The Cornish Snapper: Why the Press Photographer is the New Sherlock Holmes
- Martin Hesp
- 10 hours ago
- 2 min read
The Narrative Pair: Lammoran and Hamilton
My new novel, The Cornish Snapper: The Granite Mystery, is a thriller set in the salt-sprayed landscapes of West Cornwall.
The narrative follows regional crime correspondent Thomas Hamilton and his partnership with a remarkable young press photographer, Veryan Lammoran. In this dynamic, Hamilton plays the world-weary Dr. Watson to Veryan’s intuitive Sherlock Holmes.
Set in 2002—a pivotal era for journalism—the story watches as the old "newspaper hack" looks on askance while the youthful ‘snapper’ utilizes the brand-new power of digital photography to uncover the truth behind two feuding fishing families on the craggy coasts of West Penwith.
Challenging the "Death of Crime Fiction"
The seed for this story was planted back in 2002 after I heard a BBC Radio 4 discussion suggesting that the traditional "whodunnit" was dead. The experts argued that modern forensics and police-procedurals had made the amateur sleuth—the Miss Marples and Sherlock Holmes of the world—obsolete.
I disagreed. As a journalist for a major regional daily, I knew that crime correspondents still have every reason to be "sniffing around" a story. But the real "brainwave" was the photographer.
The Digital Revolution as a Forensic Tool
In 2002, digital cameras were revolutionising the newsroom. I realized that a photographer armed with a high-end lens and a laptop was the perfect modern detective. They could blow up images to reveal tiny, hidden clues that the naked eye—and the police—might miss in the heat of the moment.
While the reporter (Hamilton) records the twists and turns, the snapper (Veryan) provides the investigative grit.
Creating the Characters
The dynamic truly clicked into place during a conversation with the talented Cornish photographer Emily Whitfield Wicks. She suggested that the photographer should be a woman. Suddenly, the "odd couple" pairing made sense: a vibrant, camouflage-clad young woman working alongside a stale, world-weary reporter who has "been there and got the T-shirt."
While Veryan Lammoran is her own person, she shares Emily’s penchant for ex-army gear. As for Thomas Hamilton? There may be a few bits of myself in there—but as any journalist knows, the line between fact and fiction is where the best stories begin.
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