Privilege, especially combined with wealth, can give the illusion of invulnerability. People in that position may even be oblivious to any danger around them – they feel safe. The fact is, though, that no-one is immune to tragedy. And sometimes, privileged people can be in an even riskier position than ‘the rest of us.’ A quick look at crime fiction will show you what I mean.
In Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile, wealthy and beautiful Linnet Ridgeway seems to have it all. She falls in love with her land agent, Simon Doyle, and the two marry. Their honeymoon takes them on a cruise of the Nile. On the second night out, Linnet is shot. The first suspect is her former best friend Jacqueline ‘Jackie’ de Bellefort, whose fiancé Simon once was (hence, ‘former’ best friend). But it’s soon proved that Jacke could not have committed the crime. So Hercule Poirot, who’s on the same cruise, has to look elsewhere for the murderer. One interesting thing about Linnet’s personality is that she is oblivious to the danger that faces her. She isn’t deliberately malicious, but she has the assumption of privilege, and she’s always had everything she wants. She even wooed Simon away from her own best friend with no remorse. You could argue that Linnet’s privilege has given her the illusion of invulnerability.
Colin Dexter’s The Jewel That Was Ours introduces us to Dr. Theodore Kemp, head of Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum. As the novel begins, he and the rest of the museum staff are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Laura Stratton. She is bringing with her a valuable Anglo-Saxon piece called the Wolvercote Tongue that she’s planning to donate to the museum. It’s all planned out, including a ceremony and plenty of press coverage. Everything changes, though, when Laura dies unexpectedly and the Wolvercote Tongue goes missing. Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis begin an investigation, but then Theodore Kemp is killed. Now the theft has turned into a murder investigation, and Morse and Lewis look for suspects. As the story unfolds, we see how privileged Kemp is. That privilege made him arrogant. Even more, it made him a bit oblivious to the danger that he faced.
The focus of P.D. James’ A Taste For Death is on the Berowne family. Rich and privileged, they’ve been able to do more or less whatever they want. Crown Minister Paul Berowne is a high-ranking Cabinet minister, Member of Parliament, and member of the Conservative Party. One day, he is found murdered in a local church. Near him is another murder victim, a tramp called Harry Mack. Berowne’s death is likely to attract a lot of media attention, so a special group of investigators is assigned to handle this delicate case. They are Commander Adam Dalgliesh, Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) John Massingham, and Detective Inspector (DI) Kate Miskin. As it turns out, there are several suspects, including members of Berowne’s family. As the detectives get to know the Berowne family, they find that privilege has given them a sense of entitlement that has mentally shielded some of them from worrying about the consequences of what they do.
Barbara Neely’s Blanche on the Lam introduces her protagonist, Blanche White. She is a professional housekeeper who’s been arrested, tried, and found guilty of writing bad checks. Blanche is financially responsible for her niece and nephew and can’t support them from behind bars. So, she manages to elude her guard and flee. As a way of hiding from the police, she takes a housekeeping job with a wealthy, entitled couple called Grace and Everett. They aren’t stupid, but they are oblivious to Blanche. So, when there’s a murder on their property, they aren’t really aware of her interest in the case. For Blanche’s part, she is afraid of being suspected of the crime, so she is motivated to find out who the murderer is. She uses her own intelligence and observation, along with help she gets from a network of friends, to find out the truth. But Grace and Everett are oblivious to Blanche’s activities.
Håkan Nesser’s The Unlucky Lottery is the story of Waldemar Leverkuhn. He and some friends go in on a lottery ticket and they actually win. So, the group goes out that night to celebrate. The next morning, Leverkuhn is found murdered in his bed. Intendant Münster takes the lead on the investigation, but he consults with Inspector Van Veeteren, who’s on a year-long leave of absence. As Münster and his team investigate, they find several possible suspects and motives. In the end, we see that it wasn’t the privilege of wealth (the Leverkuhns are not an extremely wealthy family), but a sense of personal privilege that made Leverkuhn vulnerable.
Privilege can give the illusion that one is safe from crime (or, if one’s guilty, from prosecution). But any crime fiction fan can tell you it doesn’t work that way. Which examples have stayed with you?
*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Billy Joel’s Everybody Loves You Now.
