For
some time now I’ve been toying with the idea that writing a murder mystery –
such as I’m currently doing with Down On Cyprus Avenue, the first of what I
hope will be a new series set in modern day Belfast and featuring McCusker who
had a brief cameo in an early DI Christy Kennedy Mystery, called I’ve Heard The
Banshee Sing – is a lot like playing a game of snooker.
Now
that thought - playing a game of snooker is a lot like writing or solving a
murder mystery - could in fact, be the entire piece, because from there we
could go off and think about it and draw our own comparisons and conclusions.
But… the
longer version…
In
snooker you have two players and a referee, or a judge if you will.
In the
murder investigation you also have two opponents; your detective and your prime
suspect (who hopefully will turn out to be the murderer). You also have the
judge; the law of the land.
As much
as you may practice your potting in advance, it will never help you win a
particular game because each and every game is different. In order to have at
least a chance of winning a game of snooker you have to be able to react to the
ever-developing, ever-changing puzzle the game throws up for you. You hit the first ball, you open up the game
in a unique form; your opponent takes their first shot and off you go reacting
to each other’s play and the set of individual circumstances each pot (or miss)
reveals. Once again the comparisons with writing (or solving) a murder mystery
are obvious.
In a
game of snooker we have our set of balls: 15 red balls- each worth 1 point; one
yellow ball (2 points); green (3 points); brown (4 points): blue (5 points);
pink (6 points) and black (7 points).
The
red balls in the snooker game are like the clues in the mystery. Just like the
red balls in snooker we will keep returning to the clues in the case until,
near the end, we will start to dismiss (or pocket) them one by one for the
final time.
Then
we have the colour balls. In the snooker game and they can be considered to be
the suspects in our case. Again we will keep returning to them throughout our
game/mystery until one by one they are all dismissed (pocketed) and we have
concluded our game or resolved our case.
If we
assume that our detective is the white ball then our prime suspect must be the
black ball. Talking of which, I think it’s interesting to remember that in the
early western movies the good guys always wore the white cowboy hats while the
baddies were always, but always, decked out, head to toe, in black.
The
ever important snooker cue is the detective’s logic and sharpness of mind. The
better the cue and the cueing action the better the chances are of winning the
game or solving the mystery.
The cue
rest and the various sized cue extensions are like the detective’s team or
assistants if you will. I’m referring to the Detective Constables, the
Detective Sergeant, the forensic departments etc., etc.
The
referee is, as we have inferred, comparable to the judge or the law of the
land.
The
table is like the detective’s patch (and office) and it’s vitally important
that both the snooker player and the detective intimately know the ins, outs,
not to mention, imperfections of their table or patch. For instance if the
cushion at one position of the snooker table is not true then the ball will not
react the way it is expected to. Should the detective not be picking up on the
truth as he or she goes about their investigation, then, just like the stray
ball described above, our detective will be off on a wild goose chase.
The
break in the snooker game is exactly like the run the detective longs for in
solving the case. Should the detective have the experience and sharp eyes for
clues and he manages to solve the case immediately then that is equivalent to
achieving the extremely difficult, and much desired, maximum break.
A
snooker occurs in the game/mystery when the prime suspect (the snooker
opponent) puts the ball beyond the natural line, whereby it becomes impossible
to get a clear shot with the target ball (clue) due to the strength of a good
alibi, or, in the case of the snooker game, a first class snooker.
A
trick shot occurs when the detective grows a wee bit too confident and sets up
an Agatha Christie style trap for his or her prime suspect; a trap which could
potentially solve the case or go a long way to winning the game of snooker outright.
One of
the main similarities between snooker and murder mysteries would have to be the
way in which both the game and the case develop uniquely depending entirely on
the natural progression of the game or the amassing of the clues and
questioning of suspects. So, as we’ve already mentioned, the snooker players
and the detective and prime suspect all depend on their ability to be able to
react to each other and the unfolding game/case before them.
And
yes snooker players can and do practise as much as they want ahead of a case
and detectives can do their research, try for clearness and sharpness of mind and
gather their wits about them, but the bottom line is neither snooker player nor
detective can ever plan out a case or a snooker game entirely in advance,
because once the initial break takes place then both sides are acting and
reacting to their opponents.
A bit
like real life; well I suppose you’d really have to say it’s a lot like real
life.
This
time I’ve seen:
Bruce
Springsteen & The East Street Band at the Honda Centre, Anaheim. Now this man really knows how to put on an
incredible, exciting, marathon live show. It’s not vital that you see Bruce
Springsteen perform in front of an American audience but it does help to
understand the degree of his sustained success. He is so audience conscious
it’s unbelievable. He spends the entire concert eyeballing every single member
of the audience. You get the impression that he knows every member of his
audience on a first name basis. This is how it should be: first class sound and
lights with an incredible band and artist not just performing the songs but
living them as well.
David
Lindley at McCabes, Santa Monica – a national treasure, the man who can get a
tune out of any stringed instrument playing in the perfect location – the world
famous guitar shop.
Jackson
Browne at Keller Auditorium, Portland with an amazing new combo singing his heart out. Perfect set-list, perfect concert.
And
read:
Michael
Connolly – The Black Box. I’m a big fan of Michael Connelly I’ve loved all 24
of his books so far and this one is easily up there with his best.
John
Grisham – The Racketeer. A great yarn and it’s going to make a great movie.
Rod
Stewart – Rod. I was expecting (hoping for) a lot more background stuff from
the An Old Raincoat Will Never Let You Down days.
Magnus
Flyte – City of Dark Magic.
Greg
Smith – Why I Left Goldman Sachs.
Sjowall
& Wahloo – Roseanna & The Man Who Went Up In Smoke. By far the best
police procedural books I have read since the Colin Dexter Morse stories.
Dick
Wolf – The Intercept – Clint Eastwood could turn this into a brilliant film.
Stephen
Hunter - The Third Bullet – loved it.
Tommy
Mottola – Hitmaker: The Man and His Music – an interesting account of what
happened at Black Rock.
And watched:
Luck
the TV series.
The
Firm TV series.
Felicity
TV series 1, 2, 3 & 4. – absolute gems one and all
House
– the 8th and final TV series – please see next blog.
The House
of Cards (US Version) Excellent five-star production from NetFlix. I wonder will
the big American TV stations - CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, XYZ etc – rue this day as
much as the ever dwindling number of major Record Companies rued the day file
sharing was first introduced to the internet.
Lincoln
– a master class in directing – from Stephen Spielberg - and acting - from
Daniel Day Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones and James Spader. Daniel Day Lewis’
performance is just an absolute joy to witness.
Silver
Lining Playbook – might be my favourite movie of the year. This film is so good
I went to see it twice and enjoyed it even more the second time. There’s
genuine on-screen chemistry between the two leads.
Argo –
very enjoyable.
Life
of Pi – looks amazing.
People
Like Us – I loved it.
Savages
Anna
Karenina – not for me.
A
Royal Affair – big surprise, unlike Anna K they got this one spot on.
Cloud
Atlas – brave.
The
Sessions – brave and successful.
Late
Quartet – a different kind of rock and roll.
Addicted
To Fame – very sad.
End of
the Watch – compulsive viewing and disturbing.
Jack
Reacher – effectively does what it says on the tin.
Playing
for Keeps – would have been a perfect vehicle for George Clooney in the ER days.
Hitchcock
– Anthony Hopkins just doesn’t make bad movies!
The
Quartet – shows, perhaps just a wee bit too effectively, where we’re all
heading.
Hyde
Park and Hudson – loved it especially the performances from Bill Murray and
Laura Linney.
Flying
Lessons.
Led
Zeppelin Celebration. A fine testament to the band’s legacy; amazing sound,
perfect performances from one and all and brilliantly captured on film, in
fact, if anything, better than being at the gig - the ultimate celebration.
Django
Unchained – mixed reaction from my party (of 4) but I loved it and thought it
was very funny in a spaghetti Western kind of way.
West
of Memphis – documentary of the year and they weren’t scared to name the name.
I find it equally disturbing that a) these crimes are so casually committed and
b) that the real offenders always seem to get away with it at the expense of
other people’s liberty and c) that local politics get in the way of justice.
Same as it always was.
Impossible
– brilliant and a true story.
The
Hobbit – equally brilliant but (hopefully) not a true story.
Words.
The
Guilt Trip.
A Dark
Truth.
The
Last Stand - again you get what you pay for and not a vampire in sight.
The
Fitzgerald Family Christmas – Edward Burns taps back into very rich, multi
layered stories of second generation Irish American family life.
Save
The Date – another slice of American family life this time with the focus on
two sisters – a wonderful rewarding film.
Price
Check.
Stand
Up Guys – well worth the ticket price if only for the Pacino, Arkin and Walken
performances.
Trouble
With the Curve – there’s never ever any trouble with a Clint Eastwood movie!
Parental
Guidance.
Arbitrage.
Breaking
Dawn Part 2 – it would appear even vampires need a family life and long to live
happily ever after with their loved ones. It’s just that when happily ever
after means forever and a day it’s quite a difficult concept.
The
Promised Land – another must-see movie from Matt Damon
The
Gangster Squad – a great yarn.
This
is 40.
Parker.
Broken
City – worked well for me
Movie 43
The
Perks of Being a Wallflower
The
Paperboy.
The
Top Ten (in a particular order) Breakfasts while on the way to the movies in
Santa Monica.
Seventeenth
Street Café & Bakery
50s
Diner (on Lincoln)
M
Street Market *
Cora’s
Shutters
On The Beach
Geoffrey’s^
Ye
Olde Kings Head (English
Pub)
Blue
Daisy Café
The
Omelette Parlour
The
Farm Shop, 26th Street.
*Special
Mention for best Hash Browns.
^ Technically
not in Santa Monica (more Malibu) but on the circuit and well worth the trip
because of the view. Famous because certain movie stars (allegedly) used to
dine there with their mistresses while staying at the nearby hotel.
And
finally, this blog’s official top ten:
The
Top 10 Beatle Albums
01.
Abbey Road
02.
Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
03.
Revolver
04.
Rubber Soul
05.
The Beatles (The White Album)
06. A
Hard Day’s Night
07.
Magical Mystery Tour (US)
08.
With The Beatles
09.
Help
10.
Beatles For Sale (if only for Mr Moonlight)
Until
the next time,
Cheers
pc
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