As the weather gets warmer and the days get longer, we search for signs of spring. Are the first crocuses emerging from their winter hibernation? How many days til the Mets’ opening game at Citi Field? (I’m still looking for that lost hour of sleep.)
One of my favorite things about the season is how traditions at Easter and Passover both involve hunting for treasure. On Easter, of course, the hunt is for those brightly colored eggs. At Passover, kids search for the afikomen, a hidden bit of matzoh that rewards the sharp-eyed seeker with a small gift.
Easter eggs are a hallmark of spring, but for crime fiction fans, they’re a yearlong pleasure. I’m referring, of course, not to the decorated, hard-boiled, or chocolate variety, but to the nuggets of information an author embeds in the text. They might appear as a inside joke, or a nod to previous works, or an arcane reference that only a few people will recognize. If they’re hidden in a sea of red herrings, so much the better. One could argue they’re not essential to the narrative, but that would be akin to arguing chocolate isn’t necessary. Sure, you can live without it, but only if you call a chocolate-deprived existence living.
Why Hide Easter Eggs?
In mysteries, Easter eggs can double as clues. Agatha Christie, who tosses Shakespearean references and nursery rhymes into her texts with equal precision and enthusiasm, includes a famous example in Curtain. The answer to a clue in Captain Hastings’s crossword puzzle is a nod to Othello and points toward a solution to the larger and more serious enigma, which is the identity of the murderer. This is a game with deadly consequences.
Easter eggs can illuminate characters as well as plot. Some of my favorites function as secret codes or messages. The poem at the end of Lewis Carroll’s Alice Through the Looking Glass is an acrostic; the first letter of each line spells out Alice Pleasance Liddell, the name of the girl who inspired the story.
If You Know, You Know
Easter eggs pay tribute to loyal readers without baffling new ones and, over time, may become highly anticipated fan favorites. Hitchcock fans look for his fleeting appearances in movies like North by Northwest. In Pixar films, the Pizza Planet truck appears in almost every movie, and part of the fun of watching is looking for that image.
As a reader, I start with the first book in a series and work my way through chronologically. As a writer, I can’t make that assumption, which is why each installment has to work as a standalone. Mindful that my audience might be meeting the characters for the first time in book three or four I’m careful to reintroduce the major players. Easter eggs elevate those repetitive descriptions and keep them fresh.
In the fourth book of my On Pointe series, the protagonist pokes fun at her mother for writing books that feature an English teacher who encounters a murder victim at the start of every school year. The entire conversation is a scant five lines long, but readers who are familiar with my Master Class series know I’m using my protagonist to make fun of myself.
Easter Eggs versus Red Herrings
Easter eggs enlighten. Red herrings obscure. Both add layers of meaning to narratives, but the latter serves a more essential purpose. Those misleading clues and distractions are designed to divert the reader from solving the crime before the big reveal at the end. What I love most about red herrings is how they allow the audience to sift through clues along with the sleuth. In other words, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Sometimes, it’s the key to unmasking a killer. And sometimes, it’s sitting in an ashtray to throw smoke in the eyes of armchair detectives.
Red Herrings and Chocolate Chip Cookies
When I serve up red herrings, my goal is to mask them as chocolate chip cookies. They’re not flashy, but they are popular. Size matters: One is not enough to satisfy. An entire box would ensure indigestion. And, like chocolate chip cookies, they’re tempting but, in the end, have no nutritional value. Red herrings exist to provide a delicious diversion.
The Game is Afoot…but which foot, exactly?
When you read the above line, beloved of crime fiction fans, did you think, Aha! Sherlock Holmes. A Study in Scarlet. You’d be right, of course, but you might also recall another stirring call to arms from Henry V: The game’s afoot / Follow your spirit, and upon this charge/Cry ‘God for Harry! England! And Saint George!
Now that’s a horse worth the price of a kingdom.
What are your favorite Easter eggs and red herrings? Are there any that disappointed you?
Lori Robbins
Her experiences as a dancer, teacher, writer, and mother of six have made her an expert in the homicidal tendencies everyday life inspires.
You can find her at lorirobbins.com
The ones look for clues and red herrings are, as Henry V said, the “few, the happy few…the band of brothers.” Happy hunting!
I accept this challenge and will be sifting for clues in the next iteration of National Treasure.
Easter eggs enlighten. Red herrings obscure. Such a clear, elegant way to put it! And I loved the references to classic mysteries and films. Thanks for another thoughtful post.
Thanks, Mally! As soon as I posted this, a dozen other examples occurred to me–like ones in Magpie Murders. Those are great.
A great explanation, Lori.
In every Nora Tierney Mystery, she passes someone walking a Scotty dog wearing a jaunty tartan bow tie or neck scarf. One time it wore a plaid beret. It’s not the same dog and never in the same place.
Series readers have told me they look for the Scotty dog! That little black terrier represents the knowledge of the resolution to the mystery – the self-assured cocky attitude says “I know who did it and you still need to figure it out- keep digging!”
What a great example! Those Easter eggs are a real boon for series readers as well as writers.
Elizabeth Peters is another author who is so good at that. I’m a huge Amelia Peabody fan.
It’s the hunting for the eggs that makes Easter fun.
In literature and in life!
This sharp-eyed seeker thrives on hidden treasures, rich with chocolate hints and bits of matzoh. Wonderful description, Lori – I loved the chocolate threads woven throughout!
From one chocoholic to another: thanks, Natalia!
I have spent much time watching Dis year movies as a child and as I was raising my kids. There are a lot of Easter eggs! For example, in Frozen, Rapunzel from Tangled is spotted at Elsa’s coronation. Also, Anna swings into a painted picture from the rococo art movement which apparently inspired the animation in early Walt Disney movies like Cinderella. Such a fun topic! But what’s the Cadbury?
Meant Disney movies
I love those nods and winks in Disney movies. I think my favorite is in Hercules, when Megara kicks aside small animals, in a dark twist on Snow White. It was hilarious.
A witty and delicious post – who knew chocolates and fish had so much in common! I especially liked “And, like chocolate chip cookies, they’re tempting but, in the end, have no nutritional value. Red herrings exist to provide a delicious diversion.” Worth the calories? Absolutely. Thanks Lori! This made my day.
I love starting the day with good food and fiction, though now I’m hungry for both. Thanks, Karyn!
You’ve given me so much to think about, Lori. I think Colin Dexter appears in many Morse episodes. Will definitely share this.
I didn’t know this. It’s been many years since I read and enjoyed the Morse mysteries. Lots of crossword puzzles in those!
I just want to know why all these devices have food names. Is it because reading goes hand in hand with tea and cookies? Hmm… makes you think….
That it does! In mysteries, tea seems to be the panacea for everything from heartbreak to homicide. Though Nero Wolfe is my favorite foodie.
I just watched an Agatha Christie adaptation of her novel ‘A Caribbean Mystery’ and she put SERIOUS effort into her red herrings! Was she the queen of red herrings? It is possible. I love easter eggs but in some TV series they take over and the episodes in Game of Thrones became vehicles for delivering easter eggs that morphed into fan favorites and even “fan service”
I read all of Christie when I was much younger but didn’t return to her books until fairly recently, when I did a series of seminars on her work. Preparing for those discussions was like a master class in crime fiction! She is brilliant at planting red herrings next to clues.