CROSSROADS: How speculative are police procedurals?

Happy Thursday, everybody! It’s time for this week’s Crossroads post over at Amazing Stories.

This week, I take a look at the degree to which police procedurals are reliant on some of the same narrative techniques which speculative fiction has used and refined for decades (actually, since SF/F’s inception more properly). In particular, this week’s essay explores some of the dangers and trade-offs inherent to world-building set in our real world, and to the use of accurate technical jargon for simultaneous neologism and verisimilitude.

I hope you stop by and join the conversation!

Crossroads: Speculative Devices in Police Procedurals