Crime Writer Margot Kinberg

Let’s face it; life can be messy. There are times when we’d all like to find the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and just be happy. That’s not how life works, but the thought is appealing. Plenty of people think, ‘If I could just…… I’d be happy,’ especially if they’re going through a bad time. It’s a powerful motivator, really. And in crime fiction, it can lead to all sorts of dark places.

For example, in Agatha Christie’s Lord Edgware Dies, Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings are approached by famous actress Jane Wilkinson. She wants Poirot to convince her husband, Lord Edgware, to grant a divorce, so she can marry the Duke of Merton. At first, Poirot demurs. Then, Jane says,

‘‘You’d like me to be happy, wouldn’t you?’…
‘I should like everybody to be happy,’ said Poirot cautiously.

Jane believes that if she could just be rid of her husband, she’d be happy. Poirot is finally persuaded to speak to Lord Edgware. To his surprise, though, he finds that Lord Edgware has withdrawn his objection to the divorce. Jane is delighted when Poirot tells her the news, but that night, she lands in trouble again when she becomes a suspect in her husband’s murder. She has a strong alibi (she says she was attending a dinner party in another part of London, and several people back her story up). So, Poirot, Hastings, and Chief Inspector Japp have their work cut out for them in finding the killer.

In one plot point of Elizabeth George’s Missing Joseph, Simon and Deborah St. James have wanted a child desperately. Deborah in particular mourns the fact that so far, she hasn’t become a mother. She believes that if she could only be a parent, she’d be happy. One day, she meets a vicar named Robin Sage, who brings her a great deal of comfort. In fact, she’s so impressed that she convinces Simon to take a holiday in the town of Winslough, where Sage’s congregation is based. By the time they get there, though, Sage has been poisoned with hemlock. There are several possible suspects, so Simon asks his friend Inspector Thomas Lynley, to help investigate. Throughout the novel, there is a sense of how important having a child can be to a parent.

John Burdett’s Sonchai Jitpleecheep is a member of the Royal Thai Police, based in Bangkok. He is also an observant Buddhist. For Sonchai, happiness, or contentment, comes from letting go of things he thinks he wants, as craving leads to sorrow and worse. He has very few possessions – only the clothing and food he needs, and a few books. He’s more content that way than he would be trying to have more and more. He’s had several traumatic things happen in his life, and he’s finding some peace through concentrating on living simply and with compassion for others.

In Charity Norman’s See You in September, we are introduced to Cassy Howells. She’s just finished university, and she and her boyfriend Hamish are planning a few months of travel adventure before starting in the world of work. They’re visiting New Zealand when Cassy discovers that she’s pregnant. Hamish wants no part of being a father, and he leaves Cassy alone and vulnerable. She’s not sure what she’s going to do when she meets a group of people who live in an eco-friendly, completely sustainable commune. They invite her to stay with them until she decides her next steps, and she accepts gratefully. Cassy sees the group working together and at peace, and she thinks that maybe if she stays there, she can find the happiness they seem to have. When they do invite her to stay with them permanently, she is all too ready to agree. It’s hard for Cassy to see at first that this is a cult that is preparing for what the group’s leader calls the Last Day. When her parents find out where she is and who she’s with, they try desperately to get to her before disaster strikes. Among other things, this is a fascinating look at how cults draw in people who are seeking happiness, whatever that is.

We also see that in Stella Duffy’s The Hidden Room. This is the story of Laurie and Martha, happily married and the parents of three healthy children Hope, Jack, and Amy. Laurie grew up in a cult in the American desert, and while she didn’t choose to be there, it was all she knew. Then, she left, although she returned. She left the cult permanently a few years later, and she’s found the peace she thought she was looking for with Martha. Then, someone from her past contacts her. This is unsettling, and it doesn’t help that at the same time, Hope is becoming a concern. It seems that Hope is becoming obsessed with dancing, to the point where she’s neglecting her health. She thinks that excelling in dance will bring her happiness. It all threatens to tear apart the world that Laurie and Martha had built for themselves.

Sometimes, we think that we’ll finally be happy if we only ______. But the fact is, even having that happen doesn’t guarantee happiness. And if you read enough crime fiction, you soon see that it can even bring disaster. Perhaps it’s better to be content.

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Gerry Rafftery’s Baker Street.