survive. The famous detective writer Raymond Chandler used the phrase 'mean streets' to describe the harshness of city life. Some aspects of these typical settings are listed below.

In the English tradition of detective fiction, written by authors such as Arthur Upfield and Agatha Christie, the settings were often lonely mansions, farmhouses or small country villages. This restricted the action and limited the suspects who could have committed the crime.

American detective fiction used aspects of this English tradition but took the stories into the streets and alleyways of the big US cities. The early detective thrillers were influenced by film noir, a style of film where the settings were shadowy, dark and full of mystery. Think 'Casablanca'. The American writers moved the detective story into the ugly underworld of gangsters and mafia hitmen. The city was portrayed as a vast stage where the struggle between the forces of good and evil fought for control, while innocent citizens went about their ordinary lives.

The Australian crime fiction tradition borrowed mostly from the English style right up into the 1970s. The stories were of the 'drawing room murder' type where a fairly neat murder takes place and the point of the story is to solve the puzzle. Most modern Australian detective stories, however, are strongly influenced by the Americans. Writers such as Day and Peter Corris place their stories in contemporary urban settings. Australian detective fiction  in recent years have developed a very strong local flavour in its language, settings and characterisation. The places Day chooses to write about are clearly identifiable Sydney landmarks.

Setting also refers to the time in which the story takes place. Detective fiction is largely set in modern times. The time of day is also an element of setting and, as you would expect, the crimes and violence in detective thrillers often take place at night. The sinister effect of darkness adds to the mood of suspense and danger.

 

STOCK DETECTIVE THRILLER SETTINGS

Here are some of the typical detective thriller settings:

• The city: backstreets, alleys, warehouses, skyscrapers of large companies.
• Seedy places associated with criminal dealings: casinos, brothels, pool halls, cheap rooms, old hotels.
• Mansions and the exotic hauntas of the rich 'Mr Big' characters: luxury yachts, pools, spas, expensive hotels.
• Professional offices, boardrooms of the business people in the story who are either victims or villains.
• Police stations, gaols and courthouses.
• The PI's office: often run-down, cheap room with an old filing system and perhaps a secretary. His/her home is also likely to be cheap and temporary, such as a small apartment in the rough part of town.

 

SETTINGS IN HARRY LAVENDER

THE CITY

A recent interview with Day revealed that she originally intended writing a book about Sydney, and the idea of its being a detective story only came later. She felt that a PI story would be a good medium for exploring many parts of Sydney's cityscape. Her decision to do this tells us a couple of important things: firstly, it reminds us that the detective thriller is very much an urban story and, secondly, it informs us that the city is a very important part of 'Harry Lavender'.

Question: Discuss whether you think the city was so important in this novel that it was almost like a living character.

This should warn you that when you read this novel, you need to be aware of the presence of the city in the story. Is the city like a character? Claudia certainly talks about the city as if it were a living thing and, the city does seem to be on her side in the fight against crime.

Claudia is very much a part of the city: she knows it very well and she uses this knowledge to help her escape danger and outwit the villains who are pursuing her. Different parts of the city have different characteristics because some areas are safe and some are dangerous. A minor note to make is that Claudia's children live in the country with their father, away from the dangers of the city.

Throughout the story, Day uses metaphors and similes to describe the city's changing moods. When Claudia describes the city, she does so affectionately, as if the city is a living thing with which she has some sort of relationship. When Harry talks about the city in his monologues, however, he treats the city as an object and uses images which express the control he has over it.

 

CLAUDIA'S VIEW OF THE CITY

Claudia first describes the city by praising its beauty. It is so imposing that it takes 'your breath away' (p.17). Later she calls Sydney a 'moody child' (p.47, 59) because the weather can be so changeable. She recalls a movie in which California was compared to a 'beautiful dancing lady' (p.47), high on heroin. Sydney is like this, she decides, except that it is not so high or so reckless. Referring to Sydney's convict beginnings, Claudia describes Sydney as being like a sickly child who has grown into a healthy adult. Writing about the city as if it were a person is called personification. Day personifies the city to show that it seems to have a life of its own, changing and growing beyond anyone's control.

Claudia mentions Sydney's colonial past again when she is describing how different parts of the city belong to particular classes of people - rich and poor. She explains that 'in Sydney money buys status' (p.69) and that the corruption in the city goes right back into the history where rum was used as a form of money by corrupt governors.

Day examines gender issues in the novel. Claudia's descriptions of the city are an occasion for her to criticise the apparent need that men have to create buildings as monuments to their power. Although Claudia seems to like the city, she doesn't approve of reckless 'development' by men who just want to put up a building to show off their wealth and power (p.17). She doesn't approve of the city being bulldozed and changed because it destroys Sydney's past. She likens it to a photo album.

The image of Sydney's being like a wild girl is repeated when Claudia says that the city and Sally have characteristics in common, 'a beautiful, made up face, a sophisticated child,...a liar, a tease' (p.110). Obviously, for Day, Sydney is female in its nature: vibrant, open, beautiful and dynamic.

A significant aspect of the city in this novel is that at times it seems to be a living entity helping Claudia in her fight against Harry. To some extent, the story is about Claudia trying to save the city from Harry's criminal cancer. He is the enemy of the city and she is its hero. The city 'helps' Claudia on several occasions by offering her protection and a means of escape. This is particularly noticeable at the end of the story when Claudia is being pursued by the knife-wielding Maori. Her knowledge of the back streets and shortcuts of the city allow her to escape his car and, when he is chasing her on foot, the city also comes to her rescue. She runs across Pyrmont Bridge towards Darling Harbour and, just when she can feel the Maori's breath on her neck, the bridge opens up to allow a boat's mast to pass through. Claudia's powerful legs enable her to jump across the widening gap, but the Maori falls through and is swallowed up by the harbour. When she lands on the bridge, Claudia clings 'to it like a baby to its mother' (p.163). It's as if the city is aware of her danger and provides her with an escape route while destroying her enemy. On p.168, in rounding off the story, Day becomes quite poetic and affectionate in her descriptions of the city. Again, she personifies the city as a female and blames men for the destruction of its beauty in the name of development.

 

HARRY'S VIEW OF THE CITY

Harry first mentions the city in the description of his own funeral on p.15. He describes the tall glass buildings which are a reflection of his own image. Here he is identifying with the city, as if everything in it is a reflection of his influence over the years.

In one of his monologues, Harry gives the reader a 'bird's-eye-view' of the city (p.83). He describes himself soaring and gliding over the skyscrapers, which is a clear image of the god-like power he has over the city.

Like Claudia, Harry reflects on Sydney's convict past and the rum currency that was used by the early governors. Unlike Claudia, though, he does not do this to trace the origins of corruption in the city, but to explain that nowadays rum is no longer the currency; heroin is. He compares the city to a body whose bloodstream he is injecting with heroin.

In his final monologue, Harry compares the city to a beehive and a computer. These images are similar in that they are both very complex with the queen bee who is the centre of the huge network of honey cells in a hive. He decides what the 'bees' in his organisation will do and knows that some of them, like Johnny the Jumper, are drones who are of no use once they have done their job. The city is also like a vast computer with him as the motherboard issuing instructions. This comparison of the city to a computer is particularly appropriate because Harry reveals that he is involved in computer crime, stealing money via a bank's computer system (p.134).

For Harry, the city is not a living thing - it is a network, a system over which he has control. It is a city of facades where places such as the games arcade are really fronts for a drug-smuggling operation. Finally Harry, who is dying of cancer, calls Sydney his 'cancerous city' (p.134) because, like him, it is riddled with a corruption that will destroy it.

 

PARTICULAR SETTINGS IN HARRY LAVENDER

BONDI

DARLING HARBOUR/PYRMONT BRIDGE

CLAUDIA'S FLAT

STEVE ANGELL'S HOUSE

THE LEVACK'S FLAT

MRS O'TOOLE'S HOUSE

EXOTIC LOCATIONS

VILLOS MANSION

THE REGENT HOTEL

MARK'S FLAT

SEEDY LOCATIONS

THE IMPERIAL HOTEL

GLEBE ISLAND CONTAINER TERMINAL

THE VIDEO ARCADE

'THE DARK ALLEY JUST RIGHT FOR MUGGING'