Some crime novels feature revelations or solutions that are so unexpected that readers might find them jolting. Those solutions have to be carefully and deftly written; otherwise, they can seem contrived. Still, when they’re done well, surprise revelations/solutions can make for a powerful end to a story. It’s a bit difficult to discuss the topic without giving away spoilers, but here are a few examples to show you what I mean. I’m sure you’ll think of others.

Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is the story of the killing of retired business magnate Roger Ackroyd in his study. The first and most likely suspect is his stepson, Ralph Paton, with whom he had argued loudly about money. Paton doesn’t make matters any easier when he goes missing. But his fiancée, Flora Ackroyd, is convinced that he’s not guilty. She approaches Hercule Poirot, who thinks he’s retired, and asks him to investigate. He agrees reluctantly and starts asking questions. He interviews all of the people who were in the house at the time of the murder and slowly reveals several things they’ve hidden. What’s interesting about this novel is that Christie took a lot of criticism for the solution to the mystery. It wasn’t considered ‘fair’ at the time. Christie showed that everything was there for the attentive reader to find, but the ending to this novel ‘just wasn’t done’ at the time.

In Chris Grabenstein’s Tilt A Whirl, we meet Danny Boyle, a temporary summer cop in the small town of Sea Haven, New Jersey. One morning, he and his boss, John Ceepak, are having breakfast in a café when twelve-year-old Ashley Hart comes down the street screaming something about her father. She’s got blood on her clothes, and she tells the police a terrifying story. She and her father, wealthy Reginald Hart, were on the Turtle Twirl Tilt-a-Whirl at a local amusement park when they were accosted by a man who shot her father. Ceepak and Boyle immediately begin an investigation. They soon learn that more than one person had a motive for murder. The victim had some questionable ‘business associates’ who could easily have wanted him dead. There are also people Hart had bilked in dubious (and sometimes illegal) real estate deals. And then there’s his personal life. It’s not an easy case, and the ending, when it comes, is at least to Boyle, almost shocking. It makes sense given the story but still comes as a jolt.

Helen Fitzgerald’s The Cry begins as Joanna Lindsay and her partner Alistair Robertson make the long trip from Joanna’s native Scotland to Alistair’s native Victoria. With them is their nine-week-old son, Noah. The flight is nightmarish, and the couple is only too happy to leave Melbourne Airport, get in their rental car, and go to Alistair’s hometown. Along the way, they suffer every parent’s worst nightmare: the loss of baby Noah. A massive search is undertaken, and there’s a great deal of media attention given to the case. Everyone wants to find the baby. There are even ‘find baby Noah’ websites. As time goes by, though, there’s a shift from sympathy for the couple to whispered questions about whether one of them might be responsible for Noah’s disappearance. Soon, there’s a backlash against, especially, Joanna, and there’s real talk that she had something to do with whatever happened to Noah. The end of the story is unexpected, and without spoiling the story, I can say that there’s one part in particular that turns out to be different from what one might have expected.

There’s also Rose Carlyle’s The Girl in the Mirror. In that novel, we are introduced to identical twins Summer and Iris. They were always close as girls, and now that they are adults, it seems on the surface that they still have a strong bond. But all is not as it seems. Summer has always been the more outgoing, successful of the two, and now she’s married to handsome and equally successful Adam. Iris has recently broken off an engagement, and in any case, has never been as extroverted as her sister. The undercurrent of sibling rivalry becomes clearer when their father’s will is read: his vast fortune will go to whichever of his children produces an heir first. At first, it seems that Summer is bound to inherit, since she’s married and Iris isn’t even involved with anyone. But Iris sees her chance when Summer asks her to accompany Adam on a two-week trip to take the family yacht to the Seychelles. At the last minute, Summer decides to go along. It’s a long trip over a largely empty ocean, so when Summer goes missing, the search for her is futile. But things aren’t always as they seem, and readers might feel a ‘jolt’ at the end.

In Rod Reynolds’ Black Reed Bay, the Hampstead, Long Island, police department gets a frantic call from a young woman named Tina Grace. She claims that someone is trying to kill her and asks for help. Detective Casey Wray and her police partner David Cullen are called to an exclusive beachfront community called Ramona Villas, where the call was placed. By the time they get there, Tina has gone missing. Some of the residents did see her, but nobody seems to know what happened to her. Now this threat of murder has turned into a missing person case, and the two detectives begin their search. They soon learn that Tina is a sex worker, and that opens up several possibilities. They also talk to Tina’s mother, brother, and friends to see if there are any leads there. As time goes by, it becomes clear that this is more than just one woman who disappeared, voluntarily or otherwise. As the truth is revealed, there are some surprises, including one revelation that changes a lot for Casey.

Surprise revelations and endings can add tension, suspense, and innovative plot lines when they’re done well. If they’re not, though, they can seem contrived. So it’s important that the author handle them deftly.

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from the Who’s I Can See For Miles.