Crime Writer Margot Kinberg

Not everyone likes cold weather and winter sports. But for some people, skiing, ice skating, ice fishing, and other winter sports are a lot of fun. There are plenty of places, too, that cater to those interests. Some of them are high-end ski resorts, and some are lodges or even cabins that people use while they’re enjoying winter sports. Those trips are supposed to be happy, memorable experiences, but that’s not always how it works out. A quick look at crime fiction should be enough to show you what I mean.

In Agatha Christie’s Cards on the Table, Hercule Poirot is among eight people invited to a dinner party hosted by the eccentric Mr. Shaitana. One of the other guests is a young woman named Anne Meredith. As the story goes on, we learn that Anne met Mr. Shaitana in Switzerland during the winter sports, and that Mr. Shaitana is ‘a marvellous skater.’ After that, Shaitana invited her to various parties and other events. But as it turns out, it’s not such a lucky thing Anne met the man. During the dinner, Shaitana hints that four of his guests have gotten away with murder. And while the guests are playing bridge after dinner, one of them stabs Shaitana. Poirot and three other guests are sleuths, and they undertake to find out who the killer is. Anne becomes very much a ‘person of interest’ when Poirot discovers she had a motive for murder.

In Carol Carnac’s (AKA E.C.R. Lorac) Crossed Skis, sixteen people prepare for a trip to Austria for some skiing, outdoor air and winter sports. At the same time, Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Julian Rivers discovers the mark of a ski pole at a house where there’s been arson and a murder. The ski pole mark and some other clues lead Rivers to believe that the killer is a skier, and that that person may very well be a member of the group headed for Austria. In the meantime, the group gets settled and ready for their holiday. But all is not well. For one thing, a terrible storm threatens. For another, there’s trouble over the theft of some money. And unbeknownst to the group, there’s a killer among them who won’t stop at killing again. Rivers and his assistant, Detective Inspector (DI) Lansing, will have to get to Austria and find the group before there’s any more death.

Much of Vicki Delaney’s Molly Smith/John Winters series is set in the fictional town of Trafalgar, British Columbia. It’s not a big town, but it certainly gets its share of visitors during the winter sports season. In Winter of Secrets, for instance, Wendy Wyatt-Yarmouth, her brother Jason, and four of their friends take a trip to Trafalgar for skiing and other winter sports. One tragic day, the SUV they’ve rented plunges over a bridge and into Upper Kootenay River. Jason, who was driving, survives the crash. His friend Ewan Williams, who was in the passenger seat, does not. Constable Molly Smith is called to the scene and begins the investigation. What’s odd about this case is that it turns out that Ewan was dead before the crash. Now the question becomes: how did he die? And if it was murder, who is responsible? It’s a difficult case that involves untangling relationships.

Of course, winter sports places don’t disappear during the off season. They’re often looked after by their owners or caretakers, who have their own stories to tell. For instance, in Gabriel Bergmoser’s The Caretaker, we are introduced to Melbourne-based Charlotte Laurent, who is on the run from her criminal husband and his cronies. For her own safety, she accepts a job as caretaker at an isolated winter resort in the Australian Alps. She’s looking forward to the solitude and hoping that she’ll be able to rebuild her life. Then, some unsettling things begin to happen. The place is almost empty during the off season, and that’s enough to make her a little uneasy. Then, there are clues that her husband might have found out where she is. If that’s true, then Charlotte is in real danger. She takes all of the precautions that she can, but as the novel goes on, the danger gets closer, and she will have to decide who, if anyone, she can trust.

Steve Hamilton’s Alex McKnight used to be a police officer in Detroit until a shootout left him with a bullet in his chest. Now, he lives in Paradise, a small town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. McKnight’s father left him a group of cabins there, so he lives in one, and rents the others to hunters, boaters, hikers, and fishing enthusiasts. He’s responsible, too, for keeping the property accessible, making sure the cabins are in good condition, and doing (or hiring people to do) any repairs necessary. There are plenty of ‘winter’ things to do, so McKnight makes enough money throughout the year to meet his own needs. Paradise is the sort of place where people go if they want to get away, so McKnight encounters more than one person on the run throughout the series. Then there’s the sometimes-brutal weather which can threaten even the most seasoned winter enthusiast, including McKnight himself.

I’ve only been able to scratch the proverbial surface of novels and series that feature winter meccas and the people who go there. I know you can think of others (I see you, fans of Patricia Moyes’ Dead Men Don’t Ski…).

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Bob Dylan’s Winterlude.