#CRIME FICTION

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Stages of Decomposition

The decomposition process occurs in several stages following death:

Pallor mortis

Algor mortis

Rigor mortis

Cadaveric spasm

Lividity

Putrefaction

Decomposition

Skeletonization

PALLOR MORTIS

The first stage of death.

Occurs once blood stops circulating in the body.

The cessation of an oxygenated blood flow to the capillaries beneath the skin causes the deceased to pale in appearance.

In non-Caucasians, the pallor may appear to develop an unusual hue; the skin will lose any natural lustre and appears more waxen.

Occurs quite quickly, within about 10 minutes after death.

ALGOR MORTIS

The cooling of the body after death.

The cooling process will be influenced by many factors, including the deceased’s clothing, or whether they are covered with bed linen such as blankets or duvets.

The body will typically cool to the ambient room temperature, but this alters if there is heating in the room or if there is a constant draught cooling the body.

RIGOR MORTIS

Can occur between 2 and 6 hours after death.

Factors including temperature can greatly affect this.

Caused by the muscles partially contracting, and the lack of aerobic respiration means that the muscles cannot relax from the contraction, leaving them tense, subsequently resulting in the stiffening we associate with rigor mortis.

This stage typically begins in the head, starting with the eyes, mouth, jaw and neck, and progresses right through the body.

The process is concluded approximately 12 hours after death (although, again, certain variables may occur) and lasts between 24 and 72 hours depending on circumstances.

Contrary to popular belief, rigor mortis is not a permanent state and is in fact reversed, with the muscles relaxing in the same order in which they initially stiffened.

The reversing process also takes approximately 12 hours, when the body returns to its un-contracted state.

It is possible to ‘break’ rigor mortis by manipulating and flexing the limbs. This is usually done by undertakers, pathologists or crime scene investigators who are attempting to examine or move a body – or by a murderer trying to hide their victim in the closet or the boot of a car.

CADAVERIC SPASM

A phenomenon that can be misinterpreted as rigor mortis.

The instantaneous stiffening of the body (most commonly the hands) following a traumatic death.

Unlike rigor mortis, the stiffening of the affected limb is permanent and is not reversed, causing the deceased to maintain the rigidity until such time as putrefaction causes breakdown of the particular muscle group.

Examples:

The deceased following an air crash were later discovered still clutching their seatbelts or arm rests in a final, desperate act of survival.

In a drowning case, the victim was discovered with grass from the riverbank still grasped in their hand.

Perhaps the most famous case of cadaveric spasm involves the rock band Nirvana’s lead singer, Kurt Cobain. Cobain reportedly committed suicide in April 1994. His body was discovered a few days after his death with a shotgun wound to the head, and tests revealed he had large traces of heroin in his system. He was reportedly discovered still clutching the gun in his left hand, due to cadaveric spasm. However, a great deal of controversy surrounds the veracity of this latter assumption, and indeed the cause of his death, with many people insisting and attempting to prove that he died as the result of foul play rather than suicide.

LIVIDITY

Also known as livor mortis, hypostasis, or suggillation.

Once blood can no longer circulate, it will gravitate towards the lowest point of the body.

Example: A supine body will display pinkish/purple patches of discoloration where the blood has settled in the back and along the thighs.

Occurs about 30 minutes after death, but will not necessarily be noticeable until at least 2 hours afterwards as the pooling process intensifies and becomes visible, finally peaking up to between 8 and 12 hours later.

Once it is complete, the lividity process cannot be reversed.

Therefore a body discovered lying on its side, but with staining evident in the back and shoulders, must have been moved at some point from what would have been a supine position at the time of death.

It is worth noting that if the body has had contact with the floor, a wall or other solid surface, lividity would not occur at the points of contact as the pressure would not allow the blood to seep through the capillaries and pool. The specific area of pressure will be the same colour as the rest of the body and a pattern of contact may well be evident.

PUTREFACTION

Derives from the Latin putrefacere, meaning ‘to make rotten’.

The body becomes rotten through the process known as autolysis, which is the liquefaction of bodily tissue and organs and the breakdown of proteins within the body due to the increased presence of bacteria.

The first visible sign is the discoloration of the skin in the area of the abdomen.

Bacteria released from the intestine cause the body to become bloated with a mixture of gases; over time these will leak out, and the smell will intensify to unbearable proportions.

Typically, this will attract flies that will lay eggs, which develop into maggots.

Bloating is most evident in the stomach area, genitals and face, which can become unrecognizable as the tongue and eyes are forced to protrude due to the pressure of the build-up of gases in the body.

At this stage, the body will also begin to lose hair.

The organs typically decompose in a particular order: starting with the stomach, followed by the intestines, heart, liver, brain, lungs, kidney, bladder and uterus/prostate.

Once all the gases have escaped the skin begins to turn black: this stage is called ‘black putrefaction’.

As with all the other stages of death so far, the rate of putrefaction depends on temperature and location. A body exposed to the air above ground will decompose more quickly than a body left in water or buried below ground.

During putrefaction, blistering of the skin and fermentation can also occur:

Fermentation - a type of mould that will grow on the surface of the body. This mould appears white, and is slimy or furry in texture. It also releases a very strong, unpleasant, cheesy smell.

As the putrefaction process comes to an end, fly and maggot activity will become less, which leads to the next stage.

DECOMPOSITION

The body is an organic substance comprising organisms that can be broken down by chemical decomposition.

If the body is outside, any remains that have not been scavenged or consumed by maggots will liquefy and seep into the surrounding soil.

Thus when the body decomposes it is effectively recycled and returned to nature.

SKELETONIZATION

The final stage of death is known as ‘dry decay’, when the cadaver has all but dried out: the soft tissue has all gone and only the skeleton remains.

If the cadaver is outside, not only is it exposed to the elements but it also becomes food for scavengers such as rats, crows or foxes.

As the remains are scavenged, the body parts become dispersed so it is not unusual to find skeletal remains some distance from where the body lay at the point of death.

The way in which skeletal remains are scattered in such cases is of interest to archaeologists, and is referred to as taphonomy.

Where a body has lain undiscovered at home for a period of time it has also been known for family pets, typically dogs, to feed on the body. The natural instinct of a pet is to attempt to arouse the deceased by licking them, but once it gets hungry, its survival instinct will take over and it will consider the body as little more than carrion: it will act with the same natural instinct as a scavenger in the wild, which will feed on any corpse, be it animal or human, if it is starving.

Obviously the number of pets, the body mass of the deceased and the time lapse before the body is discovered will influence to what extent it has been devoured.

For further research on the stages of decomposition and the factors that affect it, look up body farms. These are medical facilities where bodies are donated for research purposes so scientists can specifically observe the decomposition process. However, be aware that some of the images are quite graphic.

Source ⚜ More: References ⚜ Autopsy ⚜ Pain & Violence ⚜ Injuries Bereavement ⚜ Death & Sacrifice ⚜ Cheating Death ⚜ Death Conceptions

[veronicaleighauthor]

[fox-teeth]

Will this academic rivalry between two nerdy, socially awkward witches lead them to greater magical heights--or a life of CRIME?!

Find out only in the Perfect Crime Party anthology from Iron Circus Comics -- only a few hours left to back!

The Backerkit projects ends at 11 PM EDT today (9/27), we're fully funded and currently working on creator bonuses!

[redvioletarts]

[Image ID: A photo of an 11oz black coffee mug with a custom design in white lineart and hand-lettered text. It says "Dear FBI" in large print over art of an Internet search bar with suggested previous searches below. The text in the search bar says "I'm A Writer I Swear" in all caps, and the previous searches read "detect gps tracker on car," "arsenic lethal dose," and "black market prices for..." with the rest of the text cut off. End ID.]

Lines printed up great on this one! The text came out nice and clear.

Writing research got you looking sketchy lately? Throw the Feds off your trail by also buying this. Guaranteed to not get you investigated for your weird search history. Probably. ...Well, it won't hurt.

(Maybe you should get a VPN in any case.)

The design prints up on both sides, to be fair to the lefties for once. All my mugs do.

Dear FBI, I'm A Writer I Swear <- get yours!

[mostlyghostie]

Giant commission alert! All 20 of Lisa Regan’s books. I was asked to draw this by her assistant as a gift on the publishing of the most recent book, which was fun.

Shop/Instagram

[stormyskies-writes]

Mystery/Crime Story Prompts

I've compiled a list of some of my favourite mystery/crime/thriller story ideas/prompts! I hope you all enjoy!

When the police come to announce the death of your husband, you refuse to believe it. "That's impossible," you say. "Unfortunately it's the truth, miss," answers the policeman. "It's impossible," you say again, "because he's in the kitchen making dinner."

One day you see a picture of yourself in a foreign newspaper. You ask someone to translate the headline for you: "SEARCH FOR MISSING CHILD STILL ONGOING".

A murder mystery where every character believes themself responsible for the death, and tries to cover it up.

You are a sleep walking murderer by night. During the day you are a detective unknowingly hunting yourself.

A private investigator is hired to find a child that has been missing for 30 years, only to eventually find out that they are the missing child and their current "parents" kidnapped them at birth.

You saw who took the kidnapped child when you were a child. Now, you are a detective determined to figure out the truth.

It's been 15 years since you were in an accident that gave you amnesia. All you have of your past life has been locked away in a chest you refused to open. Today, you decide to open it, only to discover you are one of the most prolific serial killers of all time, and within the chest are bloody tokens from each of your victims.

"Why is it whenever something happens, it is always you who finds the body?" the lead detective asks, seeming to believe you are guilty. You smile and shrug. "Just lucky I guess." In reality, you suffer from visions in your dreams and often wake up covered in blood, the first to find the latest body. And despite the detective thinking you are the bane of his existence, and you thinking he is an infuritaing ass, you know you must both work together to find the real murderer before it is too late.

If you want more of these kind of prompts, or if you want prompts for different genres, let me know!

I'm also so tempted to write that last prompt myself because it could be super fun.

[idol-murder-mystery]

I did it! I pressed the big scary button!

Whispers of the Luminaries: Idol-themed murder mystery visual novel inspired by Famicom Detective Club and Danganronpa, is now live on Kickstarter!✨

Play as a detective, and solve a deepening mystery as you follow the story of 4 idol trainees trying realize their dreams of fame & fortune. But get ready to dive into a rabbit hole where things become progressively darker and darker as you unravel the truth.

If you like murder mysteries - please consider supporting us on Kickstarter!

[airjemsfandump]

Ah, yes. My favorite genre.

What are your picks? 😊

[ufonaut]

Donald Westlake on Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe novels and inspirations behind his own Parker series, written under the Richard Stark pen name. Excerpt from The Getaway Car: A Donald Westlake Nonfiction Miscellany (2014), published posthumously.

[arcturusprongs]

writing a jegulus fic about james in a gang robbing banks with marlene, lily, mary, sirius, dorcas, and remus. regulus like commits forgery/fraud trying to outrun the wrath of walburger and im just like hmm how do i go about this fic.. would love some ideas thanks!!

[secondwheel]

Thanks for the sign ;)

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Tip: Clues in Crime Fiction

Traps to Avoid When Managing your Clues

Having all your clues arrive at once.

Having your detective solve them all at once.

Not disguising your clues sufficiently.

Hinging a clue on specialist knowledge that your reader does not share.

Relying on clues that are too unlikely or too complex to be credible.

Planting suspicious things in Chapter 1 and then forgetting them.

The trap of using modern electronic clues.

The trap of getting your ‘real-world’ facts awry.

Check through your list of potential clues.

Apply this list to them.

Do any of them fall into these traps? If so, what modifications could you make?

Make sure that you get your real-world information right, especially if you’re going to base a clue on it.

Source ⚜ More: References ⚜ Detective Story ⚜ Crime Fiction Narrative Pattern

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Spicy Detective Stories - Cover art by H. J. Ward (1934-1942)

[victusinveritas]

Martin Claus

German, 1892–1975

Crime fiction reader

Fliegende Blätter magazine

March, 1933

#MartinClaus #Illustration #CrimeFiction

[darkmxgician]

Said & Done- Part 1

After meeting an alluring stranger you fall fast, not realising that he’s about to pull you back in to the dangerous world you’ve tried so hard to escape from.

pairing: fem!reader x noah. tags: swearing, just fluff here

word count: 1.6k

story song: burning out

taglist: @sorrowsofsilence @angelsdevils @collisionofyourkissmakesitsohard @montgomery-929496. lmk if you want to be added to the taglist

18+ below the cut

I wake up covered in sweat. The last embers of my nightmare tugging me into a sense of fear and dread. I couldn’t tell what was real and my fight or flight started to kick in. Adrenaline began to course through my body, making me aware of every shadow in my dark bedroom. Sleep definitely wasn’t going to come to me again anytime soon, so I pulled myself out of bed and changed into my gym clothes. Rushing to get away from the silence of my home. Stepping out into the cool night air was blissful on my sweat soaked skin and I savoured it whilst I walked to my car. The streets were quiet during the drive, my ancient car stereo playing the mixtape I had in earlier, I’d listened to it so many times it just faded into the background. Thankfully the gym is always empty at 3am, I chose this specific gym for that reason, even though it’s further from my house. I had already gotten a workout in today, but the dreams that haunt me always leave me feeling restless, with a need to purge some of the energy from my system. I use my keycard to get in as reception is closed, I usually make a beeline for the weights and then follow that with a quick run on the treadmill, but tonight feels different. I need to hit something, so I make my way up the stairs, the rooms above the main floor have various equipment, and I head straight for the one with the punching bags. 

I push open the double doors and stop in my tracks. I’ve never come across anyone else here at this time before, but my luck has just run out. And it’s not just anyone, it’s the tall dark stranger who has been watching me since I started coming here over a year ago. Give by sleep token is blasting from a speaker as he does push ups with one arm behind his back. He looks up at me, through his sweat drenched hair that shields the full force of his beauty. He stops and slowly, gracefully pushes himself up so he’s kneeling, his depthless brown eyes locked on me, assessing me. My mouth goes dry, I’ve never seen him this close before, I can’t help but study the tattoos that adorn his shoulders, arms, his bare chest, and even his neck. He continues to look at me, panting from his workout that I interrupted. My palms start to sweat, “s-sorry, there’s never usually anyone in here at this time” I stammer, as he raises a brow at my accent. The stranger stands in one smooth motion, and covers the space between us in two steps. Suddenly he’s towering over me, his large frame seems to suck all the light out of the room and I take a shaky breath and look up. He cocks his head to one side, his wet hair following the movement, “don’t you usually workout during the day?”. His American accent was rich and deep, I could feel the bass from his voice in my very bones. I stopped shying away from his stare and looked up, “I-I couldn’t sleep. I need to burn off some, energy, before I can even attempt it again”, cursing myself for stuttering I manage to keep my eyes on his, the intensity of his gaze making my stomach do backflips, I couldn’t help but smile at the stranger. And when he smiled back, I knew I was done for. 

“I’m Noah”, he smiles down at me, “y/n” I reply. I’m having to stop myself from grinning, I’ve never felt this connected to someone I just met before. I could feel my cheeks starting to go red, I have to force myself to look away so he doesn’t notice. “You like sleep token?”, I nod to the speaker in the corner, listening to the intro to gods, at least I didn’t stutter again. I have to try and find neutral ground with the stranger. I need to know him, I feel drawn to him, like there’s a thread between our two bodies, pulling me in. I dare to look up when he doesn’t answer, and he’s just staring at me, his smile keeps getting brighter, his eyes almost glowing. I’ve been in here for all of five minutes and I’m losing it over a complete stranger, what is wrong with me? He reaches out and pushes my hair behind my ear, bringing his hand under my chin and forcing me to look up. “I thought you were beautiful from afar, y/n, but up close I can’t help but stare. You’re captivating”. We’re stood so close, his touch sending electric currents through my entire body. I lose every thought in my head. It’s not just physical attraction, and trust me, that’s there. If any other man had just said to that to me, I’d laugh in their face. Why did it make me want to swoon when he says it? I can’t help but lean into his touch, his hands are calloused, his fingers stroking my skin, so smooth in comparison. My eyes flutter shut at his caress and I almost purr, putting a hand on his chest for balance as I force my eyes open again. The music goes off and is replaced by a ringtone, interrupting our embrace. “Fuck”. Noah rests his forehand on mine for a moment, and he’s gone, sighing as he releases me. He stalks over to the speaker, grabbing his phone, “yeah. I told you, I’m at the gym. I can’t right now. For fuck sake, Nick. Yeah. I’ll be 10 minutes”. I realise I was watching and listening to his private conversion so I quickly pull my phone up. Opening the settings app so it looks like I’m scrolling and texting. “I have to go”, he makes his way back over to me and scoops by chin up again, more forceful this time. “I’ve wanted to meet you for a while y/n, and I believe something wanted us to cross paths tonight”, he takes a deep breath, “meet me here, same time tomorrow?”. I blink in shock, he wants to see me again? I try not to make a habit of coming to the gym at this time, but seeing him is all the motivation I need. “Okay, sure”, I smile up at him. “Good girl”, he replies, so quietly I almost miss it. I almost go slack. “Until tomorrow, y/n”, he places a light kiss on my forehead, grabs his belongings, and stalks out of the gym. What the fuck just happened?

The next day goes by agonisingly slow, I can’t concentrate on a thing. I keep checking my phone, even knowing in the blazing sunlight that it’s not 3am yet. I try to distract myself and keep busy, working on some unfinished paintings, reading, none of it works. I give in and go to my room, hoping to use sleep to carry me towards my time with Noah. 

I wake with a start, the alarm on my phone blaring next to me. 1AM. I gave myself enough time to make a little effort, working my hair into plaits and tying the ends in twin buns at the base of my skull. I curl my eyelashes and dab a small amount of concealer under my eyes, and rub in some lip liner and gloss on my lips. The time is passing too fast now, I put on my workout clothes and rush out to my car, feeling both nervous and excited.

The gym is quiet as usual, I presume Noah wants to meet in the workout room upstairs, so I make my way up. I try to slow my pace as I walk through the double doors, where 24 hours ago I met the strange man that has my heart racing. He’s sat cross legged on one of the mats on the floor, my eyes instantly find his as he looks up. “Y/n, you came”, my stomach does a flip at the sight of him, like my body forgot how beautiful he is, what he makes me feel. He strides over to me and pulls me into his arms, “I didn’t think you’d show”. I melt into him. Like I could just stay home, I’ve always been curious, and he’s alluring and mysterious, nothing could keep me from him. “I did tell you I would”, he chuckles at that and pulls back so he can look at me. All my nerves from last night have vanished, I feel confident enough to ask, “so why did you want me to come?”. My intrigue always getting the better of me. “I wanted to see you again, I thought maybe we could workout together?”. I raise my eyebrows at him. “Not like that” he chuckles again, “I’m not hitting on you, I just thought we could get to know each other whilst we train, I could use the company”. He looks sheepish at the omission. He wants me to train with him? He’s twice the size of me, both in height and width. How could I ever keep up? “I’d like that, but why me? Surely there’s plenty of guys here who could help you, who are more equipped than me”. I feel nervous again all of a sudden, I'm physically fit but there's no way I could be on the same level as him. My thoughts race, until he smirks at me, his eyes sweeping down my body, “but none who look like you, y/n”. And he grins again, as irresistible as last night. Who could say no to that? 

And so we begin. 

[calvincell]

As a 100% devoted evangelist of The Batman (2022) I was duty bound to give The Penguin a watch. Despite my low expectations for spin-offs generally even with the plus of Matt Reeves’ continued involvement in the series I’m happy to say that I enjoyed Episode One a lot. Felt genuinely like DC’s version of the Netflix Daredevil series only with a minuscule booster shot of added levity. No significant spoilers btw:

My absolute favorite moment of the show and how I knew that showrunner Lauren LeFranc & her fellow creatives truly were onto something is the encounter Oz has with Falcone Jr. in the pre-title scene. Beyond just being an excellent hook for the show, IMO it was also a fantastic display of what makes The Penguin specifically a villain who firmly belongs in Batman’s rogues gallery outside of simply his penguin/avian gimmick as well as cutting to the heart of why he isn’t to be categorized as just one more generic mobster in the gnarled web of Gotham’s crime families; something which Batman Caped Crusader & Batman Audio Adventures tapped into recently as well. The scene along with the glimpse of his home life & familial relationships we get later in the episode shows how when you get right down to it, The Penguin is at his best when he is portrayed as having more in common with the villains at Arkham Asylum than with the garden variety members of the criminal underworld. Just like with how Daredevil highlights why Fisk is a different kind of gangster, The Penguin’s first episode shows how standard gangsters who underestimate him & pigeonhole him as just another mob earner with no teeth only makes them vulnerable to the “real Oswald”. That’s also why the character who they set up as his season long foil/obstacle works in giving The Penguin an opponent worth fearing who isn’t The Batman.

I also shouldn’t fail to mention that Colin Farrell once again truly cooks & absolutely disappears into his role & is once again surrounded by a suite of terrific actors matching his earnestness & talent beat for beat.

Overall, I definitely recommend at least this first episode to any Batman fan especially if you loved The Batman (2022) & Matt Reeves’ vision for the character, world and franchise.

My only worry is that similar to Netflix’s Daredevil, the amount of episodes coupled with the length of each might bloat the series a bit and harm the pacing. Though with the DCEU’s different priorities in the Gunn Era compared to the MCU it might not end up as an issue & the show might end up being better paced & worth the episode count. Relatedly, my only gripe is just general annoyance at our collective return to weekly episode releases for shows instead of binging but I’m not an expert in TV marketing & production so maybe weekly releases are truly a better boost for audience numbers, retention & growth than bingeable releases have been.