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You can enter to win a print copy of Double the Lies by Patricia Raybon, courtesy of the publisher. (US ONLY!) You can enter by using the Rafflecopter link at the bottom of this post. (Contest ends February 17, 2023.) Click To Tweet If you’re the chosen winner, I’ll contact you for your information to pass along.
About the book…
In the second installment of Patricia Raybon’s critically acclaimed mystery series, amateur detective Annalee Spain races the clock to solve the murder of a handsome young pilot before she is framed for the crime—and before his dashing twin falls head over heels for her, tempting her promised heart.
On a cold spring night in 1924, Annalee Spain offers her new fancy lace handkerchief—a gift from her pastor boyfriend Jack Blake—to a young woman crying in a Denver public library. But later that night, when police find the handkerchief next to the body of the young woman’s murdered husband, Annalee becomes the number one suspect, and her panic doubles when she learns that Jack has gone missing.
With just days to solve the murder before the city’s Klan-run police frame her for the crime, Annalee finds herself hunting for clues in the Colorado mountain town of Estes Park. She questions the victim’s wife and her uncle, a wealthy Denver banker, at their mountain lodge, desperate for leads. Instead, she finds a household full of suspects and even more burning questions. Who keeps threatening her, why can’t she find Jack, and will a dangerous flirtation be her undoing? Her answers plumb the depths of the human heart, including her own, exploring long-buried secrets, family lies, even city politics—all of which could cost the young detective her fledgling love . . . and perhaps even her life.
The Sidekick Factor
The Best Detectives Have a Faithful Best Friend—As We All Should
By Patricia Raybon
He was the first, of course. Dr. Watson, I presume? The famed Sherlock Holmes’s iconic sidekick—his medical friend John Watson—remains the gold standard for detective pals. Thus, from Watson, readers and writers of Christian mystery fiction can still learn much about being a loyal ally.
I turned to Watson often while writing the debut story, All That Is Secret, for my Christian “history mystery” featuring amateur sleuth and young theologian Annalee Spain. I studied Watson again for the sequel, Double the Lies, knowing my protagonist should bring at least one reliable, commonsense buddy along for the ride.
She’s struggling with her faith while trying to solve murder during Colorado’s dangerous 1920s Klan era. So she needs a trustworthy helper.
What should any of us look for in a close friendship when we face big trouble? In Watson’s case, he’ll bound out of bed at barely daybreak—with no prior notice, out of a deep sleep—“to accompany my friend on a case.” Unselfish loyalty is Watson’s calling card, indeed.
Few of us ask such selflessness from even a best friend on a regular basis. In a mystery story, however, the sidekick represents intriguing, curated actions worthy of honest consideration. Thus, who exactly is this beloved character?
The foil. The detective, as we know, is already the star—shining bright. That’s lots of celestial heat, giving off big wattage. So starry Holmes is often conceited, declaring: “I am a brain, Watson. The rest of me is a mere appendix.” The sidekick, in contrast, is the ordinary guy or gal riding alongside as the detective unravels the deep secret. With no need to self-elevate, the sidekick makes room for regular folks like us to make the journey. Without him (or her), the detective’s glare would be far too shiny to tolerate.
The relaxant. Compared to the protagonist, who can be intense and single-focused—like my Annalee—the sidekick invites us to let our hair down a little, easing tension. Thus, as Sherlock Holmes prepares to face a menacing villain, we’re all given a break when the detective hands a note to Watson, telling him: “Take a cab to Scotland Yard and give this to Youghal of the C.I.D. Come back with the police. The fellow’s arrest will follow.”
Replies Watson: “I’ll do that with joy.” We readers can feel the same. Danger’s afoot, but we can breathe easy for a moment, knowing the less-entangled Watson will be back just in time with reinforcements.
The challenger. During especially dangerous moments, or when the plot might slow, the sidekick can rev up the engine by challenging the detective’s choices. Readers tell me they love when the sidekick calls out my young detective on a questionable decision. In a relationship built on trust, my detective listens—for a while anyway—until throwing herself back into the fray. The book of Proverbs puts it this way: “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted” (Proverbs 27:5-6). Such challenges refocus the story and, in a normal human friendship, can ignite excitement and new life in a relationship. My friend cares enough to test me.
The good listener. While noodling a crime, a detective needs a sounding board—somebody to sit back and stay quiet while the sleuth reflects. Watson is the prime example of how this works, acting as the narrator of Holmes’s stories—but serving primarily as his deep listener as the detective thinks out loud. This approach provides a classic tutorial on how to just listen sometimes when a friend needs to talk.
One thinks, indeed, of the lowly Jesus, whose encounters with others are often marked by questions he asks the other person—making room to hear the other’s story. What a great gift to give someone who needs not our pronouncements, but our loving ear.
The good friend. Some dispute the integrity of their friendship, pointing to Holmes’s put-downs of Watson. Theirs is still not a perfect friendship by any means. But it was strong enough to prompt this tender scene in The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes when Holmes fears his faithful sidekick has been wounded:
“You’re not hurt, Watson? For God’s sake, say that you are not hurt!”
Watson then reflects: It was worth a wound—it was worth many wounds—to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask . . . for the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain.
Such an exchange recalls the beautiful biblical principle that “two are better than one” (Ecclesiastes 4:9). Sidekicks also recall for believers the extraordinary mystery of Jesus’ friendship with humble us. He even washed his disciples’ feet, including his betrayer, Judas.
Friendships are complicated, indeed. Who among us hasn’t wounded a friend? Spoken out of turn? Discouraged, not encouraged? In a Christian mystery story, however, the sidekick shows there’s a way to reconcile, linking our arms to fight in Christ another day. May you and your beloved sidekicks do the same.
About Patricia…
Patricia Raybon is an award-winning Colorado author, novelist, and essayist who writes daring and exciting books and novels at the intersection of faith and race. A former Denver Post reporter and journalism faculty member at the University of Colorado Boulder, her inaugural mystery, All That Is Secret, was a 2022 Christy Award winner, a Parade magazine pick for fall 2021 “Mysteries We Love,” a PBS Masterpiece “Best Mystery Books of 2021: As Recommended by Bestselling Authors,” and a CrimeReads “Best Debut Novels” pick for October 2021. Double the Lies, the second installment of her Annalee Spain Mystery series, releases in February from Tyndale House.
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I have many favorite literary sidekicks…of course, including Dr. Watson! Another is Samwise Gamgee in LOTR. Ron and Hermione in Harry Potter.
Great choices! I particularly agree with Ron and Hermione 🙂
I love Honey Wheeler as Trixie’s sidekick in the Trixie Belden series. 🙂
I haven’t read those books. I’ll have to check them out!
no fav
Totally fine! Good luck!
I never thought about having a sidekick, but if I’m talking about my best friend being my sidekick I’d say, for sure, Sarah is my sidekick. We don’t always do everything together or even agree on everything, but we can tell each other our honest feelings and we listen to each other. We support each other in times of stress. In fact, I’ve noticed the older we get (thus, the longer we have been friends), the more honest and vulnerable we are.
Sounds like a sidekick, for sure! That’s great that you have someone who can be there for you who you can also be honest with, etc. Sarah sounds like a blessing.