Agatha Christie wrote hundreds of stories in her lifetime. But the ones that resonated with readers through the decades were the ones that captured the era, the cadence and the details that defined the mystery genre for all of us.
Writers who set their stories in the past, work hard at nailing the details of the time period. No one wants to read a story that reads false, an anachronism can jolt the reader out of the time period. One of the tricky parts in getting the details right, is also understanding that some things read modern even though they existed in the time period written about. Or worse, what was a term used meaning one thing in a long ago era, is completely different to today’s reader.
Contemporaneous writers don’t have the same worries. No one knows what the future will bring, except of course science fiction writers, even though today they are categorized as writers of speculative fiction.
Geography changes all the time too. Cities grow or fade away. Farms become suburbs, forests become highways, and the names of places change constantly. I keep a collection of travel guides, dating back to the 1700s, as reference to places that I write about, along with the maps and other ephemera just for that purpose.
Because I write mysteries set in the past, I try and make the experience as authentic as possible. Which is why the only way to get a classic mystery is by mail.
There’s something special about a story that unfolds over time. They allow the space for the reader to think about the story, and examine the artifacts that are included in each mailing.
This is the part of what helps capture that timeless feeling of knowing the supporting characters whose traces in history are well established and being introduced to fictional characters that live in this world. The cliche of bringing history to life, is exactly what I am to do.