Guest Blog ~ Author Christy Barritt ~ Unique Occupations and Making Them Sing with Realism

Christy Barritt’s newest book, Suspicious Minds (Kregel, 2008) is a lighthearted mystery about a sassy crime-scene cleaner who likes to stick her nose into police business. The first book in the series was Hazardous Duty, a finalist in the ACFW Book of the Year contest. She’s also the co-author of Changed: True Stories of Finding God in Christian Music (Standard, 2005). When she’s not working on books, Christy writes articles for various publications. She’s also a stringer for the Virginian-Pilot newspaper and a worship leader at her church. She’s married to Scott, a teacher and funny man extraordinaire. They have one son, two dogs, and a houseplant named Martha. When Christy has some free time, she enjoys…. who’s she kidding? She never has free time! And she wouldn’t have it any other way.  Visit her website.



I’ll never forget when I walked into speak before 75 ladies at a Christian women’s club. Thanks to a very generous donor, they’d each received a copy of my book to read beforehand. Before I began my talk, a lady came running up and exclaimed, “How do you do it? How are you a crime scene cleaner? I didn’t even know they existed until I read your book! I would never have the stomach for your career.”

I had to let her know that even though my book was written in first-person, the story was not about me. I’m not a crime-scene cleaner, though at times, I feel like I could be one because of the vast amount of research I did on the career before writing my book. I’ve read tons mystery novels where the protagonist is a private investigator, a reporter or law enforcement professional. That’s why when I began writing my mystery series, I decided I needed a unique, out-of-the-box occupation. When I heard about crime scene cleaners, I knew I’d found just the right career for my heroine, Gabby St. Claire.

When you’re writing about a character with a unique occupation, it’s important to do your research first. Researching is easier than one might think. I also found a ton of articles online that profiled crime scene cleaners. Each one gave me a different perspective and new information. The more I could read about the job, I did.

Of course, you can’t forget about finding books on the subject. I’m currently reading a memoir called “Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy.” If I ever write a novel with a CIA character, I’m referring to that book. It’s great. Many other careers can be researched through reading books written by people in the field.

But my most important research involved locating a professional. Through an internet search, I did just that and set up an interview with a local crime scene cleaner. He was more than willing to share his stories—and pictures—with me.

It’s great to talk to people in person because sometimes they have a lingo that you won’t discover through reading articles on the subject. I learned from him terms like AirScrub and Tyvek suit and about special cleaning sprays they use at crime scenes. As I wrote the book, I was able to go to him with questions about how certain things work or look or smell. My time with him was invaluable to my research. I was able to realistically portray my character, without going into too many gory details.

Oh, and as for making my main character sing with realism—well, I literally did make Gabby St. Claire sing. Anyone who’s read my books knows that Gabby is always quoting lyrics from her favorite songs. That part of the research was easy—I just looked deep inside myself and my obnoxious habit of relating everything to songs.