Q&A with Detroit Noir contributor P.J. Parrish
Posted on November 18, 2007
P.J. Parrish, the New York Times best-selling author is the Louis Kincaid series, is actually two sisters, Kris Montee and Kelly Nichols. Their books have been multiple nominees for the Edgar, Shamus, Anthony, and Thriller awards. They were born and raised in Detroit, and return home as often possible–both in person and in their fiction.
In the few seconds before he arrived, I took small, calming breaths and I hoped for things I had no right to hope for.
I hoped the T-shirt I had brought to put over the gun would muffle the sound. I hoped the people who lived there were too used to gunfire to even hear it anymore. I hoped no one had seen me move from my car to the shadows at the side of the apartment building. I hoped Angela would not grieve for this man too long.
I heard his footsteps before I saw him.
It kicked my heart up another notch and I drew what I knew would be my last full breath for the next few minutes.
I raised the gun. Kept it close to my side so it was partially obscured.
The sheen of his leather jacket caught the glow of the streetlight first. Then I saw a slice of skin and the glint of an eye that for a second looked more animal than human.
Two steps further and his entire body came into focus. He was walking straight toward me, but the emptiness of the night made me invisible to a man seeing only the weak yellow light of his front door.
He stopped at the stoop, nose and ears turned up to the air, as if he could smell my presence.
I stepped from the darkness.
–From “Pride” by P.J. Parrish
What are the challenges (if any) in writing about Detroit?
We were born and raised in Detroit. A great place to grow up. But because we have not lived there since 1962, we had to be very careful we didn’t fall prey to stereotypes or worse, nostalgia. Memory — Sanders fudge sundaes as Madeleine? — is not always a novelist’s best research tool.
Have you written other fiction set in Detroit?
Not set in the city itself. Our four “Michigan” books have been set in various locales, including Leelanau County, Ann Arbor, Saugatuck Grosse Pointe and the Irish Hills. We considered setting our series character Louis Kincaid in Detroit because he always wanted to work for DPD. But Detroit is a complex city, with none of the facile glamour of say, LA or Miami, and it’s subtly is not easily captured by an outsider. Which, if you haven’t lived in Detroit for years, you definitely are.
What attracts you to the (broadly-defined) Noir style?
While they might not be categorized as classically “noir,” our series books are dark toned and realistic. We like stories that explore the gray shades of morality. Not all heroes are good; not all villains are evil. And not everyone gets out alive.
Is your story based on, or overtly influenced by, actual events?
This is the only thing that is true in our story: Kris, just out of college, lived in a basement apartment off Woodward and at night could hear the lions roaring the Detroit Zoo. It just took her thirty years to figure out why.
If you could write anything and see it published, what would it be?
A truly funny book. Writing humorous fiction is not for the weak or timid. Believe us, we’ve tried. You can fake hardboiled, maybe even noir. You can’t fake funny.
Is there any particular effect you want your writing to have on the reader?
We want them to care about the people. Character is everything.
Who are some of your favorite authors?
Joyce Carol Oates. John D. MacDonald. Ross MacDonald.
Detroit speed round: Eminem or the White Stripes?
Good lord. We cast a dissenting vote for the Amboy Dukes. We’re older than dirt.