One of our most important needs is the need for security. For many of us, that includes financial security. It’s so important that a lot of marriages have been made in the name of safeguarding the future. Whether those marriages are arranged or not, the aim is to ensure financial security. It’s been true for a very long time in real life, and we see it in crime fiction, too.

For example, in Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile, we are introduced to Simon Doyle. He’s never had a lot of money or been good at earning it, but he craves the life that rich people lead. He loves the idea of that much security and freedom. So, when his fiancée Jacqueline ‘Jackie’ de Bellefort introduces him to her best friend, Linnet Ridgeway, Simon can’t help but be bowled over. Linnet is very wealthy, beautiful, and intelligent. It’s not long before she and Simon become a couple, much to Jackie’s dismay. Simon and Linnet marry and go on a honeymoon trip that includes a Nile cruise. To their dismay, Jacke seems to be following them wherever they go, including on the cruise. On the second night of travel, Linnet is shot. Jackie is naturally the first suspect, especially since she’s been stalking the couple. But it’s soon proven that she could not have committed the crime. And at the time of the murder, Simon was nursing a wound from a gunshot in another part of the ship. This means that Hercule Poirot, who is on the same cruise, must look elsewhere for the murderer. It’s an interesting case of how the desire for money and the need for security can impact people.

Ellery Queen’s Ten Days Wonder introduces readers to the Van Horn family. Howard Van Horn, an old college friend of Ellery Queen’s, has been suffering from blackouts. One day, he wakes up from one of them and finds that he’s got blood on him. Convinced that he’s done something terrible, he seeks out Queen’s help. The trail leads to Van Horn’s hometown of Wrightsville, where Van Horn’s father, Diedrich, and stepmother, Sally, still live. Sally is much younger than her husband. She grew up on the proverbial wrong side of the tracks, and traded all of that for a wealthy, secure life with her rich husband. She’s not what you’d call a ‘gold-digger,’ but she depends on her new financial well-being. One day, Sally is found strangled. Since Van Horn was there, he becomes a suspect. After all, he had a financial motive, and what’s more, he could easily have resented his stepmother. It takes a long time and more tragedy for Queen to untangle the threads of this case.

Sylvie Granotier’s The Paris Lawyer is the story of fledgling lawyer Catherine Monsigny Shortly after she is credentialed as an attorney, she gets a chance at a major case. Myriam Villetreix has been accused of poisoning her wealthy husband Gaston, and she wants Catherine to defend her in court. There’s plenty of evidence against the accused. For one thing, she is much younger than her husband, which raises suspicions, especially where a lot of money is concerned. There’s also the fact that Gaston’s relatives don’t trust her motives since she is a foreigner (originally from Gabon). There’s circumstantial evidence against her, too. But Myriam claims that she’s been framed by Gaston’s relatives because they are greedy for the considerable fortune she’ll inherit. Catherine travels to the town of Guéret, where the murder took place. There, she finds that there is sentiment against Myriam, and that she may not be all she seems. Still, Catherine’s job is to defend her client, so she starts asking questions and searching for answers. Was Myriam in love with her husband? Did she marry him for financial security? This case isn’t as simple as it seems.

In Julie Clark’s The Last Flight, Claire Cook prepares for a trip. She is the wife of wealthy philanthropist Rory Cook, and she often travels to benefits and other events to support the family charities. This time, though, Claire has a different plan. Rory is abusive, and Claire has made up her mind to finally leave him. She’s going to take a different flight and go to Puerto Rico instead. At the airport, Claire meets Eva James, who’s flying to San Francisco. The two get to talking and before long they’ve come up with a scheme that will help both of them. Evie has her own reasons for not wanting to go to San Francisco, and as long as Claire isn’t going back to Rory, San Francisco is fine with her. So, they switch identities; Eva will go to Puerto Rico as Claire, and Claire will go to San Francisco as Eva. Then, there’s a tragedy. The flight to Puerto Rico crashes, leaving no survivors. Claire decides to stay in San Francisco and adopt Eva’s life. But she soon finds that Eva had secrets, and that she’s in more danger than she could have imagined. And then she learns that Rory may have found out where she is. As the story goes on, we learned that Rory can be charming, and Claire was somewhat dazzled by his wealth and the promise of a secure life. She didn’t marry him just to get luxuries, but until his abusive personality came out, she did crave the safety that wealth can offer. Living a new life means she’ll have to rely on herself.

In Nick Davies’ El Flamingo, we are introduced to failed Hollywood actor Lou Galloway. He decides to give up on acting and goes to Mexico, where he settles in at a cheap motel. Through an odd series of events, he’s mistaken for a shadowy hired assassin known as El Flamingo. Before he knows it, he’s been escorted to the home of wealthy crime boss Diego Flores, who has a job for him. Flores wants Galloway to murder a Colombian politician called Juan Moreno, who’s getting in Flores’ way. Galloway knows he really can’t refuse if he wants to stay alive, so he agrees. Then he learns that he’ll also be expected to keep an eye on Flores’ very beautiful wife, Maria-Carla, whom Flores suspects is having an affair. Plans are made, and Galloway and Maria-Carla travel to Colombia, where they’re soon caught up in a web of drug trafficking, hit men, and danger. Along the way, Galloway finds out that Maria-Carmen isn’t in love with her husband; in fact, she wants to leave him. He provides all the financial security she could want, and it is dangerous to cross him, but she’s finally gotten to the point where she’s had enough. She didn’t marry him because of greed, although she lives a life of luxury. In this case, the financial security (and the risk inherent in leaving) were motivators.

And that’s the thing about such marriages. Some people marry not because of greed per se, but because of the financial security that wealth offers. Sometimes those marriages work. Sometimes they don’t. But they can lend interesting layers to a crime novel.

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from the Eagles’ Lyin’ Eyes.