Most of us have cravings, at least once in a while. We may crave silence. Or chocolate. Or that adrenaline rush you get when you’re on a roller coaster. Giving in to a craving doesn’t have to be disastrous (and you should always give in to your craving for a book!). But those cravings can get a person into very deep trouble. You’ll notice, by the way, that I’m not going to talk here about craving drugs; there are dozens and dozens of crime novels with that as a plot point. Even without that though, there are plenty of cravings out there, and giving into them can lead to some very dark places.
For instance, in Agatha Christie’s Five Little Pigs, we learn about famous painter Amyas Crale. He’s happy married to Caroline Crale, and cares deeply for her. But he craves women. He admits himself that he can’t leave other women alone. Caroline knows this and gets fed up with her husband. But they do love each other. Then, Amyas meets Elsa Greer. She asks him to paint her picture and he agrees. Soon enough, they’re having an affair. Amyas is passionate about his art and wants to finish his painting of Elsa, so he invites her to stay at his home. As you can imagine, trouble soon brews. One afternoon, he is poisoned. At the time, everyone assumes that Caroline is guilty. In fact, she’s arrested, tried, and convicted in the matter and, later, dies in prison. Sixteen years later, the Crales’ daughter Carla hires Hercule Poirot to find out the truth about her father’s murder. She is convinced her mother was innocent and wants him to prove it. As he does, we see how Amyas Crale’s cravings have led to tragedy.
The same sort of craving spells disaster in James M. Cain’s Double Indemnity. Insurance salesman Walter Huff stops to visit one of his clients, H.R. Nirdlinger. At the time of the visit, Nirdlinger isn’t home, but his wife Phyllis is. She and Huff start a conversation and it doesn’t take long before he’s attracted to her. She does nothing to discourage him, and they’re soon involved. He craves her so much that he falls in with her plan to kill her husband in order to get his insurance money. In fact, Huff even writes the double indemnity policy she wants. The murder is planned and duly takes place, but it all leads to real tragedy.
Of course, it’s not always sex or romance that people crave. In Talmage Powell’s short story To Avoid a Scandal, we meet Horace Croyden. He craves a peaceful, ordered life with everything in its place. He has a job at a very respectable bank, and he indulges his one hobby: ciphers. Every choice he makes is in the interest of the quiet and respectability he craves. Then he meets his boss’ cousin Althea. Soon enough, they’re what used to be called courting, and before long, they’re married. Almost immediately, Horace questions his choice. Althea doesn’t value quiet and order the way her husband does. She wants to add zest to their home décor, a more relaxed schedule, and so on. Horace reaches his limit one day when he discovers that she’s gotten rid of his beloved ciphers. He decides he can’t take any more, and he starts to plan his own way of satisfying his craving for quiet and order.
Kate Grenville’s The Secret River tells the story of William Thornhill and his family. In 1806, Thornhill is convicted of stealing wood. He’s scheduled to be executed, but at the last minute, his sentence is commuted to transportation to Australia. Thornhill, his wife Sal, and their children travel to Sydney to make what lives they can. When they arrive, Sal sets up a makeshift pub, while her husband eventually takes a job making deliveries along the Hawkesbury River. As he travels, he notices a particular piece of land that he craves. He wants to lay claim to the land and start building as soon as possible. But, of course, the indigenous Australians who’ve been there for thousands of years are already on that land. Many of Thornhill’s friends and acquaintances are in the same situation. They crave land where others already live. While this book isn’t, strictly speaking, a crime novel, there are many crimes as the newcomers and the indigenous people clash. Thornhill doesn’t want any part of the crimes that are committed in the name of settling the colony, but he can’t deny his own craving.
And then there’s Patricia Abbott’s Concrete Angel. Eve Moran has always craved things: jewelry, clothing, and more. She didn’t grow up in a wealthy family, so her cravings were never really satisfied. As a teen, she began to shoplift, and even after she married well-to-do Hank Moran, she didn’t stop taking what she wanted. Eve’s daughter Christine has grown up in this toxic environment and has seen how her mother will stop at nothing, even murder, to get what she craves, whether it’s money, things, or a man. That dysfunction has impacted Christine, and she’s gotten woven into her mother’s life. Then, she notices that her three-year-old half-brother Ryan is starting to get caught in the same toxic web. She wants Ryan to have a chance at a good life, but that will mean untangling her own toxic relationship with her mother.
We all crave a treat sometimes, and that doesn’t have to spell doom. But craving money, power, things, or even peace and quiet, can have disastrous consequences. Still, that sort of craving can make for character development and suspense.
*NOTE: The title of this post is the title of a song by Bad Company.
Crime Writer Margot Kinberg 
Five Little Pigs is one of my favorite Agatha Christie novels. I did not like the title and put off reading the novel for a while because of that.
Double Indemnity is also very good, but much darker. It is a good portrayal of how a person can want another person so much that they lose all perspective.
And Patricia Abbott’s Concrete Angel is really a perfect example of your theme. And a wonderful book, where I was rooting for Christine to get away from her mother.
The book by Kate Grenville sounds interesting; I haven’t read anything by her. That is the first book in a series; I wonder if they have to be read in order?
I just finished reading Wanting Sheila Dead by Jane Haddam. That novel is about the filming of a reality show called America’s Next Superstar. In that book many of the characters, young and old, crave fame or celebrity status or just being in the spotlight. It was very interesting.
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I really like Five Little Pigs, too, Tracy. I think Christie developed her characters really effectively in it, and it shows how wanting something badly – craving it – can cause disaster. I think Double Indemnity does that, too.
As for Concrete Angel, it’s such a clear portrait of how toxic craving can be. And I agree about Christine. I really wanted her to break free, too, and get her own life. That story is very well told, in my opinion.
I’ve read some Jane Haddam (at your suggestion, actually), but not Wanting Sheila Dead. It sounds interesting, and I do like the Haddam I’ve read. I should try that one.
Speaking of trying, Grenville’s The Secret River introduces the the Thornhill family, so you’d probably want to read that before you read the next one. I don’t think you absolutely have to, but it does give perspective.
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Thanks, Margot. I will put The Secret River on my list of books to look for.
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I hope you’ll enjoy it, Tracy.
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Some interesting choices there, Margot, and you focus on one of my favourite Christies! Cravings can be so hard to control – I find that whenever I enter a bookshop…😉
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That is a great Christie, isn’t it, KBR? I like the setup, the mystery itself, the characters, the whole thing! And I know just what you mean about having to control cravings when you go to a bookshop… 😉
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I read The Secret River some years ago and thought it was excellent. It opened my eyes to the treatment of indigenous Australians in a way that a non-fiction book probably would not have. I don’t read anough books set in Australia and should put that right.
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The Secret River is an excellent book, in my opinion, Cath. I agree with you that it’s more effective than a non-fiction book might have been. You really get to know the characters and see what they went through. There is some great work about Australia; I should read more of it, too.
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I crave books. I believe it is not on the list of cravings that produce doom. It is real. I feel uncomfortable if there are no books near me. As to the photo of your treat that looks like a Cosco sized Kirkland brand jar of mixed nuts. There is a liking behind buying that size. I say it is not a craving unless you buy a whole box of jars at a time.
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I know just what you mean, Bill. I crave books, too. I always have either my Kindle or my current paper book with me, even if I’m running errands. I’ve been that way always. And no, there are no bad doom-like consequences for craving books. As for the photo, the container’s not quite as big as it looks (trick photography), but it is handy to have a little snack around…
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I’ll be starting The Secret River tomorrow so excellent timing! I’ll add The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware. When Hal Westaway receives a letter telling her she has been left a legacy, she knows it’s a mistake, but she’s in debt, so the temptation is strong to pretend she’s the person they think she is. At first, it’s the money she’s after, but when she suddenly finds herself surrounded by cousins and aunts and uncles who welcome her as a long-lost relative, she soon finds herself wishing she really was part of this big family – it’s exactly what her lonely heart craves.
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I really hope you enjoy The Secret River, FictionFan. In my opinion, it really gives a solid picture of life in the early 19th Century, both among London’s poor, and in Sydney. And thanks for the mention of The Death of Mrs. Westaway. That’s exactly the sort of thing I had in mind with this post. It’s funny how we think we want one thing, and then we find something else we want even more. Lots of good story fodder!
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Someone recommended The Secret River to me last week – so I definitely will have to read it!
I’m always fascinated by plotlines about addictive love: people who fall in love so dramatically that they will do anything to be together. Death on the Nile comes to mind…
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You’re absolutely right, Moira, about Death on the Nile! I agree that addictive love is a fascinating thing – well, to read about, anyway. I don’t think I’d want to experience it in real life. And as for The Secret River, if/when you get to it, I hope you’ll be glad you read it.
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