Crime Writer Margot Kinberg

For someone who’s been popular, the experience of falling out of favor can be jarring. All of a sudden, that person has to re-think everything. That’s also true in relationships when one of the partners finds someone new. That bafflement, hurt, and insecurity can be terrible in real life. In fiction, though, they can add tension to a plot and depth to a character. And in crime fiction, they can be a solid motive for murder.

Agatha Christie explores this in more than one of her stories. For instance, in her short story, The Edge, we are introduced to Claire Halliwell. She is friends with Gerald Lee, but she wanted to be more than his friend. There was a lot of speculation about who Gerald would choose, as he was very popular with the local ladies. In the end, he chose a young woman named Vivien. To Claire’s dismay, Gerald wants her and Vivien to be friends. Claire can’t stand being near the woman who, to her mind, replaced her in Gerald’s affections, but she can’t refuse the request. So, she spends time with Vivien and pretends to get along with her. Then, she finds out a secret Vivien is keeping. Now, Claire has a hold over Vivien that changes the dynamic in their relationship. The question becomes: what will Claire do with that knowledge?

Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall is the fictional retelling of the story of Thomas Cromwell, who rose to great heights in King Henry VIII’s court, only to fall from favor. As history tells us, Cromwell had a great deal to do with the structure of the English Reformation, and many of his ideas were implemented. He supported the king in his decision to end his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and to establish the Church of England. But he made an enemy in Anne Boleyn, who was the king’s newest infatuation. And she wasn’t the only one who stood against Cromwell. As her star rose, his began to fall, and he was ultimately executed. In Cromwell’s case (and for the matter of that, Anne Boleyn’s case), falling out of favor turned deadly.

In A.S.A. Harrison’s The Silent Wife, we are introduced to Jodi Brett and Todd Gilbert, a successful Chicago couple. They’re not legally married, but they’ve been partners for twenty years. Then, disaster strikes. Todd has an affair with Natasha Kovacs, the daughter of his best friend. Even worse, from Jodi’s point of view, Natasha becomes pregnant, and she wants to keep the baby. In fact, she wants to marry Todd and have a family. As if being replaced isn’t humiliating enough for Jodi, Todd won’t be clear about his plans. In fact, Jodi doesn’t find out his intentions until she gets a letter from his lawyer ordering her to vacate their home. The state of Illinois doesn’t sanction common-law marriage, so Jodi has very little legal recourse. Then, Todd is murdered in a drive-by shooting. At first, it looks like ‘street crime.’ But it’s not long before the police discover that the killer was a paid assassin. Now, the question is: who hired the killer? And it turns out there’s more than one possibility.

Megan Abbott’s Dare Me features high school seniors Beth Cassidy and Addy Hanlon. Beth is the undisputed ‘queen bee’ of the school, and Addie is her devoted right-hand friend. They’re both popular cheerleaders who dominate the cheering squad. Then, the school hires a new cheer coach, Collette French. She’s very popular with the squad and has a way of drawing the girls to her. In fact, she creates an elite group. Addy is accepted into the group, but Beth is not. Now that Beth is falling out of favor, she becomes desperate to be in the group, and as time goes on, the result is real tragedy.

There’s also Catherine Chidgey’s Pet, which takes place in 1984 Wellington, where twelve-year-old Justine Crieve attends a strict Catholic school. She’s dealing with a number of issues, including the death of her mother, so life isn’t always happy for her. Still, she finds solace in her best friend, Amy Wong. Then, the school hires a new teacher, Mrs. Price. The students take to her immediately, and it’s not long before she holds sway over them. She chooses some students to clean the classroom, run errands, and so on, and soon, everyone wants to be one of ‘the chosen.’ Justine is selected to be in the group, but Amy is not. As you can imagine, Amy is baffled and hurt. She doesn’t trust Mrs. Price, but Justine, who loves her new teacher, thinks Amy is just jealous. Then, some strange things begin to happen. Some items go missing, and Amy is blamed. She says she didn’t take anything, but if she didn’t, who did? What’s really going on, and what’s the truth about Mrs. Price? It ends in tragedy, and the story shows how being in or out of favor can impact relationships. You’re quite right, fans of Muriel Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

Falling out of favor can be devastating. At the very least, it’s unsettling and it means that the ‘falling star’ has to re-imagine life. And that is difficult. In real life, it’s hard enough; in crime fiction, it can be murderous…

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from the Eagles New Kid in Town.