Crime Writer Margot Kinberg

Sometimes, people don’t directly say what they mean. Rather, they find more subtle ways to express themselves. For instance, if someone says, ‘Have you thought about X or Y?’ what they may really mean is, ‘You need to use X or Y.’  Sometimes it’s because of culture (in some cultures, people speak in subtleties); other times it’s because someone fears the consequences of directly telling something to someone (e.g. an informant saying something to a police officer). There are other reasons, too. Whatever the cause, people sometimes prefer to speak in a more circumspect way and rely on the listener to put the pieces together. Being aware of those subtle ways of speaking can be an important asset. In crime fiction, those subtleties can be helpful hints for the detective who’s wise enough to be alert for them.

Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot has a great deal of experience when it comes to communicating with others. He’s learned to be aware of when someone’s trying to tell him something without being blunt. That skill serves him well in Five Little Pigs. In that novel, he solves the sixteen-year-old murder of famous painter Amyas Crale. At the time of his death, Crale’s wife, Caroline. was assumed  to be guilty. In fact, she was tried, convicted, and died in prison a year after she was found guilty. But her daughter, Carla, is convinced she was innocent, and hires Poirot to find out the truth. One of Poirot’s stops is a visit to the offices of the lawyer who defended Caroline Crale. Lawyers and those who work for them have to be subtle and discreet; there’s a fine line between providing helpful information and saying too much about a case. But Poirot gets some useful information from the managing clerk, Mr. Edmunds, who makes some comments in a way that is circumspect, but gives Poirot some background on the people involved in the case. And that’s part of what Poirot uses to solve the case.

Angela Savage has written three novels featuring Jayne Keeney, an Australian ex-pat PI who now lives and works in Bangkok. In Behind the Night Bazaar, The Half-Child, and The Dying Beach, Jayne travels to different parts of Thailand as she solves cases. Some of them are delicate and require finesse. Jayne herself prefers to be direct; however, she is well aware that that’s not the Thai way. Things are hinted at, rather than outright said. Even a smile can send an important message, and it’s not always one of greeting or happiness. Jayne’s had to master (or at least learn to use) the Thai way of communicating in order to get information she needs. Her ability to navigate those subtleties helps her to pick up on what people really mean. Not only does that help her solve cases, it also encourages the Thai people she knows to communicate with her more willingly. She knows what they’re trying to say, and she responds to that.

In Max Kinnings’ Baptism, a commuter train carrying approximately 400 passengers is held hostage in one of London’s underground tunnels. The train driver, George Wakeham, is helpless to do anything; his family is being held by the terrorists, who will kill them if he doesn’t do exactly what they say. As news of the situation gets out, Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Ed Mallory is tapped to communicate with the hostage-takers, find out what they want, and free the hostages if he can. Mallory is a seasoned negotiator with a special awareness of people’s subtleties of voice and manner. He was blinded in the line of duty and uses his other senses to pick up on people’s cues. He can also tell by their voices if they say one thing and mean another. He’ll need every skill he has if he is to get the hostages out alive.

Laura Joh Rowland’s Shinjū introduces her sleuth, Sano Ichirō, who is a senior investigator in 1687 Tokyo (then called Edo). When two bodies are pulled from the Sumida River, Sano is instructed to handle the case quickly and efficiently. One body is identified as Niu Yukiko, a ‘well born’ young woman. The other is an artist named Noriyoshi. It’s assumed that this is a suicide pact, entered into because Yukiko’s family would never agree to her marrying someone like Noriyoshi. It’s a sad case, but Sano is told to endorse the double-suicide theory, as the Niu family is very rich and powerful, and that’s the story they want to tell. But a few things about the case are not consistent with that explanation so Sano starts to ask questions. He’s up against the powerful Niu family, though, and it won’t be easy to get information. People give him hints and vague suggestions, but don’t always directly say what they know. What’s more, he gets equally subtle (and some not-so-subtle) hints that he needs to drop the matter. Still, he persists, and in the end finds out the truth.

Not everyone has the skill of picking up on subtleties. For instance, Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is the story of fifteen-year-old Christopher Boone. Christopher has autism; and although he’s high-functioning, there are plenty of social subtleties and nuances that he misses. One day, the dog belonging to the people next door is found dead, and Christopher gets blamed for it. He knows he’s not guilty and he wants to find out who is. So, he decides to be a detective just like Sherlock Holmes, and get to the truth. To do that, he needs to speak to the other people on the street to find out if anyone saw anything suspicious. In the end, he does find out what really happened. He also learns a great deal about himself. As the story goes along, we see different levels of communication. What people say isn’t always exactly what they mean, and Christopher’s struggles with those nuances make it harder for him to interact. It’s an interesting look at the importance of reading subtle cues, among other things.

People aren’t always direct. They may give hints, or use non-verbals, or say the opposite of what they mean (e.g. ‘Oh, she was the nicest person’ about a victim who was disliked). Picking up on those subtleties is a valuable skill for a sleuth.

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from the Regrettes’ Subtleties (Never Giving Up On You).