Crime Writer Margot Kinberg

When something of value (e.g. oil, precious metals, diamonds) is discovered, the land on which it’s found also becomes valuable. ‘Boom towns’ are sometimes built up, and there’s a lot of competition for resources (and for drilling/mining rights). And that can cause conflict and worse. In real life, there are plenty of stories of people who killed each other for gold, oil, etc., and that plot point shows up in crime fiction, too.

In Hake Talbot’s The Rim of the Pit, the resource in question is wood. Frank and Irene Ogden own a specialty wood production business with a family friend, Luke Latham. The business depends on a certain sort of wood that’s now no longer available on the Ogden land. However, Irene inherited another piece of land from her first husband, Grimaud Désanat, and that land does have the wood the company needs. The problem is that Irene only inherited the land on the condition that it not be logged for twenty years. So, Irene, Frank, and Luke decide to hold a séance at which they will ask Désanat for permission to log the land. The séance is duly held, and it’s an eerie experience. Later that night, Irene is killed. Now, the people staying in the house have to find out who the killer is. At first, it doesn’t seem that anyone could have committed the crime; it’s one of those ‘impossible, but not really impossible’ murders. But as the story goes on, we learn how the deed was done.

One of Vicki Delany’s series, the Yukon Mysteries, takes place at the end of the last century, and features Fiona MacGillivray, owner of Dawson’s Savoy Dance Hall. It’s the time of the Yukon gold rush, and Dawson is a gold-rich, bustling town. Many different kinds of people from all over the world have descended on the area to make their fortunes. As you can imagine, this makes for a disparate group. Add to that the high stakes involved, and there’s bound to be conflict. That’s exactly what happens in these mysteries. Sometimes, the murders have to do with gold and land ownership; sometimes, they don’t. But the backdrop for this series is that tension-filled competition for a valuable resource.

We see that same conflict in R.J. Harlick’s Death’s Golden Whisper. Meg Harris has recently left an abusive relationship, and has settled into Three Deer Point in Outaouais, in Western Québec. She inherited the home from her Great-Aunt Agatha, who had always had a good relationship with the Miskigan people living in the area. Meg has tried to do the same thing and has, for the most part, succeeded. So, it’s no surprise when Miskigan Band Chief Eric Odjik asks for her help. It seems that there may be gold on Whisper Island, near Three Deer Point. A mining company called CanacGold wants to excavate the area to see if there is gold. While there are some people who want the company to set up in the area, there are many who don’t. The only way to prevent the mining is to prove that the island is privately owned. There is a chance that Aunt Agatha owned Whisper Island; if so, then that means Meg now owns it, and CanacGold can’t mine there. Meg is happy to help, since she doesn’t want CanacGold on the island. As she looks through her great-aunt’s papers and belongings, Meg learns some secrets about her family’s past. In the meantime, the possibility of mining has divided the Miskigan people. Some want the mining and some don’t. Then, Meg’s friend Marie Whiteduck goes missing, and it could be related to the CanaGold conflict. Meg will have to be careful if she’s to solve both these mysteries.

In Donna Kolling Lear’s Crimson Gold, it’s 1939 in Alaska. Harmon Johnson and his wife Zelda have been murdered in Dutch Hills, not very far from today’s Denali National Park.  Harmon made a fortune in mining, and his brother Ron wants that money. Harmon’s other brother, George, travels to Alaska to prevent Ron from getting his hands on the money. But neither brother will get anything until the murders are solved. So, they’ll have to work together and with the FBI and a US Commissioner if they’re going to find out what happened. And there’s a great deal at stake. Among other things, the story shows how much value people can put on minerals, oil, and other lodes.

There’s also A Carrion Death, the first in the Michael Stanley writing team’s David ‘Kubu’ Bengu series. The real action in the novel begins with the discovery of the body of an unknown man at Dale’s Camp, in Rural Botswana. As Botswana CID Assistant Director, Kubu is called to the case and begins an investigation. Kubu and his team soon learn that the body was brought to the remote campground by a jeep possibly belonging to the Botswana Cattle and Mining Company (BCMC). If that’s the case, then someone at the company may be involved in the murder. And if that’s the case, it could be a very delicate situation for Kubu, as the company leaders have an awful lot of power. As Kubu searches for the truth, we see just how important that mining is. People will do a lot to get to the minerals and gems in Botswana, and that’s made clear throughout the novel.

For a number of reasons, resources such as oil, mineral deposits, gems, and so on, are considered so valuable that people compete for them. And that can lead in any number of directions, especially in a crime novel. These are only a few examples. I’m sure you can dig around for more…

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Midnight Oil’s Blue Sky Mine.