Barbara Havers

I’m not quite sure why I love Barbara Havers as much as I do. I do like Endeavour Morse and Vera Stanhope a lot but not in the same way. I feel sorry for Adam Dalgliesh and Thomas Lynley and a little bit sorry for Cormoran Strike too, but I do enjoy them all very much. They have all had a bit of a rough time personally, with family friends and lovers but these issues never seem to impact the work that they do. I have noticed a lot of other similarities. They are all single and even though most of them make serious attempts to have relationships none of them seem to be very successful at it. All of them come from dysfunctional families, which perhaps is the reason for their relationship failures. They are all very righteous. Career, relationships, money all take a back seat to them being honest and true. Would it could be that way in real life. 

The ladies are a bit more distinct. Barbara and Vera seem to take any insults on the chin and deal with disappointments more easily than the men. These ladies are not at all superficial and make very little effort to be attractive or polite in some way. Vera particularly can be difficult and sarcastic and unlikeable.

I am also a huge fan of Kinsey Millhone, Lise Delorme, Precious Ramotswe and Lisbeth Salander all unique international female sleuths. I’m not just a fan of the Brits although they do seem to dominate the world in murders. Theses ladies all still seem to have the righteous gene, no matter where they live. Do gooders, honest and true. Although I must admit Kinsey often curtails the rule book and is one of the best liars seen in this genre. Being American I suppose it’s understandable. Lisbeth is vicious. Angry, tough as nails, and very sexual. Being Swedish this is certainly not understandable. Precious is kind, smart, manipulative and methodical. Her African heritage coincides with this personality perfectly. The only character that seems to be a cliché is Lisa, a French Canadian northern Ontario detective. Perhaps it is because I am Canadian that I see her as more familiar. I don’t know. What I do know is that Lisa is the closest to me ever being a detective that I would ever get. Lisa is familiar with the cold like me, she is good with numbers like me and she is ambitious, again like me. I would gladly live Lisa’s detective life. It would be easy, very easy for me. Interestingly her character doesn’t bore me with its familiarity but rather draws me to her. 

I also enjoy both William Murdoch and Armand Gamache both Canadian, but they are men, so for me so it’s harder to empathize. So many other great ones influence both my leisure reading and my time and money spent on books. Patrick Hedstrom (Sweden); Erlendur (Iceland); John Rebus ( Scotland); Temperance Brennan (American); and it seems the list goes on.

But my absolute favourite is still Barbara Havers. Although she has a nasty temper and tends to go off on her own during investigations sometimes, she is a very thorough and competent detective. This lady is full of faults, very cynical and very rude. She can be disrespectful to her superiors and very lazy with basic self care. She has very few friends and those she has must work very hard at it because she won’t. But give her a child in trouble or a beaten woman and her fury and action will be immediate. Her humanity is unmistakable. 

Barbara is extremely funny, sarcastic and self deprecating. Never shy to make her opinion known, she has a way of making it direct and clear with slang and jokes. She is not a spender but she will be generous with whatever she has to those without around her. She cares. Too much. If Barbara was my neighbour I would approach her carefully. Regular hellos would be ok but not knocking on her door. I can imagine having a “cuppa” with her but probably not until we had been neighbours for a year or so, and even then it would probably be while out on the stoop while she was having a fag. I can’t imagine hanging out at a club or a restaurant with her but I can imagine calling her for help. She would be a good friend, neighbour or workmate. 

 Barbara is special. She doesn’t care what people think. I love her T-shirts and all of the slogans she picks them for. I envy her pop tart addiction. I like that she drives a beat up mini and makes comments inappropriately to anyone. She recently became enamoured with tap dancing which makes me love her a little bit more. Why can’t I be like Barbara? Honestly I wouldn’t want her life, I’d just like more of her attitude. And her car. I’d really like a mini. 

I’m overweight like Barbara but I’m much more superficial than she is. I’m outspoken as well but not as brave to comment out loud as I’d like to everyone equally. I follow the rules more than Barbara even when I know that they suck. Barbara doesn’t suffer fools in the same way I will for diplomatic reasons. She follows her own path, without guilt or much concern for her own well being. 

 She enjoys her job, she is loyal to her team and she takes care of the people she loves, all things we have in common. I admire her very much but I wish I was just much braver, the way she is. I wish I didn’t care at all what people thought, again the way she doesn’t. I would prefer to please myself a bit more often the way Barbara does and not always try to please people as much as I do. I worry about the future. Barbara worries about having milk in the fridge that’s not sour. 

Oh Barbara teach me please. Show me where to buy one of those T-shirts.