Fiona Barton on female journalists in crime novels ‹ CrimeReads

It's perhaps not surprising that female journalists play a major role in my books – I have worked as a journalist for more than thirty years, reporting on serious crimes and interviewing ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations and miss deadlines in a flash.

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But to be honest, I hadn’t planned any reporter characters when I started writing my debut, The widow. In my mind, everything revolved around Jean Taylor and her marriage of secrets. But journalist Kate Waters showed up at Jean's door in the first chapter and just didn't leave. After two more books The child And The suspect Kate had earned a little break and was able to give the stage to the hyperactive Kiki Nunn, a freelance writer fighting to survive in the changing news landscape.

In my new book Talking to strangersKiki, desperate to find her way back into mainstream media, sees her chance: a woman she interviewed about online dating just days before is found murdered and she is determined to be the first to find out the truth – even if that means clashing with lead investigator DI Elise King and diving into the dark world of incels.

I've met and worked with a number of Kates and Kikis during my career as a reporter and news editor at national newspapers, and I've been able to draw on those experiences to develop my characters. But I also have a large number of female journalists in fiction who inspire me – love them or hate them.

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Heroines

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At the top of my list is Patricia 'Paddy' Meehan is an 18-year-old “errand boy” who runs errands and makes coffee for the editor at a Glasgow newspaper in 1981, while eagerly planning to become an investigative journalist. She's so ambitious it hurts, but we also live her insecurities – anyone remember that disgusting boiled egg diet? – and her vulnerabilities. The Field of Blood from Denise Mina (published 2018) is brilliantly edgy, dark, gritty, but with flashes of shocking gallows humor, and I felt right at home in the scenes in the newsroom where Paddy has to deal with the brutally sexist, heavy-drinking, $60-a-day male staff.

I love true crime investigations that give me a real and terrifying insight into the psyche of a criminal, and although I have to take my hat off to the master of the genre, Truman Capote (Cold-blooded 1965) – among the best is the journalist, Michelle McNamara masterful account of her unsolved hunt for the serial rapist and murderer she called the Golden State Killer (I will disappear into the darkness2018). Michelle was obsessed with finding the man who committed 13 murders and 51 rapes, and followed every lead. Tragically, she was writing the forensic report on her efforts when she died of an accidental overdose at the age of 46. Two years later, the killer was finally unmasked as a former police officer.

Bestselling crime writer from Denmark, Sara Blaedel pairs a detective and a crime reporter in The Witness at Midnight (2004), the level-headed officer Louise Rick against her impetuous friend, Camilla Lindin a race to find the killer of another journalist. The two women who appear in Blaedel's brilliant Scandinavian noir crime series are beautifully drawn, and their friendship and squabbles underline this authentic and compelling portrayal of women on the edge of life.

I can’t be the only journalist who casts an envious glance at the queen of fictional reporters – a Pulitzer Prize winner and top journalist – Lois Lane. When push comes to shove – as it inevitably has in every DC Comics story since 1938 – Clark Kent becomes Superman and rushes to the rescue. It's worth noting that Lois has transformed from a damsel in distress into a fearless warrior for society, but the Man of Steel is still there when he's needed…

And now to the swampy end of the world of fictional journalism.

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Villains

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I must confess that I have a weakness for the deeply flawed Mattie Storin (House of Cards Michael Dobbs, 1989). Okay, she's sleeping with the source of her exclusives, Machiavellian politician Francis Urquhart, who exploits the young reporter's ambition to plant his poisonous stories while maneuvering his way to the top. But the suffocating interplay between the two characters is brilliantly written, the threat building as Urquhart manipulates Mattie, right up to the shocking ending. It made me gasp out loud.

I am a fan of juicy villains and am torn between the horrific Rita Skeeter (Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireJK Rowling 2005), a British witch and journalist (what a winning combination!) who shamelessly spreads misinformation and poisonous stories and Miranda Priestley (The devil wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger 2003), the immaculately groomed dragon lady editor-in-chief with horns.

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