In 1867, Karl Marx published Das Kapital. Whatever your opinions of various economic and political systems, it’s hard to deny that Marx’s criticism of capitalism has had a profound impact on world events. The plight of workers, the issues of workers’ rights, and the gulf between wealthy business leaders and those who work for them have been woven into many books, including novels. That includes crime fiction.

Agatha Christie takes the topic up in more than one of her stories. In One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, for instance, Hercule Poirot investigates the murder of his dentist, Henry Morley. The victim was an inoffensive man who had no financial problems, so the Home Office and the police start to wonder whether his wealthy patient Alistair Blunt might have been the intended victim. Blunt is a successful banker with a great deal of power and a conservative approach to finances and other issues. As such, he’s made plenty of enemies, especially among more radical individuals. One of those individuals is Haward Raikes, who happens to be dating Blunt’s niece, Jane Olivera. Since Raikes is a person of interest, Poirot looks into his background, and we get to know him a bit. He’s determined to create a world where wealth is shared, and where staunch conservatives don’t stand in the way of what he sees as progress. Whether you agree with his view or not, Christie arguably uses him to share that perspective. You’re quite right, fans of Death on the Nile.

In Ngaio Marsh’s The Nursing Home Murder, we are introduced to Home Secretary Sir Derek O’Callaghan, MP.  He’s about to introduce a controversial anti-anarchy bill targeting communist and other leftist groups in the country. As you can imagine, that’s made him enemies among several of those groups. One day, he’s making a speech when he suddenly collapses from appendicitis. His good friend, Sir John Phillips, has O’Callaghan sent to his private hospital for surgery and recovery. The operation is a success, but, not many hours later, O’Callaghan dies of what turns out to be hyoscine poisoning. O’Callaghan’s widow calls on Sir Roderick Alleyn to find out who killed her husband, and Alleyn gets to work. He finds that several people had a motive for murder, including those who resented O’Callaghan’s views.

There’s an interesting look at workers’ rights and workers’ concerns in Jonothan Cullinane’s Red Herring. The novel takes place in 1951 Auckland, where the dock workers – the wharfies – are getting ready to go on strike. The government wants this dispute to be settled as soon as possible. The anti-communist sentiment of the early 1950s is strong, and many people are worried that the wharfies are run by communists. With this in the background, Auckland PI Johnny Molloy gets a new case. It seems that Francis ‘Frank’ O’Phelan, AKA Frank O’Flynn, was reported as washed overboard and killed in the Bering Sea. At first, it looks like a straightforward case, and O’Phelan’s insurance company has paid out. But small pieces of evidence suggest there might be something more going on. Then, a picture surfaces of a man who may be O’Phelan, with some of the wharfies. Could they be hiding him? Is he one of them? Molloy’s sympathies are with the wharfies, and he doesn’t want to cause them trouble. But he has a commission, so he starts to ask questions. And as he searches for answers, the conflict between the wharfies and the government gets more and more dangerous. Molloy finds himself in a perilous situation as he tries to get to the truth.

William Ryan’s Captain Alexei Korolev series takes place mostly in Moscow in the years just before World War II. Korolev is a police detective who serves at a time when the political Powers That Be want to show that there is no crime in the Soviet Union. Marx’s and Lenin’s theories have changed the sociopolitical and economic landscapes, and Korolev has had to adapt. At first, he was a supporter of communism, but he has seen that under Stalin, many people have ‘disappeared’ or at least lost everything. The Stalinist government also has made it difficult to do police work, since the goal is to show that the Soviet Union is a peoples’ paradise. It’s an interesting look at how Marx’s theories were implemented, and what happened during those first few decades. Fans of Qiu Xiaolong’s Chief Inspector Chen Cao will know that there are also some interesting reflections on workers and those who employ them, especially when those who are in power seem to have every luxury, even in a communist society.

Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö created a ten-novel series featuring Stockholm police detective Martin Beck and his team. Beginning with Rosanna, the authors often wove their leftist beliefs into the plots. Many of the antagonists in the novels are entrenched powerful industrialists and wealthy capitalists. If they’re not actually murderers, they cover for one another. Interestingly, the views of some of the regular characters (e.g. Lennart Kollberg) are decidedly Marxist. Throughout the series, we see how capitalism has impacted Sweden, and how the police are sometimes forced into the position of going against their own people.

Karl Marx’s work has been in circulation for more than 155 years. It’s shifted paradigms in several societies and is still a topic of a lot of discussion. Little wonder it’s found its way into crime fiction.

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from John Lennon’s Working Class Hero.