This week I'm hanging out with novelist Bruce Robert Coffin. Bruce is the bestselling author of the
Detective Byron mystery series and former detective sergeant with more
than twenty-seven years in law enforcement.
At the time of his retirement, from
the Portland, Maine police department, he supervised all homicide and violent
crime investigations for Maine's largest city. Bruce also spent four years
working counter-terrorism with the FBI, where he earned the Director's Award,
the highest honor a non-agent can receive.
THE INTERVIEW
Before
launching your writing career, you worked in law enforcement for twenty-seven
years. With that incredible base of knowledge, did you find yourself staying
completely accurate to police procedure? Or did you take any liberties for the
story? What was difficult about knowing the real world of law enforcement so
well?
I try to
incorporate as much reality as possible into my novels so that they read true
to folks in the law enforcement field and to those with no experience
whatsoever. That said I will take liberties for the sake of good storytelling.
For example it would be rather tough to build excitement if I made John Byron
or Diane Joyner wait a year or more for a DNA comparison. (That would slow the pace a bit! I’m always amazed when I interview
experts how long things take in the real world.)
As a Maine writer, how does your geography
impact you?
I think
there's just something about Maine that makes for good mystery writing. It's a
huge area with a relatively small population. People love to say it’s a small
world. Maine quite literally is a small world where everybody knows everybody
else. That closeness and familiarity can create great motives for murder. Plus
as a mystery author it's fun to create chaos in the midst of Maine's tranquility.
(And such a beautiful state!)
In your first Detective Sergeant John Byron
novel, your victim is a police officer, in the second it's a lawyer, so you
went with people who have careers that intersect with criminals. What made you
choose those two professions for your victims?
I’m not
sure it was a conscious decision to pick intersecting careers as much as a
desire to explore societal opinions about those two professions. All of my
stories are scooped out of the primordial ooze of what if. In the first John
Byron Mystery, Among the Shadows, I
wanted to tell the tale of a modern day investigator confronted with the
unenviable task of delving into his own father’s past and uncovering secrets
that were buried long ago.
In the second novel, Beneath the Depths, I set out to paint a
picture of what it’s like to try and solve a murder when the victim is a
despicable person. As I often tell people, police officers aren’t allowed the
luxury of picking and choosing which homicides to investigate. Many homicide
victims become victims as a result of their own vices and lifestyles. In cases
like the Ramsey murder, detectives have to constantly remind themselves that no
matter how bad the victim was there is still someone worse out there. The
killer. (Great point. I’ve never heard it
phrased that way, “there’s someone worse out there” … filing that one away! J)
In addition to the police force, after 9/11,
you also worked alongside the FBI in counter-terrorism. How different was
working with the FBI versus the police department?
Not as
different as you might think, except for the travel. My FBI assignment dealt
specifically with counter-terrorism (CT), which is of course very different
from criminal investigations. Criminal cases are generally investigated
after-the-fact, while CT cases are more intelligence based, directed toward
uncovering or preventing a crime in the making. (A lot like mystery vs. thriller!)
But
working with the FBI was just like working for my own department. Both agencies
are comprised of the same type of men and women, people who want to make the
world a safer place for everyone. I really enjoyed my time working with the
FBI. Much like the PD, they treated me like family and I forged some lifetime
friendships along the way.
Do you believe there is a "type" of
person who goes into law enforcement? Are there characteristics that all police
detectives/FBI etc. have? What makes the best detective? The best beat cop?
I think
many people believe there is a certain type of person who goes into law
enforcement as a career. After serving in that capacity for almost three
decades, and coming into contact with thousands of officers, I can tell you
that the only thing we all have in common is the desire to help others. It
truly doesn’t matter if talking about beat cops or detectives, taking control
of a bad situation and helping those who are unable to help themselves is what
it’s all about. If you can see yourself doing that then law enforcement might
be for you.
What are you working on now?
At the
moment I’m hard at work on the manuscript to Byron #3, tentatively titled BEYOND
THE TRUTH. In this novel Byron will face his biggest challenges to date, both
personally and professionally. It is my hope that this book will generate a lot
of meaningful discussion.
Final words of wisdom:
And here I
thought the last question would be the easiest. Stick with it. That’s the key
to this business. Getting noticed is hard. There are many good writers out
there already. Find something that you care enough to write about and then put
your heart and soul into it. Repeat. That’s all there is to it. Work at it
constantly. Tess Gerritsen once told me that writing novels is a marathon not a
sprint. She’s absolutely right. If you’re not ready to put your heart and soul
into it, then you’re not ready. Write on!
Great final words, Bruce. Great to have you
here, I’m enjoying your first novel very much.
Best of luck with the new book!
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