Of course we have the internet now ...

As you know, I'm a fan of vintage crime and the differences in what could be written even in the 1940s and now are often striking. Books like Josephine Tey's Brat Farrar, with a plot about a mystery claimant who may or may not be heir to a country estate could now only be written as an historical, or not at all. These days DNA would settle the matter in a few weeks. We have CCTV, forensics, social media. Ah yes, social media. 

Even twenty years ago the world would not be getting moment by moment updates on what you had for breakfast, but some of that vintage crime I have been reading lately have got me thinking about some of the parallels. 

I've read two which feature poison pen letters - the equivalent of trolling? And when mail would be delivered within 24 hours and possibly more often during the day a barrage of unpleasant correspondence would be possible. We have 24 hour news - but when newspapers were the main means of communicating events, editions could be produced several time a day.  Social media can give instant glimpses of what celebrities are doing - but newspapers and magazines had their society pages for the great, the good and the not so good.  Now authors are encouraged to keep their readers in the loop with newsletters - but the likes of GK Chesterton and William Morris produced their own newspapers. Print was more cumbersome, but possible. 

As someone who writes crime I have to admit that technology can be a bit of a bother. How to get around that pesky CCTV isn't just a matter for the criminal fraternity! The aforementioned DNA is a consideration, and what about mobile phones? So many crime novels from the past could be solved by a simple phone call. Authors have a fun time making protagonists lose phones, drop them in water, have them stolen, forget to charge them. Then there is the good old standby  - no signal. This feels like a cliche, but if you listen to the Today programme on Radio 4 - which I do - you will know how often a line disappears mid call - and not just those spanning long distances. 

Communications are not new, if technology is. In the past it just took a bit longer. And sit was ometimes more difficult - but not always.