Crime Writer Margot Kinberg

I’d guess that most of us can think of things we don’t like about our jobs. I can’t think of any job or career that has no challenges. There’s a difference, though, between not liking this or that about a job, and being truly disgruntled. Disgruntlement can happen for any number of reasons, too. It might be a toxic company culture, or very low pay, or a terrible boss. Whatever it is, employee unhappiness can be a strong driving force. And it can lead in all sorts of directions.

There’s employee disgruntlement in Dorothy L. Sayer’s Murder Must Advertise. Pym’s Publicity, Ltd. is a thoroughly respectable and rather old-fashioned sort of advertising agency. The last thing the company leaders want is gossip or scandal. So, when copywriter Victor Dean dies from a fall down a flight of stairs, management does not want the police involved. Instead, they ask Lord Peter Wimsey to go undercover as Dean’s replacement and find out the truth about his death. The only clue he has is that Dean left a half-finished letter in which he reported that someone at the company has been using company property for illegal purposes. Wimsey duly starts his new job, and it’s not long before he learns that all is not necessarily well at the company. It seems that someone is disgruntled enough to use company property for personal gain.

The focus of Emma Lathen’s Murder to Go is Chicken Tonight, a franchised fast food chain. The chain’s become popular, and new varieties of chicken are making it even more so. Then, trouble starts. Some customers are sickened, and one dies, after eating one of Chicken Tonight’s new recipes. A thorough investigation leads to Clyde Sweeney, a disgruntled delivery driver whose job was to move product from the company’s warehouses to its franchisees. At first, the problem seems to be solved. But then, Sweeney disappears and is later found dead. John Putnam Thatcher, vice president of the Sloan Guaranty Bank, has a stake in finding out the truth, as his bank is set to underwrite the company’s merger with an insurance company. So, he starts asking questions about Sweeney’s death and everything that led up to it.

In P.D. James’ A Taste For Death, Commander Adam Dalgliesh, Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) John Massingham, and Detective Inspector (DI) Kate Miskin form a special police task force that investigates crimes ‘of special interest’ that are likely to cause a media furor. Their group goes to work when Crown Minister Paul Berowne is found murdered in a local church. Also found dead is a tramp named Harry Mack. The team doesn’t get very far looking for Mack’s murder, because no-one really knows a lot about him. But Berowne is a different case. He’s from a ‘blueblood’ family with deep roots in the community. So, the team interviews his family members and staff members. One of them is Evelyn Matlock, who is Berowne’s ward. The Berownes do not treat ‘Mattie’ as they call her as ‘one of them.’ Instead, she’s treated more like a servant, and she resents that. She also resents the way the family takes her for granted and doesn’t seem to see her as a person. Her disgruntlement proves useful to Dalgliesh and his teammates, as she gives them helpful information.

Martin Edwards’ short story 24 Hours From Tulsa introduces Lomas, a sales and marketing director who’s on a road trip. He’s under a great deal of pressure because the Internet has changed the way people search for and buy products. This means that companies have to change what they do and how they do it, and Lomas doesn’t like that. He hates the changes he’s had to deal with, like mobile phones, online shopping, and so on. He’s even had to change the way he works with the company’s clients, and it’s all too much for him. It doesn’t help matters that his boss is pressuring him to keep up with the times. As if being disgruntled about his job weren’t enough, Lomas doesn’t have the happiest of family lives, as his children seem to be moving through the modern world so easily that he almost doesn’t know them. Matters come to a head one day when he’s had about enough of travel and decides to stop for the night at a motel, where he takes some fateful action.

And then there’s Samantha Downing’s For Your Own Good. Teddy Crutcher teaches English at the ultra-exclusive Belmont Academy. His students are all very privileged people from wealthy homes, but Teddy has no patience for self-entitlement. He’s tired of that and of ‘helicopter parents’ who insist that their students get top grades and face no consequences for anything. In short, he’s disgruntled with the school and with his students. The story is told from his perspective in several parts, so we see how he’s got more than one axe to grind. Everything changes one day when Ingrid Ross, a parent volunteer, suddenly dies of what turns out to be poison. The police begin their investigation, and soon focus on Ingrid’s daughter Courtney, who’s a student at the school. Then, there’s another murder. Now there’s a lot of unpleasant talk about the school, and its reputation is starting to suffer. Courtney’s friend Zach Ward doesn’t believe she’s guilty, and he wants to clear her name. So, he starts asking questions. As he looks for the truth, and the police investigation continues, we slowly learn the truth about the deaths.

Employee dissatisfaction is nothing new, and just about every company faces it. But for a lot of people, it doesn’t go beyond complaining, slacking off on the job, or sometimes quitting. There are times, though, when being disgruntled can have real consequences.

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Todd Rundgren’s Bang on the Drum.