|
So what I am hearing is that a party idea as a setting for a mystery would be unrealistic since the NPC sororities (which would be the well-recognized ones) do not have such events and it would be unrealistics for a Non-Greek (whether just a random student or a Priest-sleuth) to be involved at a recruitment/rush event.
The issue comes down to:
A) A realistic crime (obviously, murder is the most 'common' crime in a mystery)
B) How would our protagonist be involved? Wouldn't the police get irritated with a meddlesome amateur (even though in the Fr. Dowling series, the Priest and a head detective are good friends, realistically I would think most officers would feel a little bugged to be upstaged by a proverbial amateur)? Of course, why would a sorority (especially if the antagonist is high-up in the sorority itself or the Panhellenic Council) cooperate with a 'civilian'? Cooperation with the police is a must to avoid suspicion, but with a Non-Greek student or Priest?
How would sorority women probably treat either a Non Greek or a Priest who was somehow involved? The stereotype would say that they would treat such a person quite poorly, looking down on them and that might make good tension in a story (if you ever watched "Monk" or "Columbo", one of the neat things was always seeing the important/powerful/brilliant character being outfoxed by the unassuming and underestimated sleuth), but I'm not so sure if that would be a realistic portrayal of the situation. How do Greeks view Non-Greeks, incl. both students and non-students?
|