• anyhow2503@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      By “close reading” you mean Agatha Christie novels? No seriously, where did you get that from?

      • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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        4 days ago

        Yes, and I was also humorously referring to the entire murder-in-a-small-town genre, including Midsummer, Cabot Cove, Shetland, and innumerable villages and small towns in… Wales, South Africa, Australia, France, Norway, all over the rural US, in both present and past eras.

        The insularity being a contributor to motives for murder, between land disputes, scandalous secrets being hidden until they fester, and people who don’t have the option or opportunity to get away…

        I wasn’t referring to the horror/slasher genre, but some of those fit as well.

    • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      The bigger question is why? And is it universal or is it specific to some places and/or some times.

      Like I doubt small Japanese villages are hotbeds of murder. At the same time I fully believe American small towns have a lot of murders. So it’s a pretty strong claim to leap to the conclusion that small towns cause murder.

      • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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        5 days ago

        Hmmm… lately I’ve been reading a couple Japanese authors, Akimitsu Takagi and Seishi Yokomizo, in case you’re interested. (Not all set in remote places, but part of the classic murder mystery genre within a very different culture from Agatha Christie.)

        • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          Now that sounds really interesting! I saw the movie Yojimbo recently and that one depicts a Japanese village full of lawlessness and banditry, but that was set during the samurai era. My impression of Japanese villages today is that they’re rather idyllic places, albeit boring and lacking job opportunities (hence the exodus to Tokyo).

          I will check out those authors though. Thanks for the info!