2018/12/13 · 11:40 am

Pull Off a Job With an Inside Man*

Sometimes, police and other sleuths need ‘inside information’ to solve a case. It’s not always easy to get that information, so there are times when a mole may be planted in a group. In fiction, we see plenty of moles in spy and espionage novels, but they find their way into lots of other novels, too.

Having a mole in a group – especially if other characters know there’s a mole – can add much to the tension in a story. And there are all sorts of possibilities for character development, too. We may not always like what moles do, but they certainly play a role in crime fiction.

In Agatha Christie’s After the Funeral, wealthy family patriarch Richard Abernethie dies, and his family gathers for his funeral. During that gathering, Abernethie’s younger sister, Cora Lansquenet, says that he was murdered. Everyone hushes her, and the matter is dropped. But privately, the family members begin to wonder. When Cora herself is murdered the next day, it seems clear that she was right. The family attorney, Mr. Entwhistle, visits Hercule Poirot, and asks him to investigate, and Poirot agrees. It’s not until later in the novel that the family members learn that Poirot is a detective, and that he’s been involved in the investigation. They also learn that Mr. Entwhistle has been asking his own questions and trying to find out the truth. And it’s interesting to see how they react when they find there’s been a mole in their midst.

In Walter Mosley’s A Red Death, Ezekiel ‘Easy’ Rawlins finds himself in a difficult bind. He’s gotten a threatening letter from Internal Revenue Service (IRA) agent Reginald Lawrence. It seems Rawlins owes thousands of dollars in taxes, and the letter indicates that if he doesn’t pay, he’ll go to prison. Rawlins can’t afford to pay the money, and is resigning himself to a prison term, when he gets a way out. FBI Agent Darryl Craxton contacts Rawlins and tells him that he can make Rawlins’ tax problems go away. In exchange, he wants Rawlins to get close to a man named Chaim Wenzler – a man the FBI wants to bring down as a communist (the novel takes place in the early 1950s, at the height of anti-communist paranoia in the US). Rawlins doesn’t see any alternative but to agree, and the plan is hatched. Wenzler is a frequent volunteer at the First African Baptist Church, and Rawlins becomes a mole there, finding out what he can about Wenzler. But he soon finds that he likes the man. The better he knows Wenzler, the less appetite he has for bringing him down, and that creates a serious dilemma.

In Jill Paterson’s Once Upon a Lie,  Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Alistair Fitzjohn is summoned back to Sydney from London, where he’s been taking some time off. The body of businessman Michael Rossi has been found on a marina at Rushcutter’s Bay, and an investigation needs to be launched. Ordinarily, the Kings Cross Police Station would handle this case, but they are shortstaffed, so Fitzjohn is seconded from the Day Street Station. He insists that his assistant, Detective Sergeant (DS) Martin Betts, come along, and that’s arranged. Fitzjohn and his team find that this is a complicated case, and several people involved aren’t telling everything they know. That’s hard enough, but Fitzjohn also learns that there is likely a mole at Kings Cross, whose job is to report to Superintendent Griegs about his activity. In the end, Fitzjohn finds he has to trust in his own instincts and in Betts…

Peter Lovesey’s Superintendent Peter Diamond also has to cope with a mole in The Last Detective: Introducing Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond. He and his team investigate when the body of famous TV actress Geraldine ‘Gerry’ Jackman is discovered in a lake. Diamond and his assistant, Detective Inspector (DI) John Wigfull, find that this case isn’t as obvious as it seems on the surface. The victim’s husband, Professor Gregory ‘Greg’ Jackson, is an obvious suspect, and he had motive. But there are several other people who might also have had a motive to kill the victim. In the meantime, Diamond has other problems. He’s still dealing with the fallout from an earlier case for which he got into trouble. Related to that, he’s learned that there is likely a mole among his team whose job is to keep tabs on him.

And then there’s Paul Thomas’ Death on Demand. In it, Sergeant Tito Ihaka is asked to return to Auckland from Wairarapa, where he was banished after an earlier case. He had accused Christopher Lilywhite of arranging for his wife’s murder. Lilywhite claimed innocence, and there was never quite enough evidence to pursue the case. What’s more, Lilywhite has money and ‘clout,’ and that was all it took to get Ihaka pushed aside. Now, Lilywhite wants to speak to Ihaka privately. Ihaka agrees, and Lilywhite confesses that he actually did pay to have his wife killed. He’s been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and wants Ihaka to know that there’s still a vicious multiple murderer out there, committing other crimes. Soon, Ihaka is on the trail of a very skilled, ruthless killer. At the same time, he learns that someone he works with is a mole. He finds out who that person is, but by that time, the mole has already caused all sorts of damage.

And that’s the thing about moles. They can wreak all sorts of havoc and trouble. But they certainly can add tension to a crime novel.

 
 
 

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from The Band’s Jawbone.

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2018/12/12 · 11:40 am

She Planted the Evidence on Me*

One part of investigating a crime is, of course, looking at the evidence. Some evidence is physical, and some is not. Taken as a whole, though, evidence is a critical part of making a case against a suspect.

There’s a challenge, though, with relying on evidence. It’s sometimes hard to tell whether a piece of evidence is real, or has been planted to frame someone. That does happen in real life, and it can serve as an interesting plot point in crime fiction, too. It’s got to be done carefully, though, because it’s not as easy as you might think to plant evidence. Still, when it is done well, that plot point can add to a story.

Agatha Christie made use of planted evidence in several of her stories. In Sad Cypress, for instance, Elinor Carlisle stands trial for the murder of Mary Gerrard. There is plenty of evidence against her, too. For one thing, her former fiancé, Roderick ‘Roddy’ Welman, became infatuated with Mary. His feelings for her resulted in the breakup of his engagement to Elinor. For another thing, Elinor’s wealthy aunt, Laura Welman, was especially interested in Mary, and wanted her to be well provided for in her will. This could mean that Elinor would be cut out of the will, or at least get much less money. Local GP Peter Lord has become smitten with Elinor, and wants her name cleared. He asks Hercule Poirot to investigate, and Poirot agrees. In the end, he finds out the truth. But at one point, he has to deal with some planted evidence that confuses matters. I know, fans of Murder on the Orient Express.

James Yaffe’s A Nice Murder For Mom, introduces readers to Dave, a New York City police detective. He’s recently widowed, and has decided that he needs a change of scene, as New York is too painful for him. So, he accepts a job as an investigator for the Public Defender’s Office in Mesa Grande, Colorado. It’s a new beginning, and the job isn’t that demanding. But then, there’s a murder. Stuart Bellamy, a member of Mesa Grande College’s English Department, is killed in his home. Most of the members of the department had very good reason to want Bellamy killed. There are other people, too, with motive. But the one person who can’t prove an alibi is Bellamy’s colleague, Mike Russo. And there’s evidence against him, too, including his admitting that he hated the victim. Russo is arrested, but he claims that he is innocent. He doesn’t deny his motive, but he says he’s not guilty. He asks Dave to help clear his name, and Dave looks into the matter. And he finds that someone has cleverly faked evidence to frame Russo.

The focus of Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent is the murder of Carolyn Polhemus, who was a prosecuting attorney for fictional Kindle County. Her boss, Kindle County Prosecutor Raymond Horgan wants this case investigated ‘by the book,’ and solved quickly. He assigns Rožat ‘Rusty’ Sabich, his best deputy prosecutor, to the case, and Sabich gets to work. What Sabich hasn’t told his boss, though, is that he had a relationship with Polhemus. It ended several months before her death, but the fact certainly compromises his investigation. When Horgan finds out, he’s understandably angry, and pulls Sabich from the case. Then, evidence starts to turn up that implicates Sabich in the murder. It’s so compelling, in fact, that he is arrested for the crime. He hires Alejandro ‘Sandy’ Stern to defend him, and the two begin to work to find out who the real killer is. I can say without spoiling the story that planted evidence plays a role in it.

It plays a role in Helene Tursten’s The Glass Devil, too. In that novel, schoolteacher Jacob Schyttelius is shot. Göteborg homicide detective Irene Huss and her team begin the investigation. Very soon, they learn that Schyttelius’ parents have also been murdered; they were killed just hours before he was. At first, these murders look like the work of a Satanic group, and that wouldn’t be impossible. But it soon becomes clear that that evidence has been planted to sidetrack the police. Another possibility is that someone has a grudge against the family. But they were well-enough liked and considered ‘respectable,’ so it’s hard to work out who might hate them that much. The trail is complicated, and has much to do with the past. But, in the end, Huss finds out the truth.

In Mick Herron’s Down Cemetery Road, Sarah Tucker gets involved in a web of murder, conspiracy, and more. It all starts when a house near hers explodes, killing its owners, Thomas and Maddie Singleton. Strangely enough, their four-year-old daughter, Dinah, is not found, and Sarah worries for the child. But it’s soon clear that no-one will answer her questions or help her find the girl. Something is being hidden, and she wants to know what it is. So, she hires Oxford Investigations, which is run by Joe Silvermann and Zoë Boehm. Silvermann gets to work on the case, but he soon warns Sarah away from it. He’s uncovered information that suggests that there’s much more going on here than a child who’s wandered off, or been abducted. Sarah insists that she wants answers, though, and Silvermann reluctantly agreed. Then, he’s found murdered. What’s worse, someone plants evidence that suggests he was a drug dealer, and Sarah was one of his customers. This puts her squarely at the heart of the investigation into his death. Now, she’s going to have to get answers on her own.

And then there’s Ruth Ware’s In a Dark, Dark Wood. In that novel, a group of people gather for a weekend ‘hen do’ for Clare Cavendish. The house they’re using belongs to the aunt of Florence ‘Flo’ Clay, who’s put the whole party together. It’s in a lonely, secluded place, so the partygoers are very much on their own. Or are they? There’s evidence that someone may be watching them. If so, who is it? That in itself makes everyone uneasy. Some past history also comes up, which only adds to the awkwardness and discomfort. Things gradually spin out of control, and what’s supposed to be a fun weekend turns sinister. As protagonist Leonora ‘Nora’ Shaw tries to piece everything together, we find that planted evidence plays an important role in the story.

Of course, any good investigator will pay attention to all the evidence. But it’s just as important to be aware that some of that evidence may be planted. The challenge is to separate that from the evidence that’s genuine.

 
 
 

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Cliff Carlisle and Mel Foree’s The Girl in the Blue Velvet Band.

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2018/12/11 · 11:40 am

And Everybody, Yeah, Tries to Put My Sloopy Down*

As this is posted, it’s 82 years since King Edward VIII announced his abdication of the British throne to marry Wallis Simpson. As you’ll know, their relationship was considered scandalous, and the couple took a great deal of criticism.

It’s a very famous scandalous marriage, but it’s hardly the only one. For a long time, people have disapproved of certain marriages, and that topic comes up in crime fiction, too. It’s no surprise, either, considering that that plot point can add an interesting layer of tension to a story.

For instance, in Agatha Christie’s Lord Edgware Dies, famous actress Jane Wilkinson wants a divorce from her husband, the 4th Baron Edgware, so that she can marry the Duke of Merton, with whom she’s fallen in love. She asks Hercule Poirot to convince her husband to agree to the divorce, and he pays a visit to Edgware. During the visit, Edgware says that he has already withdrawn his objection, and is willing for the divorce to go ahead. That’s odd enough, but when Edgware is stabbed that night, the case gets even more complicated. In the midst of it all, Poirot gets a visit from the Dowager Duchess of Merton. Now that Edgware is dead, Jane Wilkinson is free to marry her son, and she’s upset about that. To her, the actress is absolutely not a suitable wife, and she wants Poirot to stop the marriage. He can’t agree to that, which infuriates her. That visit doesn’t solve the crime. But it’s interesting to see how it sheds light on the characters involved.

Colin Dexter’s Death is Now My Neighbour begins as Sir Clixby Bream prepares to step down as Master of Lonsdale College, Oxford. The matter of who will succeed him is not a trivial one, and he considers the question carefully. The two most likely candidates are Julian Storrs and Denis Cornford. They’re equally qualified, and each has behaved ‘properly.’ Both are married to women who’ve learned how to make their husbands look good, and both men have their supporters. Then, a dubious journalist named Geoffrey Owens starts digging around, and discovers that someone has a shady past – something that Bream would likely find unacceptable. When Owens is shot, Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis investigate. They find out that more than one person involved has a secret.

Megan Abbott’s historical novel (1950s) Die a Little introduces Lora King, a Pasadena, California teacher. She’s especially close to her brother, Bill, so when he meets and falls in love with Alice Steele, Lora wants to be happy for him. But it’s not long before she begins to have her doubts. Alice has a murky background, and some things about her make Lora uneasy. Still, the relationship continues, and Bill and Alice marry. Lora tries to be nice to her new sister-in-law for Bill’s sake. But the more she learns about her, the more concerned she is. At the same time as she is repulsed by Alice’s life, though, she is also drawn to it. Then, there’s a death. And Alice could very well be mixed up in it. Telling herself she’s trying to help her brother, Lora starts asking questions. And she finds herself more caught up in the events than she’d thought possible.

In Surender Mohan Pathak’s The Colaba Conspiracy, locksmith Jeet Singh has been trying to ‘go straight’ since he spent time in prison. Now, he runs a legitimate key-making business from a Mumbai kiosk, and wants to stay out of trouble. But trouble finds him. He gets an opportunity to do a safecracking job, and at first, he rejects. Everything changes, though, when he gets a visit from a former lover, Sushmita. She tells him that her wealthy husband, Pursumal Changulani, has been murdered. He was killed in what looked like a carjacking gone horribly wrong. But evidence has turned up which shows that this was likely a planned assassination. Changulani’s children have never approved of his marriage to Sushmita, and are now saying that she was never officially his wife. If that is true, she can’t inherit any of his fortune. What’s worse, these same children believe that she hired the person who killed their father. Sushmita tells Singh that she is innocent, but can’t pay for a good lawyer. He agrees to help her if he can, and takes on that job he originally rejected. It’s not long before Singh finds himself drawn in much deeper than he had thought.

And then there’s M.C. Beaton’s Hamish Macbeth. He’s constable for the Highlands village of Lochdubh, and is quite content to stay there. He’s not professionally ambitious, and he likes the town he serves. Fans will tell you, though, that he’s not lucky in love. One of the regular characters in this series is Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, whose ‘blueblood’ parents have a fine local manor. Macbeth loves Patricia, and she cares very much for him, too. But their relationship is not exactly smooth sailing. One of the reasons for that is that her parents don’t think a ‘mere constable’ is a suitable match for her. Priscilla’s father, in particular, is determined that she will meet and marry ‘one of her own kind.’ And it’s interesting to see how those ideas of what is and isn’t a suitable match play a role in the series.

There are a lot of other examples of fictional marriages where there’s a lot of disapproval. It’s difficult to maintain a relationship under those circumstances, and it’s hard on everyone. But it can make for an interesting plot point.

 
 
 

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Wes Farrell and Bert Berns’s Hang on Sloopy.

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2018/12/10 · 11:40 am

In The Spotlight: Bill Crider’s Too Late to Die

Hello, All,

Welcome to another edition of In The Spotlight. Bill Crider was a well-known, well-respected crime writer and commentator who passed away early this year. He left behind a legacy of crime fiction novels, Westerns, and horror fiction, too. It’s about time this feature included one of his stories, so let’s do that today. Let’s turn the spotlight on Too Late to Die, the first of his Sheriff Dan Rhodes novels.

The story begins as Rhodes, Sheriff of Blacklin County, Texas, is looking into a break-in at a local market. He’s talking to the owner about it when the body of Jeanne Clinton is discovered in her home. The owner of the market, Hod Barrett, is none too happy about his case being relegated to second place, so to speak. But a murder is a murder, and Rhodes and his deputies and staff get to work.

As you might guess, the most likely suspect is the victim’s husband, Elmer. It doesn’t help his case that his wife had been ‘a bit wild’ as a younger woman and might still be entertaining ‘visitors.’ But Elmer says that Jeanne had matured, and he’s not the only one who says so. Besides, so he claims, he was at work at the time of the murder, and he can prove it. And even Rhodes is inclined to believe that Elmer Clinton loved his wife.

If Clinton isn’t the murderer, the team has to work out who is. And that means finding out who might have seen Jeanne Clinton on the evening she was killed. As it turns out, there are several people who did. Even Hod Barrett was there, as were a few other highly respectable local citizens. Every one of them eventually admits to being friends with the victim. But each one says that: a) it was just a friendship, nothing more; b) Jeanne was alive when last seen. Untangling the truth from the lies is going to take effort.

In the meantime, Rhodes is facing an election year, and this time, he’s got real competition. Ralph Claymore is running for sheriff, and he’s got his share of support. He looks the part, too, and is comfortable interacting with people. It’s not going to be an easy win.

As if that’s not enough, two local citizens have decided to sue Rhodes, the country, and whoever else they can sue for beating them up during a routine stop. They blame Rhodes’ deputy, Johnny Sherman, and they’re out for a big win. In fact, they’ve hired Billy Don Painter, who’s seen as a hotshot lawyer, to press their case for them. It doesn’t help matters at all that Sherman is dating Rhodes’ daughter, Kathy.

Then, there are two more deaths. Now, Rhodes is under intense pressure to solve this case. The public wants answers, and he’s not sleeping easily, either. And he’s not likely to win re-election if Claymore can use these murders against him. In the end, and piece by piece, Rhodes puts the puzzle together.

This novel takes place in rural Texas, and the reader is placed there immediately and distinctly. There are local food markets, plenty of boots and Dr. Pepper, Texas expressions, and pickup trucks. But Crider doesn’t present stereotypes. Without giving away spoilers, I can say that the characters in this novel are more complex than that.

Because the setting is a small, rural area, everyone knows everyone, and that includes Rhodes. Many of the people in town have relationships that stretch back to primary school, and Rhodes and his deputies know everyone’s history.

The story is told from Rhodes’ perspective (third person, past tense), so readers learn about him. He is widowed, but he has more or less gotten used to it. He misses his wife, but he doesn’t wallow in that. In fact, he starts his first, awkward, attempts at dating again in this novel (and no, it doesn’t really have a romance aspect). He makes mistakes in this case, but he is a persistent, hardworking detective who gets to the truth in the end.

The solution to the mystery is, in its way, more complex than it might seem on the surface. I don’t want to say more about it for fear of spoilers, but I can say that readers who appreciate moral ambiguity will appreciate some of the situations in the novel. In the end, Rhodes wants to do the right thing. But what counts as the right thing isn’t really clear when the facts are known.

There is some violence in the novel (there are, after all, three deaths). But it is mostly ‘off stage.’ Still, this is not a ‘frothy’ read. There is real sadness in the story, and knowing the truth doesn’t make that go away. That said, though, there is a strong sense that life will go on, and that the local people will pick up their lives.

Too Late to Die is the story of a small Texas community and its sheriff, and what happens to everyone when murder strikes. It uncovers several local secrets, and introduces a sleuth who wants to do what’s best for everyone. But what’s your view? Have you read Too Late to Die? If you have, what elements do you see in it?

 

 
 

Coming Up On In The Spotlight
 

Monday, 17 December/Tuesday, 18 December – All She Was Worth – Miyuki Miyabe

Monday, 24 December/Tuesday, 25 December – In Cold Blood – Truman Capote

Monday, 31 December/Tuesday, 1 January – Accused – Lisa Scottoline

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2018/12/09 · 11:40 am

My Own Way*

When we think about what it takes to be a sleuth, management skills probably don’t come first to mind. But plenty of sleuths work regularly with others. And those sleuths are frequently in positions where they supervise others. So, management is an important part of their jobs.

Each manager has a slightly different style, and some people respond better to a given style than others do. It’s interesting to see how sleuths’ personalities come out in the way they manage, and how others react to those personalities. It’s also interesting to see how management skills develop over time.

Reginald Hill’s Andy Dalziel has a singular approach to managing. He is a tough, no-nonsense leader who expects his team to do their jobs well. Fans know that he does not suffer fools gladly, and he’s quite plain-spoken when he has a criticism. He’s not much of a one for being too concerned about people’s sensitivities. Working for Andy Dalziel requires a very thick skin. That said, though, there’s another side to his management style. He never asks his team to work harder or take more risks than he does. And he supports his team members, too. More than once in the series, Dalziel protects the people he supervises, and backs them in disputes with the Powers That Be. He’ll rake someone over the proverbial coals himself, but he is just as loyal to his team as he expects his team to be loyal to him.

Fred Vargas’ Commissaire Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg has a very different approach to management. But, then, he has a very unusual team. His team members are all what a lot of us would think of as eccentric, to say the least. One of them has narcolepsy, one is a naturalist, and one is a ‘walking encyclopaedia’ who drinks far more white wine than most people would think is a good idea. Oh, and in several books, there’s Snowball the office cat, who is a far better tracker than the humans at the office. Adamsberg knows that he works with very talented people. Insisting that they behave conventionally would rob him of some expert teammates. So, he looks the other way about the wine drinking, the narcolepsy, and so on. And he has come to trust his team as they trust him. Adamsberg himself is a bit eccentric. He has more of a philosophical approach to solving crime than a conventional one. Sometimes, he spends as much time at a local café thinking things through as he does sitting in his office. But he and his team are successful.

Angela Marsons’ Detective Inspector (DI) Kim Stone has had her challenges in life. She grew up in the care system, and was shuttled among several foster homes, not all of which were healthy places. So, she sometimes has an abrupt manner. She can be thoughtless, too, and sometimes pushes her team without considering that they have home lives and other obligations. But she works at least as heard as she expects any of her colleagues to do. And she’s quite well aware that she has faults. When she does see that she’s been too curt, or that her team desperately needs a break, she admits that and makes amends when she can. Her honesty may be brusque, but her team appreciates that she tells everyone the truth. And it’s interesting to see how she grows in her management role as the series goes on

Mari Hannah’s Detective Inspector (DI) Kate Daniels gets a chance at an important management role in The Murder Wall. The body of Alan Stephens is discovered, and Daniels’ boss, Superintendent Bright, names her Senior Investigating Officer (SIO). That’s a real coup, and Daniels wants, of course, to do well. It’s not going to be an easy case, though. For one thing, the team knows and has worked with the chief suspect, the victim’s ex-wife. For another thing, Daniels herself knew the victim, and hasn’t told anyone. Still, she and her team take on the investigation. As the novel goes on, one of the interesting story threads is the way Daniels begins to grow into her role as SIO. She and her team certainly make their share of mistakes. But they also learn a lot, and they do find the killer. It’s an interesting look at developing a management style.

We also see the development of a management style in Martin Edwards’ Lake District mysteries. As they begin (with The Coffin Trail), Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Hannah Scarlett has just been named to head the Cold Case Review Team at Cumbria Constabulary. She faces several challenges as she gets started, too. Her new position is actually seen as a demotion, since the team is ‘relegated’ to looking at cases that aren’t really making the news. And she’s got to deal with all of the interactions among team members, as well as the inevitable paperwork, assessment, and other duties that fall to those who manage. It’s a process for Scarlett as she learns to lead the team effectively and earn the respect of those who report to her. She makes mistakes, but her style develops as she gains confidence.

Everyone, real and fictional, has a different management style, And sometimes, different styles can be equally effective, depending on the leader and depending on those who report to that person. There’s only been space to talk about a few examples here, but I know you’ll think of lots more.

 
 
 

*NOTE: The title of this post is the title of a song by the Rembrandts.

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