Writing about criminal cases is interesting, exciting. A good case, or plot makes your story not only plausible, but also entertaining and worthy of anyone's attention.
Since Sue Thomas FB Eye is about the FBI, primary focus is on cases that the FBI could be handling. Kidnappings, or other serious crimes that crosses Statelines, terrorist plots, the lot.
We all love to see Special Agents going undercover, busting through doors and sitting in Surveillance Vans with the most sophisticated technology available.
All very well, and fun, but as long as one keeps in mind the limits of what the FBI can or may do.
The FBI is not a rigid organisation: it changes with the time it operates in; its focus shifts from one point of interest to another. The post 9/11 FBI was different from the FBI now, and the seventies FBI was different than the eighties.
Laws have changed, for good or worse, and the way the FBI operates too. And sometimes it is 'reined in'.
Here are a few articles about the 'Changing FBI': how it struggles to cope with the new challenges these modern times bring. What is justifiable in getting information etc.
Invaluable info for anyone who likes to get the 'background' straight, and thus, enhancing their story from entertaining to brilliant.
F.B.I. Struggling to Reinvent Itself to Fight Terror ŠThe New York Times
F.B.I. Head Admits Mistakes in Use of Security Act ŠThe New York Times
U.S. Report to Fault F.B.I. on Subpoenas ŠThe New York Times