I'm doing a new story about two detectives they are trying to solve a murder of a woman how as had her head cut off. Its just like another case is the past so they go to talk to the detective of the first case but he moved to a new town 5 hours away is it unrealistic for them to go that far and would a police chief let them go thAt far. It set in 1951. My other question is what crime solving stuff did they have but then. Would they have security cameras and fingerprints stuff like that. Thank you Side note: sorry if this is hard to read I'm on my phone so it's hard to type
1951. 5 hours away...by plane? by car? in either case, it would have taken a lot longer in 1951 - prop planes, not jet. Slower cars (The Jag XK120 had only recently claimed the fastest production car stat at 120 mph!!!) and few motorways/freeways. So, I'd suggest closer to 10 hours, and it does sound unrealistic unless your new murder is very high profile. Fingerprints, yes. Security cameras, no. Why do they need to speak to him? Aren't the case files adequate? Why would he remember what happened back then? They'd need to justify visiting him by something weird/omitted from the case files. And even then, they'd probably just re-interview the original witnesses. How long ago was the original murder? Over 6 years and you're into WWII and its dislocations. Just after that, and you're possibly looking at a former soldier returning home with PTSD - and with a katana as a war souvenir?
I believe it is something they would do, its not like you can send an email or video chat. But, I agree that you may want to comment on how long it would take, to really put the reader in that time period.
If they wouldn't really have permission to go that far, they certainly do in the movies. I doubt the readers would question it at all. Send them in a car, have them stay the night in a cheap hotel and drive back the next day. No one drives 120mph on US roads now, @Shadowfax. Pretty sure they'd have driven 60mph on freeways which there would have been fewer of in 1951 and about 50mph on highways.
I wasn't suggesting that anyone drove at 120 mph on the road in 1951 - that was the fastest you could go if you had just bought the fastest production car - whereas nowadays, something like a Bugatti Veyron will go at close on 300 mph - I'm not suggesting that anyone would drive at that speed!
My other question is how do I let the readers know it's 1951 one person said "show me it's 51 don't tell me" but how any ideas
Clothes, cars, television programs, The President of the US. There are a few different ways you could date the story.
If you don't know much about it, dive in. Look up everything you can about your setting (city/state/country) in the 1950's to figure out what the culture was like. Listen to popular music from the 50's. Go to Youtube and watch some videos about the 50's. Find a few movies set in the 50's, and find a few movies made in the 50's. Soak yourself in the 50's. The world your characters exist in will come alive for you and you'll be able to imagine them there. As to how they could visit your character, I don't think it would be implausible for them to go on their day off if they went by train or car. It could also work that they write him a letter or call him on the phone to ask for a consult, because of which he agrees to meet them at some diner halfway or some device of that kind.
Plenty of novels have a chapter heading - time, day, date, location, whatever. Then no need to try and forcibly include it in the narrative. Chapter 7 29th February, 1951 - Gobi Desert Canoe Club.
