In our books, crime fiction authors like me have to be careful to create plots and twists that are credible but surprising at the same time. It is a fine balance and if we miss the mark, the entire story suffers. In real life, however, the most incredible things happen, and I often think: If I had used this fact or event in my crime novels, my editor would have pointed her finger on it. Just recently, I read of a woman in Australia who got lost in the bush on a stroll away from her friends. She came across an empty vacation home where she carved SOS in big letters into the soil. What she didn`t know was that a remote security camera filmed the SOS sign and somebody watched the feed and noticed the desperate message. The person contacted the police and the woman was rescued after three days in the bush!
I`m sure you know of other instances where luck, coincidence or an incredible turn of events occurred which nobody would accept in a fiction book as "real". Let me tell you about a woman in Alaska who found a memory card on the ground beside a grocery store and detected videos of a murder on it. She alerted the police who caught the killer. Unreal, isn`t it? But it happened.
On the other hand, authors can be inspired by real-life events and true murder cases - as long as they are not over the top. There has to be a large amount of reality in good crime fiction. But a "normal" reality. Which reminds me of another case: that of an aspiring female astronaut in the United States who wanted to hijack a rival in her affection for a man (who was married by the way but not to any of those two). The trained astronaut wore diapers so she didn´t have to stop on her long drive to meet her victim. You see, this is exactly one of the details that happen in real life - but in fiction, it is best not to use them.
Anyway, on November 7, my new German crime novel "Mörderischer Morgen" will be published as e-book and paperback. I really tried to write a believable story. Check it out.