SOURCE: Bakerman, Jane. “The Criminal Element.” Belles Lettres 4, no. 3 (spring 1989): 15.

In the following excerpt, Bakerman offers a mixed assessment of Waverly Place, commenting that the work is imaginative, but lacks depth of feeling.

In good crime fiction as in journalism, when and where are almost as important as who, what, and why. For sound, practical reasons, good mystery writers pay close attention to setting: They strengthen plot by intensifying the atmosphere, deepen realism with a wealth of accurate geographical detail, stimulate readers' imaginations with exotic locales, or underscore viciousness by contrasting it to commonplace actions transpiring during and after the crime. A skillfully presented setting is one of the fiction writer's most versatile tools.

Private-eye novels, for instance, usually take place in cities, the larger and grimier the better. The urban scene is an important part of the formula. Some “tough 'tec” writers—and through them, their protagonists...