You can't stop at one ...

 corpses, that is. 

I was pondering this when reading an American romantic suspense/thriller and considering our obsession - as readers - with serial killers. IRL serial killers are quite rare - but you wouldn't know it from the number of novels there are that feature one. It is a sad fact that victims of violence in the real world are very likely to know the person responsible - a family member, friend, co-worker ... But, of course, that's not dramatic. And it's not just thrillers that have a superfluity of bodies - even a cosy crime is obliged to have more than one, traditionally the second being the person who was shaping up to be the chief suspect. And we've spoken before about the victim who lets it be known that they have some sort of information/clue and is, of course, killed before they can reveal it.  And don't let's get started on Shakespeare, or Jacobean drama in general. Of course, they knew what they were doing. Events and situations that would be horrific IRL are simply thrilling on the stage, or between the covers. 

More than one corpse is understandable on one level - it ramps up the tension, but the other thing I was thinking, when reading that thriller, was that it allows the plot to develop as a puzzle. It doesn't matter if it is a cosy or a thriller a major part of the enjoyment is watching the sleuth unravel what is going on. OK, that can be done with one murder, but a series of deaths allows the mystery to develop as the investigator learns more and more about their adversary.  

Apart from the thoughts brought out by my reading matter, the topic has been on my mind lately as I'm currently still toying with the idea of having a dabble in cosy crime, as several fellow romance authors have done lately. I have characters nudging me, and what might be a love triangle floating around.  I'd never do that in a romantic suspense because I'm firmly of the belief that there has to be a couple that you can root for all through the book. The growth of the romance is an essential ingredient, so I wouldn't mess with it by introducing doubt, but in a book that would be slewed towards crime, not romance ... Well, maybe. There would still have to be some romance - that's a given in my writing - but the chance to walk on the wilder side? Again maybe. It's all maybe at the moment - but when something settles, I promise you'll be the first to know.