There are certain things about the Dexter books that ping my authorial radar to say "This is a literary novel rather than a mystery or detective story." The story line with the kids is one of those things. Not to say that a literary style is a bad thing, but that obviously influences his readership.

What really surprised me when I was in Miami last winter was that his books weren't prominently featured in local bookstores. There's such a rich, vivid sense of place in his writing that I thought they'd be a natural fit.