When a Character Doesn’t Cooperate: Why I Gave a Sidekick a Starring Role

by Jen Collins Moore

I love mystery series. It’s a delight to fall in love with a main character and get to know them better in each new book, seeing their world change and grow with every installment.

I just assumed I would follow the usual pattern when I introduced the Maggie White Mysteries. I love my main character, a plucky American of a certain age who's spent the last twenty years juggling career and family. She thinks life as an expat in Rome is going to be the Dolce Vita she’s earned, but finds she’s at loose ends without the kids and career that once gave her an identity. When a crime presents itself and Maggie is the prime suspect, it’s only natural that she investigates. That’s the story behind Murder in the Piazza, and I love it.

When it was time to give Maggie a murder to solve in book two, I wanted to connect it to Maggie’s friend Faye, the Queen Bee of the expat set in Rome. Maggie and Faye have a complicated relationship in the first book, and I was excited to explore the theme of friendship in my new story. Dropping a dead body in Faye’s living room seemed like a good way to do that.

The problem was that Faye wasn’t willing to accept the role of sidekick. I thought it was an upgrade. After all, she was only a minor character in the first book, appearing in just a few scenes, mostly to show Maggie’s growing self confidence. But Faye wasn’t having it. She kept edging into Maggie’s story, putting her own problems front and center. 

I fought Faye off as long as I could. I began to let her do some investigating alone since she had more free time than Maggie. (How do all those sleuths running bake shops and yarn stores make time for their investigations? I’m an entrepreneur myself, and I knew Maggie just wouldn’t abandon her responsibilities at the tour company to go hunt for suspects.) But that wasn’t enough for Faye. She insisted on solving the case herself, stealing Maggie’s moment to shine.

Then it hit me: Maggie might have been the star of book one, but it was Faye who needed to grow and change. And at the end of the day, that’s what the most engaging detectives do. The cases they solve give them a reason to put themselves to the test and learn important lessons as they reach the final solution.

I had no choice but to give in and re-write the book from Faye’s perspective. She’s a difficult woman. She can be judgmental and overbearing, and that’s the type of main character I love to inhabit: someone truly human.

Faye’s life looks pretty perfect on the outside, and that’s the way she wants to keep it, no matter that her husband has moved out and her friendships are shallow at best. She can’t bear the idea of anyone knowing how hard she’s working to keep up her act. A dead body in her living room is the straw that breaks the proverbial camel’s back and forces her to look at her life with fresh eyes. 

The result is Murder in Trastevere, a story that I love. Every character has a story to tell, and I’m so glad that I was able to give her a starring role.

It did mean that I had to change the series name, but I think The Roman Holiday Mystery Series gets the idea of the stories I write across even better. I hope you like it, too.

What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts.