Pay No Attention to the Obvious Red Herring
The term “red herring” refers, in its literal sense, not to a living species of fish but to one that has been smoked, thereby rendering… Read More »Pay No Attention to the Obvious Red Herring
literary tropes
A Victim that Nobody Even Liked
The victim in a Whodunnit scenario will gravitate toward two extremes: Everyone hated them. Motives for murder abound and winnowing down the suspects will be… Read More »A Victim that Nobody Even Liked
When the Police Can’t Measure Up
I’ll admit it. I cringe every time a fictional sleuth goes snooping where they shouldn’t, ignoring advice from the police to conduct their own investigation.… Read More »When the Police Can’t Measure Up
Eccentric and Itching to Solve a Grand Mystery
There’s an unspoken rule that fictional detectives have to be eccentric. I suppose we can blame that one on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his… Read More »Eccentric and Itching to Solve a Grand Mystery
Marriage on the Lam
Marriage conventions in the Regency period allow for a couple of fun—and perhaps alarming—tropes. Marriage Trope #1: Elopement Let’s talk about unintended consequences, shall we?… Read More »Marriage on the Lam
The Joys of Literary Beauty Pageants
In Regency romance, any female rival is most likely a “diamond of the first water”: beautiful, poised, rich, accomplished, beautiful, well-dressed, beautiful. Did I mention… Read More »The Joys of Literary Beauty Pageants
The Benefit of Bucking Traditional Values
There’s this age-old lie in romance novels that truly eligible men are looking for something new, something fresh in the woman of their dreams. Often… Read More »The Benefit of Bucking Traditional Values
Gentlemen Fine and Dandy
Amid the plethora of Regency social rules is the expectation that young ladies entering Society have an established friend or relative of high reputation to… Read More »Gentlemen Fine and Dandy
Crushing Debts and Incorrigible Rakes
A number of literary tropes occur in the Regency genre, but I’m only going to hit on a couple of them in this post (as… Read More »Crushing Debts and Incorrigible Rakes
The Man to Trust When the World Falls Apart
Here’s what I don’t understand. If someone majorly screws up, why does anyone trust that same someone to correct the massive error? You may be as… Read More »The Man to Trust When the World Falls Apart