By RONALD HAWKINS
For Story Weavers
Don’t be surprised if a Hanover College reference appears in the next Laurie R. King mystery novel.
King is a Monterey Bay, Calif., based crime fiction writer whose books frequently deal with theological issues. King is a scholar-in-residence at Hanover College this week. She was invited by the college’s theology department.
King will give a talk at 7:30 tonight on “The Mystery of Theology: Using Crime Fiction as a Platform for Theology” in Fitzgibbon Recital Hall, Lynn Center for Fine Arts. The presentation is free and open to the public.
To King, the link between theology and mystery is a logical one.
“It makes sense to me,” King said. “I studied the Old Testament at the Graduate Theological Union.
“The theology in it is told through storytelling. The relationship of the people to their god is told through stories.”
One of King’s series of novels has revived the career of master detective Sherlock Holmes. Mary Russell, a character she created, meets the much older Sherlock Holmes in “The Beekeeper’s Apprentice.” Russell learns from him the art of detecting.
“Mysteries in general deal with the quest for truth and righteousness,” King said of her central themes. “The whole idea of crime fiction is restoring the world to a balance that was thrown off by untimely death, to bring righteousness back into the world.”
Anyone who writes crime fiction has to acknowledge Sherlock Holmes as “the detective,” King said. The Mary Russell character is an attempt to see how Sherlock Holmes would have used his tools if he had been a woman, she said.
Although the exploration of theology is a major component of her work, King said she aims to make the blend of her books 80 percent entertainment and 20 percent speculation or reflection.
King began writing her novels in 1987 when her second child entered pre-school. She started writing three days a week while the child was in school. However, it wasn’t until 1993 that the first of her books was published.
To date, 11 of King’s novels have been published and have sold more than 2 million copies. A 12th book, “Justice Hall,” is scheduled be released by early this spring. An East Coast book tour that includes stops in New York awaits her shortly after the Hanover visit.
And what might be the nature of a Hanover College connection to her next book be?
“Hanover College will appear in the next book,” King said. “A character goes running wearing a Hanover College sweatshirt.”
What happens to that character is a mystery that readers can resolve when they read that book.
