Crime Writer Margot Kinberg

Plenty of people love to keep up with celebrities. Whether it’s music stars, acting stars, sports stars, or today’s social media stars, people do listen to what they say. Advertisers know that, too. That’s why, for a long time, endorsements have been a part of life for a lot of famous people. For social media influencers, endorsements serve as their major source of income. Your buying habits may not be impacted by what famous people say about a product or service, but a lot of people do pay attention. We see that in real life, certainly, and we see it in crime fiction, too.

For example, as Agatha Christie’s The Murder on the Links opens, Captain Hastings is on a train journey, where he meets a young woman who calls herself ‘Cinderella.’ They get into a conversation, as you do on a train, and Hastings asks the woman to tell him something about herself. Here’s what she says:

‘I’m an actress. No–not the kind you’re thinking of, lunching at the Savoy covered with jewellery, and with their photograph in every paper saying how much they love Madame So and So’s face cream.’ 

Fans of this novel know that Cinderella becomes an important part of the plot when Hastings and Hercule Poirot travel to France to investigate the murder of Paul Renauld. She has a pragmatic perspective, too, on endorsements. Rich stage and screen stars touted products at the time, and they still do.

Endorsements become a major problem in Katherine Dewar’s Ruby and the Blue Sky.  Ruby is the lead singer of a rock group called the Carnival Owls. The band is doing well and has lots of fans. They get professional acclaim, too, winning a Grammy award. Ruby is a dedicated environmentalist, so during her acceptance speech, she encourages all of her fans to stop shopping. She urges them to upcycle, share clothes and other things with friends, and so on. The band’s legions of followers follow her advice and it’s not long before her influence is noted. An environmental group approaches her, and she’s soon busy working for their cause. But just how far will they go, and what exactly do they want from her? It doesn’t help matters that several powerful corporate and other leaders do not want to dissuade consumers. How far will they go to stop Ruby and her band? And how will Ruby make time for working with the band as well as working for the environmental group? It all leads to real danger for nearly everyone.

Peter James’ Not Dead Yet introduces readers to superstar Gaia Lafayette. Originally from Brighton, she’s made her fortune in films and music, and now lives in Los Angeles. She endorses a number of products, many of them with her name on them. Her fans consider those things valuable collectibles and buy and sell them online. They use what she endorses, too. In fact, she’s made a small fortune from those endorsements. Gaia has decided to return to Brighton to do a film, and the advance notice means that she could be very vulnerable while she’s away from her heavily protected home. Superintendent Roy Grace of the Brighton and Hove police is charged with securing Gaia’s safety, and it’s not a task he fancies. Still, he and his team do what they can to get ready. It’s going to be a challenge, though. For one thing, Gaia is very independent and doesn’t want to be limited in where she goes. For another, there’s a stalker who is determined to get to her…

Cat Connor’s [Whiskey Tango Foxtrot] features Alexandra ‘Alex’ Fowler, a very popular social media influencer. She’s got millions of followers, and virtually takes them with her as she shops, travels, and so on. She’s a gold mine for companies that sell clothes, beauty products, restaurant meals, and a lot more. She’s also of real interest because she is set to testify in an important trial. She has a photographic memory, and her testimony will be vital, but that also makes her a target. So, private investigator Veronica Tracey and her companions Crockett and Ben are engaged to pick Alex up and keep her safe until the trial. For Crockett, there’s the added task of recruiting Alex to work with Australia’s intelligence force. It’s not as easy as it seems, because Alex’s life is online, which means her security is at risk. It doesn’t help matters that she is not a pleasant person, and that she seems to be hiding things. Still, the danger is very real, even in quiet New Zealand, and the question is whether the group can protect Alex and stay alive themselves.

As Sólveig Pálsdóttir’s Silenced begins, Kristín Kjarr has committed suicide in prison. At first, detective Guðgeir Fransson and his team think that this is a case of tragic but straightforward suicide. But it’s not as simple as that. It turns out that this case is related to a murder from twenty years earlier, and to a set of long-held secrets in a family who’s wealthy enough to protect their history. One of the key witnesses in this case is Andrea Eythórsdóttir, a very successful social media influencer who’s doing everything she can to keep her waning social power. As the team members investigate, we find that both Kristín and Andrea are gifted people whose dysfunctional family backgrounds have hampered them. And that plays its role in the now-cold case of murder and in the present-day assaults that are linked to it. In one thread of the novel, we follow along as Andrea decides what she’ll post, what she’ll endorse, and how she’ll increase the number of her followers, and it’s an interesting look at that life.

Endorsements from famous people are not new. Companies are only too happy to have those voices speaking for their products and services, and people seem to be persuaded by those voices. It’s not always safe, though…

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Billy Joel’s No Man’s Land.