In a post on CrimeReads, Alex Kenna examines the role of misunderstandings in crime fiction plots. “I’m intrigued by what happens when you combine emotional intensity with miscommunication and differing world views. Particularly when everyone involved is fundamentally a decent human being,” he says. “In fiction, I prefer to dwell in the emotionally heightened grey area – where terrible mistakes are made for morally complex reasons.”
Miscommunication and misunderstandings happen between family, close friends, acquaintances, and co-workers. They are woven into the fabric of our lives, and yet crime fiction often relies on outright villains or monsters. “Bogeymen have a place in fiction, but stories with perfect moral clarity are often less intriguing than tales where the central tragedy is not caused by evil, but by misunderstanding and two people’s inability to reach each other,” Kenna says. “That psychological gulf can set up a crisis that is simultaneously inevitable and tragically preventable.”
