Why do British authors keep making this very obvious mistake?

[YaWeeFurryBastard]

Yet again I’m reading an otherwise good book which refers to a character being unable to put up the money to make bail. This is set in England, bail in England does not require a surety payment except in very limited circumstances. Why do authors or editors not check this to make sure it’s factually accurate?!

See also characters being bailed after they’ve been charged with murder, something which is particularly unheard of in England. Magistrates don’t have the power to grant bail for murder charges.

Surely at some point pre publishing, someone with a basic knowledge of the English legal system reads the book, or do they just not care?

I’m probably very over invested but it’s bloody annoying and almost undermines an otherwise believable story.

🤦🏻‍♀️🤯🤬

This sort of thing drives me mad.

The Lady & Lady’s Maid series by Alyssa Maxwell, the first one’s Murder Most Malicious. I listened to them on Libby.

Police can arrest only where they have grounds to believe that an offence has been committed. While under arrest an Inspector can authorise a search of the premises of the arrested person. The wonderful Section 18 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act [PACE]. No need for a "warrant"

I'm a writer too and if I don't know something, I look it up. No excuse for shoddy research nowadays when everyone has the www literally at their fingertips.

People who write crime/mystery fiction set in the 1920s/1930s don't seem even to have read any of the Golden Age greats, much less done any research of their own. You'd have some idea about coroners' inquests and so on if you read some of the classic authors.

Pet peeves of mine, aside from procedural errors, are titles used wrongly, and everyone using Christian names all over the place in books set before about 1970. Again you only have to read books written at the time to see that it just wasn't done.

Especially in this genre.

Also be aware that sometimes books are deliberately Americanised so they work for a US audience without having to have a separate edit.

On Emmerdale, many years ago, there was an arrest for ‘attempted manslaughter’.

And yet I read a lot of fanfic, much of which is written by Americans and based in the UK, and many of them thank their "Brit Picker". If free Harry Potter fanfic can handle it, why can't a paid publisher?!

Fanfic is free to readers and Britpickers do it for free. I used to belong to various Live Journal communities where US writers asked for help with aspects of British lifeand UK people gave it. I wouldn't Britpick for a commercial publisher for free, and they are very unlikely to pay.

It's sweater that jars for me. I change it in my head to jumper. Seen it in Julian Barnes, Ian McEwan and Julia Donaldson. It stands out so much for me I asked a friend who was very senior in publishing if this was a change made for the US market as it seemed so odd for those writers and she was certain it would have been their choice but it baffled her too.

The Julia Donaldson one was worst because I had to read that repeatedly. I had to change "better" to "plumper" to make it rhyme such is my aversion to sweater.

@FionnulaTheCooler

but wouldn't you do a bit of research if you were writing a book??

Interesting. Sweater was frequently used when I was growing up in my Northern household. So I don’t associate that as an Americanism at all.

The Julia Donaldson one was worst because I had to read that repeatedly. I had to change "better" to "plumper" to make it rhyme such is my aversion to sweater.

This is funny! That’s why she deliberately chose ‘sweater’, obviously - for the rhyme.

I too think ‘sweater’ is OK in British English - it’s not an Americanism, per se, it’s just that we Brits have loads more words for woolly garments to choose from.

You have the audacity to complain about something so trivial and then write about the"heroin" having bangs!😂

Honestly, I couldn't care less about this stuff.

Interestingly (from the point of view of this discussion; the story itself is harrowing 😳), new MP Natalie Fleet uses the term "statutory rape" here to describe her own case: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c725x5351vxo

So many examples . . . I blame lazy editors too. Twins being described as identical despite being of opposite sex, Rocket construed as a vegetable (don't start me on Legumes) etc.

I just can't get my head round it. It's an entirely American word to me and always takes me out of the story.

A residual phrase from when they were routinely starched?

……and the dad sat in court watching the trial before he gave his evidence

I think all publishers have done away with proofreaders nowadays and bloody hell does it show!

Read a book set in Cornwall recently. It was painful, with sidewalk, trunk (car boot) and guys drinking soda (lemonade).

All you can do is put a scathing review on all the review sites!

I recently read a British book that referred throughout to torches as 'flashlights'. Much of the action took place in the dark so there were a great many references. I assumed this was for the benefit of a US audience and the publisher didn't want the expense of producing two texts. Obviously I understood what 'flashlight' meant but it was a little jarring.

I've used the word "sweater" all my life and I'm British and in my late 40s.

I believe you. And I accept it's more likely Barnes et al have done the same. But it still sounds wrong to me. It is entirely American to me and sounds weird enough it makes me stop reading.

Hence the changing the Donaldson so I can read it aloud without wincing!

But if a British audience is expected to translate ‘flashlight’ to torch, why can’t Americans translate torch to flashlight?
Especially if it’s an English author and a book set in England.

I suppose 'flashlight' in Britain could only mean what we would call a torch. In the US I think 'torch' means a flaming thing you'd set fire to something with so there is possible ambiguity, but having said that the context would make it pretty clear.

Recently heard 'parking lot' used in place of 'car park' in a novel written by an English author. It was the only American-ism in the book but it jarred all the same.

In defence of Bracknell: it might not be the bustling, small market town it once was but I can think of many towns which would fare worse in a beauty 'pageant' and realise I'm, strangely, quite fond of it. 🙂