Crime Writer Margot Kinberg

For some people, escaping the past is more than just wanting to forget an embarrassing time. People in witness protection programs, for instance, get completely different identities, and move to completely different places, so they can start over safely. And even people who aren’t in such programs might get new names and move so as to escape a criminal past. Characters in this situation can add much to a crime novel. There can be tension as the character works to keep the past hidden. There’s room for blackmail and other plot points, too, and that’s not to mention the opportunity for character development.

In Agatha Christie’s The Murder on the Links, for instance, Hercule Poirot gets a letter from Paul Renauld, a Canadian ex-pat who’s moved to France. In the letter, Renauld claims his life is in danger and asks Poirot’s help. By the time Poirot and Captain Hastings get to France, though, it’s too late; Renauld has been murdered. As Poirot investigates to find the killer, he learns that Renauld has a past that not many people know about. That past, so it seems, might have caught up with Renauld, and could be the reason he was murdered.

Tonino Benacquista’s Bedfellas introduces Fred and Maggie Blake and their children, ex-pat Americans who’ve moved to Cholong-sur-Avre, in Normandy. On the surface, they seem like an average (if there is such a thing) family who’s getting used to a very different culture and language. But there’s more to the Blakes than meets the eye. Fred Blake is really Giovanni Manzoni, a former member of the New Jersey Mob. He testified against the group, in return for which he and his family were given witness protection. At first, the Blakes/Manzinis seem to be doing well enough despite the culture shock. But then, word of the family’s location gets back to the New Jersey Mob. Now, plans are made to take care of the problem once and for all, and the family is in great danger.

Colin Conway’s Beauregard ‘Beau’ Smith is also under witness protection. He’s a former member of the Satan’s Dawgs motorcycle gang; in fact, he was the gang’s ‘accountant.’ That meant that it was his responsibility to settle the gang’s scores. He was caught and avoided prison by agreeing to testify against the gang. In Cozy Up to Death, the first in the series, his handler has given him a new name, Brody Smith, and placed him in a small New England town where he’s to run a local bookshop. He does what he can to fit in, but trouble seems to follow, and he gets drawn into a local murder. As though that’s not enough, he learns that the motorcycle gang has found out where he is and what name he’s using. Now, he’s going to have to find somewhere else to go. As the series goes on, he’s moved to different places to try to keep him safe.

Anthony Bidulka’s Livingsky introduces Merry Bell, a private investigator based in Livingsky, Saskatchewan. She’s had years of experience in Vancouver, where she was very successful. However, she became a suspect in the murder of her doctor, Elliott Vanstone. So, she pulled up the proverbial stakes and moved back to her Saskatchewan hometown of Livingsky. That doesn’t prove to be easy, as she hasn’t built up a client base, and she doesn’t have close family or friends to help. She is hired by Gerald Drover to find out who committed arson in one of the apartment buildings he owns. But there is talk that he himself was responsible. So Merry has to deal with a questionable client, a not-very-warm welcome home, and a Saskatchewan winter. And then her past and her suspected connection to her doctor’s murder come back to haunt her.

There’s also Gabriel Bergmoser’s The Caretaker, in which we meet Melbourne-based Charlotte Laurent. She’s fled her criminal husband and his ‘associates,’ but she knows that they won’t give up easily. So, she’s changed her name and taken a job as a caretaker at a winter resort in the Australian Alps. Her job is easy enough, and she’s looking forward to the peace and quiet that life in a small town can offer. At first, she settles in well enough, although she’s extremely alert, and takes all sorts of precautions to see if she’s being followed or if anyone’s asking about her. Then, some strange things begin to happen, and Charlotte feels uneasy. She’s more or less isolated at the resort at this time of year, so there isn’t anyone she can ask for help. Besides, she wants to be anonymous. There is one man who’s taken a place at the resort, and he seems friendly enough, if a bit eccentric. But Charlotte isn’t sure she can trust him. And she’s constantly on the alert in case her husband finds out where she is. But what Charlotte doesn’t know is that she’s in a great deal more danger than she thinks.

And that’s the thing about trying to escape a past life. It has a way of catching up with a person. And even the most peaceful, quiet place can turn out to be dangerous. At least it can in crime fiction…

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Herbert Kreztzmer and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s  Confrontation