Over at my blog Hardboiled Wonderland, Bill Loehfelm has contributed a piece about writing his latest (and the first in a series) The Devil She Knows. He's had this character Maureen Coughlin popping up in other stories for a while now and wrote a book for her, in his own words, "because every story starts, for me, with character. And she's the best I ever had."

Ooh. That got me. I know the pull of that voice, that point of view or pattern of action that just won't go away. It attaches itself to a character who insists their way into more and more scenes designed for others and adamantly refuses to do what they're told to, (by, y'know, me, the author, their creator). Those characters are the ones to pay attention to. As a writer, you want to (and should) give them all the best bits (and lines and actions and, and, and), but you should also give them the best exit. Really. A great character deserves a great finale, (or demise, or passing, or triumph - fine or even dissolve into obscurity, but for Pete's sake give em some solid note to go out on).

And while we (writers) all hope to strike that rich character vein that is capable of spinning and supporting multiple stories, I think we'd all (c'mon, most of us, right?) agree that nothing kills the relevance of a character more effectively than immortality, huh?

Y'know who's got a nice close (at least I think it's a close) to their brief series? Nick Delvecchio in Robert Randisi's The End of Brooklyn - good three or four book arcs like say George Pelecanos has done with Nick Stefanos and Derek Strange - those are what we need more of. Or how about Wayne Ogden, Scott Phillips' AWOL supply sergeant, pimp and black marketeer who was memorably killed off in his first book, but has been popping up in short stories since and even has a brand new novel coming at the end of the summer (The Adjustment)?

I mean, does knowing who killed William H. Bonney make the back story of Billy the Kid any less interesting? Uh-uh, the betrayal of Pat Garrett, his best friend, infuses all that early narrative with a hell of a lot more weight than if he'd continued his exploits into infinity or got his pardon from Governor Wallace. No, once you know the how and the who of his end... Kinda sticks with you, (can you imagine if James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcell killed each other off?) yeah, now you're invested. 

So, my two cents for Mr. Loehfelm, and other promising series characters just making their debuts like Nathan Larson's Dewey Decimal and Sara Gran's Claire DeWitt is finish strong. 

My favorite series ender? Probably Holmes and Moriarty plunging over the falls locked in mortal combat, (was the resurgence merited? Hmmm). What's your favorite? While we're talking iconic series characters, what do you think of Ace Atkins taking the reigns of Robert B. Parker's Spenser?

Jedidiah Ayres writes fiction and keeps the blog Hardboiled Wonderland.