DC>  In one novel, Ariadne Oliver, Agatha Christie's "detective" who
DC>  is most clearly her alter ego, mentions the fussiness of readers
DC>  who write in to complain that a revolver in one chapter has
DC>  become an automatic in another, and the difficulty of the poor
DC>  crime writer who has to remember what she wrote and know the
DC>  difference.
DC>   >    A few chapters later, I tossed it in the trash. Too bad. Other
DC>   >    than that one mistake, it might have been a decent book.
DC>  Christie's expertise was toxocology.
DC>  We tend to forget it, but Ian Fleming made several howlers about
DC>  James Bond's gun in the first few novels.
I'm a longtime Fleming fan, but I don't recall any problems with Bond's
gun. I've often wondered what a 'skeleton grip' is, though. I much
preferred the Walther of the later stories to the Beretta of the earlier
ones, but if you're close and hit the right spot, a .25 has been known
to get the job done.
It's easy to fall into the pit if the writer isn't familiar with the
subject and the reader is. If one is writing, it pays to do a little
research. To get caught on a technicality is one thing, but to put
cylinders on a Browning is like having your Pony car wearing shoes
instead of tires.        (8-}
 * OLX 2.2 * james.mcneill@privy.com
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