Crime Writer Margot Kinberg

In Agatha Christie’s Death in the Clouds, Hercule Poirot works with Chief Inspector Japp to find out who murdered French moneylender Madame Giselle during a flight from Paris to London. The only possible suspects are the other passengers, so Poirot and Japp focus on them. At one point, Poirot is discussing the case with two of the passengers. He asks them what they think is the most important thing to consider when trying to solve a murder. Here is his view:

‘I believe the important thing is to clear the innocent of any blame. Because until one person is proved guilty, everyone else connected with the crime will suffer.’

And he has a point. If someone is believed to be guilty, it doesn’t matter whether that person really is guilty. Anyone related to the crime can be considered suspicious. In some cases, an innocent person ends up in prison for a crime, because no-one else was proved guilty. We see that plot point play out in a lot of crime fiction. Here are just a few examples; I know you’ll think of more. And yes, fans of Ordeal by Innocence; that novel is a great example.

Ellery Queen’s Calamity Town is the story of the wealthy Wright family, for whom the small New England town of Wrightsville is named. As the story begins, Queen is visiting Wrightsville, staying in a guest house belonging to the Wrights. So, he’s on hand when the family faces a crisis. Three years earlier, Nora Wright was jilted by her then-fiancé Jim Haight. Now, he’s come back to town. Soon enough, the romance is rekindled, and the couple get married. A few months later, during a New Year’s Eve celebration, Haight’s sister Rosemary, who’s visiting the Wrights, is poisoned by a cocktail. It’s soon believed that the cocktail was intended for Nora, and that Jim is trying to kill his wife. He’s arrested for Rosemary’s murder and soon, everyone in town assumes he’s guilty. The police don’t have any solid evidence against anyone else, and Jim becomes a pariah. The only two people who believe someone else may be guilty are Queen and one of Nora’s sisters. What’s interesting is that, although Jim is considered guilty, the whole family comes under scrutiny.

Ann Cleeves’ Raven Black takes place on Shetland during the New Year’s Eve celebrations. Two girls, Catherine Ross and Sally Henry, are out for the evening. On their way home, they decide (well, Catherine decides – Sally has to be convinced) to stop at the home of Magnus Tait and wish him a good new year, as is the local custom. Sometime later that night, Catherine is murdered, and her body discovered the next morning. It’s a small community, and everyone knew Catherine, so Inspector Jimmy Perez has to find out who might have had a motive for murder. It’s a very uneasy time, as people don’t know who’s guilty, so everyone’s just as well pleased when suspicion falls on Tait. Not only was he one of the last to see the victim alive, but he’s always been a loner and a bit of an outsider. Besides, his arrest will shift suspicion off everyone else. So, the locals aren’t all best pleased when Perez begins to wonder just how guilty Tait is.

In Karin Fossum’s The Indian Bride (AKA Calling Out For You), we meet Gundar Jormann, who lives quietly in the small Norwegian town of Elvestad. One day, he decides that he would like to get married. He’s no longer very young, and he’s quite ordinary-looking. He’s not wealthy, either. But he’s a steady worker, he has a stable home and income, and he doesn’t see a reason why he shouldn’t be able to find a wife. On impulse, he goes to Mumbai to look for a bride. He meets a woman named Poona, and they soon fall in love. Gundar asks her to marry him, and she agrees. Their plan is for Gundar to return to Norway as scheduled, and for Poona to join him there once she’s finished up her obligations in India. On the day Poona is scheduled to arrive, Gundar gets the terrible news that his sister Marie has been in a car accident. He goes to her and asks a friend to pick Poona up at the airport. But Gundar’s friend and Poona miss each other. The next day, Poona’s body is found in a field outside of town. Inspector Konrad Sejer and his assistant Jacob Skaar investigate. While they do so, everyone in town is uneasy. One of them killed Poona, and no-one really knows which one it was or why. That suspicion casts a shadow over the town.

And then there’s S.P. Edwards’ ‘Til Death. On the morning of what is supposed to be her wedding day, Anna Markham is found dead on the property of Hendon House Estate, where the wedding is supposed to take place. Detective Inspector (DI) Steve Marr and his team begin the investigation, starting with Anna’s family and friends, as well as her fiancé Gregor Stanic. On the surface, no-one seems to have a motive for murder. Anna and Gregor were looking forward to the wedding and to their lives together. She and her parents had a good relationship, and there was no financial motive. But Marr knows that things aren’t always what they seem. So, he and the team keep digging. Everyone in Anna’s circle is unsettled by the feeling that one of them is guilty. And it’s not until Marr finds the murderer that people’s lives can go on.

And that’s the thing about being mixed up in a murder. It’s very difficult, even if a person is innocent. And living under a cloud of suspicion just makes things harder.

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Francis Rodney Zambon’s Suspicious Minds.