Crime Writer Margot Kinberg

For centuries, people have used strikes to call attention to wages, working conditions, and so on. Many of these strikes have been successful, too, and one can argue that they are part of the reason for paid time off, salary increases, health care, a 40-hour work week, and more. It’s not easy to go on strike. Strikes take a financial toll, and they’re fraught with tension that can sometimes boil over. But they’ve arguably brought about a lot of positive change. And with the tension and charged atmosphere that strikes bring, it’s no wonder we see them in crime fiction.

You wouldn’t ordinarily think of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath as a crime novel. But there are certainly crimes committed in it. When the Great Depression forces Tom Joad and his family to leave Oklahoma for California, they’re desperately hoping they can find a decent place to live and work for the family members who can take jobs. Much of the work for itinerants like the Joads is agricultural, and the working conditions are generally terrible. So, several of the workers decide to strike. In fact, the Joads are hired as strikebreakers. The next day, Joad’s friend Casy joins the strikers, and things begin to turn violent. There are murders committed, and Tom ends up having to flee. Among many other things, the novel shows how abysmal some living conditions have been, how difficult it’s been to find a reasonable job for a fair wage, and how easily company owners can take advantage of workers.

Reginald Hill’s Underworld takes place a few years after the great UK Miners Strike of 1984, and everyone knows who was on the side of the striking miners and who was not. There is no love lost between the workers and their bosses, and those who were scabs have not been forgiven for that. Against this backdrop of tension, an angry young man called Colin Farr returns to the mining town where his father, Billy, died a few years ago. It’s said he died of suicide after killing a young girl called Tracey Pedley. Another person has confessed, but there are still people who think Billy was responsible. Then, a retired cop decides to publish his memoirs and is planning to include the Pedley case. Now, Colin is even angrier than he was, and it’s not long before matters come to a head. It’ll be a difficult situation for Superintendent Andy Dalziel and Sergeant Peter Pascoe, because of there’s anyone  the local miners hate more than the bosses, it’s the police. As the story goes along, we learn about the strike, its impact on the people in the area, and it’s lasting impact on local relationships.

Jonothan Cullinane’s Red Herring takes place in 1951 Auckland, where the dock workers – the ‘wharfies’ – are about to go on strike. During this time, the ‘red scare’ is very real, and many people think the wharfies are communists out to destroy the government and society. There are important economic reasons, too, for which company owners want this dispute settled. Against this backdrop, Auckland PI Johnny Molloy is hired to find Francis ‘Frank’ O’Phelan, AKA Frank O’Flynn, who was supposedly washed overboard and killed. At first, the insurance company had no problem with the claim and paid out. But a picture has surfaced that suggests the man may still be alive. What’s more, he may be in league with the wharfies. So, the insurance company wants Molloy to find O’Phelan/O’Flynn, or find indisputable proof of his death. It’s a very dangerous undertaking, as Molloy will need to interact with the wharfies and with those on the other side of the dispute.

Dana Stabenow’s Killing Grounds features Native Alaskan Kate Shugak, a former district attorney who’s now a PI. She’s spending the summer working on her ‘Uncle’ Sam’s fishing boat, the Freya. Fishing isn’t a lucrative career; many of the local fishermen are on subsistence wages. So, when the price of salmon goes down, the local fishermen decide to go on strike. As you can imagine, this is a tense enough situation. There’s one person, though, who’s not on strike: a local man called Cal Meany. He’s roundly hated as it is, for a few reasons. And when he chooses to be a scab, things only get worse. When his body is discovered, it’s clear that no-one will mourn his absence, and there are plenty of people with a good motive for murder. Kate investigates the murder, but she’ll have to be careful, since more than one person is just as happy to see ‘justice’ done.

One plot thread of Attica Lock’s Black Water Rising (which is set in the Houston of 1981) concerns a planned strike. The International Longshoreman’s Association (ILA) and the Brotherhood of Longshoremen (BoL) are in the process of merging, but it hasn’t happened yet. So, for the moment, they’re separate unions, each planning to strike. Matters are tense, though. The BoL is Black, whereas the ILA is white. At that time, in that place, there are still plenty of people who don’t want any sort of integration. The two groups are going to have to reconcile their differences, though, or the strike they are planning will fall apart. If that happens, neither group will get anything it wants. That will be hard, though, as a group of ILA thugs have recently beaten up a BoL member. Attorney Jay Porter knows Houston’s mayor, so his father-in-law asks him to please use his influence with her to prosecute the men responsible for the attack. That way, the two unions can pick up the pieces and join forces for the strike. It’s going to difficult, as Porter has a history with the mayor. But he agrees. Before he knows it, he’s drawn into not just the unions’ drama, but also a case of murder.

Strikes and striking groups can add a lot to a crime story. There’s the background tension, and the mix of personalities of the people involved. And strikes can lead to violence. Which stories involving strikes have stayed with you?

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Alfred Hayes’ poem Joe Hill, which was set to music by Earl Robinson.