Crime Writer Margot Kinberg

It’s the time of year when a lot of people have a clear-out. Whether they’re getting ready for spring or autumn, people go through closets and cupboards to get rid of things they no longer need or want. Books, of course, are exempt from any clear-out. And sometimes, the things you find out when you’re clearing out a drawer or closet are surprising (e.g., ‘Oh, wow! I forgot I had that!’ ‘I was just looking for that last week. *That’s* where it was!). Clear-outs can yield all sorts of things, which is perhaps why we see them in crime fiction. There are all sorts of possibilities.

For example, in Agatha Christie’s Postern of Fate, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford have retired and moved into a smaller house. The previous owners left things behind, including books, so Tuppence goes through the books to see if there are any she and Tommy want to keep. In the process, she discovers that a long-ago resident of the house left a coded message in one of the books: Mary Jordan did not die naturally. As you’d expect, that piques Tuppence’s curiosity, so she decides to try to find out who Mary Jordan was, and why anyone would have wanted her to die. Admittedly, this is far from Christie’s best, but it does show what can happen when you clear things out.

Barry Maitland’s The Marx Sisters is the first to feature DCI David Brock and DS Kathy Kolla. As the story begins, Eleanor Winterbottom has just died. She lived with her sisters in Jerusalem Lane, one of London’s historic districts. The first theory is that she committed suicide, but Brock and Kolla aren’t so sure of that. And as they begin to ask questions, they find more than one reason someone might have wanted the victim dead. One is that the three sisters are the great-granddaughters of Karl Marx. There’s been talk that there’s a fourth volume of Das Kapital, and some suspect it may be among the sisters’ things. And even if it’s not, there may be letters, notes, or other valuable papers. So, it’s entirely possible that someone killed Eleanor for the sake of what she might have had in the home. And that possibility becomes even stronger several months later when one of her sisters is killed. The historical connection isn’t the only motive for murder, but it certainly puts a lot of emphasis on clearing out the house.

In Camilla Läckberg’s The Hidden Child, writer Erica Falck is living in her parents’ home. She moved there after they passed away, and now she’s clearing out their things. She’s shocked to discover a Nazi medal among her mother’s possessions, and she’s hoping to find some explanation. She searches in her mother’s diaries (which she also finds) for any insights she can find on her mother’s past, and on why her mother treated both her and her sister Anna neglectfully. She also visits retired historian Erik Fankel to see if he can shed some light on the Falck family history. Two days later, Fankel is murdered. Now, Erica is determined to find out why her mother had a Nazi medal, and how that might be related to Fankel’s death. Her husband, police officer Patrik Hedstrøm, can’t resist looking into the matter too, although he’s supposed to be on paternity leave. It’s clear that someone does not want the town’s past to resurface.

R.J. Harlick’s Death’s Gentle Whisper introduces readers to Meg Harris, who’s just left a destructive relationship. She wants to start over, and has moved to Three Deer Point in Outaouais, in Western Québec. She inherited Three Deer Point from her Great-Aunt Agatha, and now, she’s clearing things out and starting the process of making the house her own. Meg has made a point of getting to know the local Miskigan people, since her great-aunt had a good bond with them. That’s why Miskigan Band Chief Eric Odjik asks Meg for help with a conflict his people are facing. There’s talk that Whisper Island has gold on it, and a company called CanacGold wants drill rights. The only way to avoid the company taking over the island is if it is someone’s private property. Odjik thinks it might have belonged to Great-Aunt Agatha, and thus, now to Meg. Meg wants to protect the island, so she agrees to look through her aunt’s things for any evidence. As she does, she finds herself getting involved in the drilling conflict, and in a case of murder. And she finds out some things she never knew about her own family history.

Charity Norman’s Remember Me begins as Emily Kirkland returns to New Zealand after years of absence. Her father Felix has been diagnosed with dementia, and Emily has, somewhat reluctantly, come back to care for him. Before long, she’s drawn back into a mystery from the past. Twenty-five years earlier, Leah Parata went missing. It’s very likely that Emily was the last person to see her, so of course the police talked to Emily. Nothing came of it, though, and Leah was never found. Part of Emily’s work as her father’s caretaker is to go through his things and keep, discard, or donate what she finds. In the process, she finds some evidence that suggests that her family might have a connection to Leah’s family. That discovery motivates Emily to try to find out what really happened to Leah. In the process, she finds out things she never knew about her own family.

Clearing out has a lot of benefits. And sometimes, a clear-out yields things nobody expected. Little wonder it shows up in crime fiction.

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Robert Palmer’s  Housework.