I am currently on the last lap (Launch minus 7 weeks) of the publication of the first volume of my new series, The Phenomenological Detective, “The Only True Remedy” and although the book itself has been called that since I first started to write it, I had a sudden panic about whether it sounded too obscure. These tend to happen in the middle of the night and seem quite ludicrous in the morning – but this time it didn’t.
I suppose these things happen, but I’m better now.
Perhaps a more serious issue revolves around the series title. We had a few stumbles, even though that too was an early decision. In this case it wasn’t just me having nightmares. There was criticism that ‘phenomenology’ is not a well-kennt term and readers might be put off. True. One can see problems around that and, if there was a straightforward definition or way of explaining what it actually is, it would make it more approachable.
Some entry-level research was undertaken and produced endless quotes from great phenomenologists but little clarity. It was then that I realised that phenomenology is nothing like ‘deceptively simple’ and it is pretty well impossible to navigate between talking down to people unfamiliar with the term and baffling them with complication. It is a complicated subject and requires a lot of study.
So, what next? A short course in phenomenology before they read the book? Hardly!
In the interim, we had to think about alternative series titles. And it wasn’t easy. There are many detective series out there which have series titles of ‘An Inspector (insert detective’s name) Book. A bit samey, don’t you think? And boring – the mortal sin.
Patrice Lanier is from Languedoc-Roussillon in the South of France but only one of the novels is set substantially there, so that won’t do. And ‘The Conscientious Detective’ won’t do, will it?
In the end, it has to stay as ‘The Phenomenological Detective’ – as least several of those surveyed said they were intrigued …
I hope that the actual novels will inform readers about what phenomenology is – and how Patrice uses it – but think I should probably use some quotes in my newsletter and, perhaps, some explanations on this website. It’s an interesting conundrum – and being interesting is what all this is about!
