It’s a sad fact about people that sometimes, they turn against each other. That can be especially true when a crime like murder’s been committed. We see it in real life when witnesses and suspects testify against each other. It’s also there in crime fiction, and it can add tension to a plot.

For example, in Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, ten people are invited for a visit to Indian Island, off the Devon coast. Their host doesn’t make an appearance when they arrive, but still, they enjoy a fine dinner that night. After dinner, everyone is shocked when each one is accused of having caused the death of at least one other person. Later, one of the guests collapses and dies of what turns out to be poison. That night, another person dies. It’s soon clear that someone is trying to kill all of the guests. The survivors now have to find a way to stay alive and to discover who the killer is. Since the killer is one of the people on the island, the guests are soon turned against each other. Even those who try to work together are uneasy with that arrangement. It’s a fascinating use of the buildup of mistrust, even paranoia, among the characters. You have a point, fans of Ordeal by Innocence.

Jane Haddam’s Not A Creature Was Stirring begins as former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian gets a request from his priest, Father Tibor. It seems that wealthy Robert Hannford wants Demarkian to have dinner with his family on Christmas Eve. In return, Hannaford will donate US$100,000 to the church. Demarkian has never met Hannaford, but he decides to go along with the plan, since he wants the church to have the money. By the time Demarkian arrives, Hannaford has been murdered. The police are on the scene, and within a short time, they find out that Demarkian was in the FBI, and he gets involved. The only suspects are the victim’s wife and children, who were there for dinner, and it’s soon clear that Hannaford hated his children, and vice versa. Any one of them could have killed him, too, so there’s more than one suspect. Then, there’s another murder. And another. It’s not hard to guess that soon, the other members of the family suspect each other, and you could even say they turn against each other.

Shadaab Amjad Khan’s Murder in Bollywood features Mumbai Senior Inspector Hoshiyar Khan. He investigates when famous Bollywood director Nikhil Kapoor is found dead in his office, ostensibly of a freak electrical accident. Not much later, his wife, famous actress Mallika Kapoor, also dies. On the surface, it seems to be a case of tragic timing and accident. But little signs suggest to Khan that something else might be going on. So, he starts to look into the matter more deeply. He soon learns that not long before the deaths, both Kapoors were at an exclusive ‘A-list’ party. During the party, Kapoor claimed that one of the group had committed murder and would murder again. Khan makes arrangements to meet with Ram Prasad Tiwari, who gave him the tip about the party. Shortly after that meeting, Tiwari is killed. Now, the rest of the people who were at the party begin to fear for their own lives and start to mistrust each other. In the end, Khan finds out the truth about all three killings, and it’s interesting to see how the various suspects act as the story goes on.

Kevin Wilson’s Now is Not the Time to Panic is the story of a series of incidents in the small town of Coalfield, Tennessee. It’s the summer of 1996, and sixteen-year-old Frances ‘Frankie’ Budge is bored and somewhat at loose ends. One day, she meets Zeke Brown, who’s visiting Coalfield for the summer. Frankie is a writer, and Zeke is an artist, so they put their talents together and create a poster. Just to see what will happen, the two teens start putting the poster up all over town. At first, it’s fun, and it gives both young people the chance to leave their marks. But soon, people in the town become suspicious of the posters, some even seeing them as ‘evil’ or ‘the Devil’s work.’ Since no-one knows who’s putting the posters up, the townspeople start to turn on each other, and that leads to real trouble. In fact, it’s called the Coalfield Panic of 1996.  Things only get worse when someone else copies the poster and starts putting those copies up in other places. The end result is danger, and even tragedy, and it impacts both Frankie and Zeke even years later.

In Catherine Chidgey’s Pet, we are introduced to Justine Crieve. It’s 1984, and Justine and her best friend Amy Fong attend a strict Catholic school in Wellington. Life doesn’t hold a lot of pleasure for Justine; her mother has recently died, and she doesn’t particularly enjoy school. She has epilepsy, too, which makes matters worse. Everything changes when Justine’s class gets a new teacher, Mrs. Price, who’s just come from Christchurch. Mrs. Price is blonde, beautiful, and even glamourous, and all of the students, particularly the girls, are enthralled. They want to be like her. Mrs. Price soon picks a chosen few, including Justine, who are allowed to clean the classroom, take out the trash, and even visit her home. Soon enough, there’s spite and jealousy among the students as they vie to join that elite group. Things are only made worse by a series of thefts in the classroom. The students start to mistrust each other, and even Amy and Justine start to drift apart once the accusations start. But all is not as it seems, and real questions start arising about Mrs. Price. What role does she play in what’s happening in the classroom.

It’s always unsettling to be in a group that could include a thief or a murderer. In that sense, it’s natural to start to suspect each other, and even turn against one another. When that happens in a novel, it can add layers of tension to a story.

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Joseph Baugh and Stan A. Kesler’s No Matter Who’s to Blame, recorded by Barbara Pittman.