You Lock the Door and Throw Away the Key*

There are lots of myths and sometimes horror stories told about psychiatric institutions and other institutions for those with mental illness. In part, those myths may arise from the fact that we are still learning about what causes the kinds of mental illness that requires institutionalisation. Lack of knowledge often leads to the sort of fears that build up into those myths. Then, too, it’s only been in the last several decades that psychiatric institutions have become places where patients can receive helpful therapy and are treated with any kind of dignity (and there are still plenty of such places where that doesn’t happen). So it’s no wonder that being institutionalised can still carry with it a real social stigma, and that institutions themselves are often the object of both fear and morbid curiosity. If you look at crime fiction, though, you can see that there’s more to psychiatric institutions than lurid stories.

Agatha Christie makes some mention of psychiatric institutions in her novels. For instance, in Hickory Dickory Dock (AKA Hickory Dickory Death), there’ve been some odd thefts and some vandalism at a hostel for students, and the hostel’s manager Mrs. Hubbard is getting concerned. Her sister Felicity Lemon tells her boss Hercule Poirot what’s been going on, and he interests himself in the matter. When one of the residents Celia Austin owns up to several of the thefts, the matter seems to be cleared up. But two nights later, Celia dies of what seems at first to be poison. When it’s proven that she was murdered, Poirot and Inspector Sharpe investigate the crime. They look into the backgrounds and lives of the other residents of the hostel as they try to find out who would want to kill the seemingly inoffensive Celia. It turns out that just about all of the residents are hiding something. One of those residents is medical student Len Bateson. Bateson’s father has been institutionalised and among other things, he’s worried that he might fall under extra suspicion because of that fact. We don’t get to see that institution in this novel, but it’s interesting to see the public perception of such places.

There’s a very stark and harrowing portrait of an institution in Thomas Harris’ The Silence of the Lambs. Hannibal Lecter is a brilliant and noted psychiatrist. He is also a very dangerous and brutal psychopathic killer. As this novel begins, Lecter’s been confined to Baltimore’s State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Because Lecter and the other residents are considered extremely dangerous, they’re also very tightly confined and have little freedom of movement. And many of the residents really are frightening people. FBI trainee Clarice Starling is sent into this environment because she’s been chosen to join a team that’s hunting a vicious killer known as “Buffalo Bill.” It turns out that this killer was once a patient of Lecter’s, so it’s believed that perhaps Lecter may be able to help track him down. Starling is assigned to interview Lecter and enlist his help. Lecter agrees on the condition that for each piece of information he gives, Starling has to reveal a personal secret. The novel focuses on the dangerous game of wits the two play and on the search for “Buffalo Bill,” and the institutional background for much of the story adds to the suspense and the eeriness of the story.

In Håkan Nesser’s Mind’s Eye, schoolteacher Jurgen Mitter is confined to a mental institution when he is convicted of murdering his wife Eva Ringard. Inspector Van Veeteren and his team did the original investigation, and on the surface, it certainly seems that Mitter is guilty. But Mitter is sure that he didn’t commit the crime, and even Van Veeteren begins to wonder if Mitter is innocent. The problem is that Mitter was extremely drunk on the night of the murder and remembers very little. That’s in fact why he’s placed in an institution instead of a prison. The institution in which Mitter lives is actually not portrayed in an overly negative way. Yes, the residents do not have a lot of freedom of movement, and they’re on a somewhat regimented schedule. But Mitter actually feels a bit safe there – certainly safer than he probably would have had he been imprisoned. A little time goes by and Mitter slowly begins to recover his memory, first in the form of frightening dreams and then more clearly. Then, Mitter remembers who actually killed his wife. Shortly after that, he himself is murdered. Now, Inspector Van Veeteren and his team re-visit this case with renewed energy to find out who the murderer is.

In Ian Vasquez’ Lonesome Point, we meet brothers Leo and Patrick Varela, who were born and raised in Belize and since then, have moved to Miami. Leo is a poet who works in a mental institution. He’s happily married and the couple is expecting their first child. Patrick is an up-and-coming politician who’s already made quite a local name for himself and is being talked about as having real national promise. Everything changes for both brothers with the arrival in Miami of Freddy Robinson, an old acquaintance from Belize. Freddy’s got a somewhat shady past, including a prison record, and is now working for some very unpleasant people. It seems that one of the patients on the ward where Leo Varela works may have some “inside information” on some unethical political tricks that Patrick Varela’s staff may have used. Freddy’s “employers” want that information. So Freddy pays Leo a visit, asking his help in releasing that patient so that he can “assist” the people who are paying Freddy. Leo refuses at first, partly because it could cost him his job, and partly because he doesn’t want to damage his brother’s career. But Freddy threatens Leo, saying that if he doesn’t do as he’s asked, Freddy will reveal a dark secret he knows about the Varela brothers’ past. So very reluctantly, Leo Varela breaks the institution’s rules and gets the patient released. He also gets himself and his brother into more danger than he could have imagined. The story of the institution where Leo Varela works is mostly told from the point of view of the employees, and although it’s not exactly a happy place, it is also not a cruel or inhumane place. And the employees are, for the most part, professional about their jobs. And for the patient involved in this case, the institution has actually provided protection.

Early in Åsa Larsson’s The Black Path the third novel to feature tax attorney Rebecka Martinsson, we find that Martinsson has been confined to a psychiatric institution. She’s been through some awful and traumatic events in both Sun Storm (AKA The Savage Altar) and The Blood Spilt, and has finally come unhinged. Through a series of psychiatrist’s reports, we see how Martinsson gradually “comes back to life.” We also see through Martinsson’s eyes what the institution is like. It’s certainly not portrayed as a delightful place. But she feels safe there and gradually feels life coming back. With help from both her therapist and the medications she’s given, Martinsson begins to feel more grounded. When she’s ready, she returns to her family’s home in Kiruna, only to be involved in the investigation of the murder of Inna Wattrang. Wattrang was Head of Information for Kallis Mining. So Inspectors Anna-Maria Mella and Sven-Erik Stålnacke look into the company’s past and its business practices. They find some questionable practices, and Mella enlists Martinsson’s help because of her expertise. In the end Martinsson helps the team find out who killed Inna Wattrang and why.

There’s a fascinating, if somewhat harrowing, look at life in an institution in Alice LaPlante’s Turn of Mind. This is the story of Dr. Jennifer White, a Chicago orthopaedic surgeon who’s been diagnosed with dementia. As the novel begins, White is still able to live in her home with the help of her caregiver Magdalena. Then one night, White’s neighbour Amanda O’Toole is murdered. Her body is also mutilated in a very professional way that only a surgeon would be able to carry off. Detective Luton is assigned to the case and it’s not long before she hits on White as a suspect. The deeper she looks, the more likely it is that White could be guilty. However, the evidence is not completely convincing and what’s more, White herself can’t help. She is gradually slipping away from what counts for most of us as reality. In fact she soon has to be placed in an institution for those who have Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia. So Luton has a very challenging task trying to find out what really happened on the night of O’Toole’s death. Is Jennifer White guilty? If so, was she aware of what she was doing? If not, what if anything does she know about the murder? Some of this novel takes place against the backdrop of the institution to which White is moved, and since this novel is told from White’s viewpoint, we see how a resident looks at life in such a place. On one hand, during her more lucid moments, White objects to being condescended to, especially when staff members refer to her as “Jenny,” or “Jen,” instead of the “Dr. White,” to which she was so accustomed. And because of staff shortages, White and her fellow residents aren’t always attended to promptly. White is also restrained at times and those parts are admittedly difficult to read. On the other, the staff members are not cruel and terribly inhumane. They are doing the best job they can under very difficult conditions. This isn’t an easy book to read, but it is very well-written and worth the read.

There are other novels, too, that take place in institutions or that feature them in some ways. They can be quite compelling settings and when done well, can add a lot to the tension in a novel.

 

 

 

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Pink Floyd’s Brain Damage.

 

When a Problem Comes Along, You Must Whip It*

When unpleasant or even tragic things happen, it’s a natural human reaction not to want to deal with them. Running away from those situations, figuratively or literally, can seem a lot more appealing than dealing with them, and in the short run, it’s easier. But eventually, the truth catches up with us and we have to deal with it whether we want to or not. And as crime fiction shows us, sometimes running away instead of dealing with a situation can have tragic results.

That’s what happens in Agatha Christie’s Dead Man’s Folly. Mystery novelist Ariadne Oliver has been commissioned to create a Murder Hunt (along the lines of a scavenger hunt) for an upcoming fête to be held at Nasse House, the home of Sir George Stubbs and his wife Hattie. Nearly everyone’s busily planning the event, but Oliver gets the feeling that there’s something more going on than the fête itself. So she asks Hercule Poirot to come to Nasse House under the pretext of giving away the prizes for those who solve the murder that Oliver has created. He agrees and travels to Nasse House. On the day of the fête, Oliver is proved tragically correct when Marlene Tucker, who’s playing the part of the “victim” in the murder hunt, is actually strangled. Shortly afterwards, Hattie Stubbs disappears. Now Poirot works with Inspector Bland and the local police to find out who would have wanted to kill Marlene Tucker and what has happened to Hattie Stubbs. Throughout the novel, one person knows what’s happened, but that person’s been unwilling to face a painful reality and so, keeps silent. It’s not until Hercule Poirot puts the pieces of the puzzle together that that person admits what happened.

Maeve O’Neill runs away from unpleasant reality into the past, you might say, in Shona MacLean’s A Game of Sorrows. She is the matriarch of the once powerful O’Neill family based in Ulster. But by 1628, when this novel takes place, that part of Ireland has undergone a great deal of change. The old Irish families no longer have the power that they once had, and England has determined to bring Ulster under Crown control, both politically and culturally. Maeve O’Neill, though, is just as determined to go on with the old ways and the old power structure. Instead of linking her family’s future to the new order of things, she tries her best to hold onto the past. Then, an old Irish poet curses the O’Neill family and what’s worse, parts of the curse begin to come true. So Maeve sends her grandson Sean O’Neill FitzGarrett to Aberdeen where his cousin Alexander Seaton is a university teacher. FitzGarrett’s charge is to bring Seaton back to Ireland to prove the curse wrong and thus lift it. Seaton’s unwilling to go at first; he has a fulfilling job and hopes of marriage. But he’s finally persuaded when FitzGarrett tells him a story that convinces Seaton that someone might be trying to kill members of his family. So Seaton travels to Ireland and begins the work of finding out how the curse started and what’s behind it. In the end, and after several deaths, Seaton finds that his family’s tragedy has more to do with politics, religion and economics than with a curse. He also finds that Maeve O’Neill’s unwillingness to face the unpleasantness (for her family) of the “new order” has played an important role in the tragedies that happen.

Marian Babson’s Untimely Guest is the story of a large Irish Catholic family presided over by the family matriarch, who’s known only as Mam. As the novel begins, everyone’s preparing for the return of Mam’s oldest daughter Bridget “Bridey” from the convent where she’s been living for the last ten years. Also coming to the family home is another daughter DeeDee with her fiancé James. This family has its share of conflicts, as a lot of families do, and there is a sad event in the family’s past. Instead of facing the truth head-on, though, and dealing with it, two of the family members have escaped, you might say, physically and Mam has escaped into denial. That unwillingness to face the truth and get beyond it ends up in tragedy when DeeDee is murdered by a push down a flight of stairs. Eventually it’s discovered who her killer is, but there’s a strong feeling that the circumstances would have been very different if everyone had coped with the truth instead of running from it.

In Alexander McCall Smith’s Tears of the Giraffe, Mma. Precious Ramotswe, who owns the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, is approached for help by Andrea Curtin, the American widow of a World Bank executive who’d been posted to Botswana. Ten years earlier, her son Michael had decided to stay in Botswana when the family was recalled to the United States. He moved to a commune that focused on sustainability and ecology and seemed to be doing well. Then, he disappeared. The most likely explanation, and the one the police and the American Embassy had to accept, was that Michael Curtin was the victim of some animal attack. But Andrea Curtin wants closure so now that she’s a widow, she returns to Botswana and asks Mma. Ramotswe to investigate. Mma. Ramotswe agrees and travels to the commune. She also gets to know some of the other people whom Michael Curtin knew. In the end, it turns out that two people know exactly what happened to Michael Curtin and that one person has been too unwilling to face the ugly truth, so it was never revealed. When Mma. Ramotswe finds out that truth, she persuades that person to face up to what happened.

One of the major themes in Ian Vasquez’ Lonesome Point is running away from an ugly reality instead of facing it. Brothers Leo and Patrick Varela have grown up in Belize and, for the most part, they’ve had good lives. Then one awful night, a tragedy happens. Instead of staying in Belize, the two brothers leave as soon as they can and move to Miami, where they settle in. Patrick Varela gets involved in local politics and is soon on his way to real success and possibly national attention. Leo Varela is a mental health worker and a poet. They’re doing well, but their decision not to deal with their past comes back to haunt them one day when Leo gets a visit from Freddie Robinson, an old friend from Belize. Robinson’s working for some very shady people who’ve given him a job for which he needs Leo Varela’s help. One of the residents in the hospital where Leo works may have information about some underhanded political dealings by some of Patrick Varela’s staff, and Freddie’s employers want that information. At first, Leo refuses to help. What Freddy is asking for will cost him his job and besides, it’s dangerous and unethical. But Freddy knows what happened that terrible night, and threatens to reveal what he knows if Leo doesn’t help. So Leo reluctantly agrees. That decision drags both Leo and Patrick Varela into a great deal of danger, leads to tragedy and almost costs Leo his life. And the whole thing might have turned out differently if the Varela brothers had faced up to what happened instead of leaving Belize.

In Belinda Bauer’s Blacklands, we meet the Peters family. Eighteen years before the events in the novel, young Billy Peters disappeared and was presumed to be the victim of convicted serial killer Avery Ames, who’s now in prison. But the real truth of what happened was never revealed, so the family has never had closure. Billy Peters’ family has been devastated by his disappearance and has had to struggle to deal with this tragedy. Peters’ nephew Stephen decides to face the facts straight on and give his family the chance to heal, so he sets in motion a plan to contact Ames. He finds out where Ames can be reached and begins to write him, assuming a false identity. His goal is to get Ames to tell the truth about Billy Peters. For his part, Ames uses the letters to try to manipulate Stephen. The two begin to play a very dangerous game of “cat and mouse” as the letters continue and the closer each comes to his goal, the higher the stakes become. This novel is a gripping look at what happens to a family when the members aren’t given the means to deal with the truth and move on.

Facing unpleasantness and tragedy is difficult, so it’s only natural to want to “run away.” But not facing the truth can be much more devastating. Which novels have you enjoyed where running from the truth spiraled out of control?

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Devo’s Whip It.

It’s Yesterday Once More*

>One of the important parts of any story, including a crime fiction story, is the way the characters unfold and the way we learn about them. Some authors tell us about the characters bit by bit, in more or less a linear way. The beauty of that is that it’s logical, so the reader finds it easy to follow the plot line. Other authors, though, use flashbacks to tell the characters’ stories. Flashbacks can give a character more depth. They’re also quite similar to how we think in real life; for instance, we’re in a situation and it reminds us of another, earlier situation. We remember that earlier situation. We don’t really go back in time, of course, but we do “flash back” to what we remember, even as new situation is happening. When it’s used effectively, the flashback can fill in important pieces for the reader, flesh out characters and tell about critical events in a story.

For instance, Agatha Christie uses flashbacks in And Then There Were None (AKA Ten Little Indians). In that novel, ten people are invited for a stay on Indian Island, off the Devon coast. For different reasons, each of them accepts the invitation. On the night of their arrival, each of them is accused of having caused the death of at least one other person. At first, there’s a round of shocked protest, but then, one of the guests suddenly dies of what turns out to be poison. Late that night, another guest dies. The guests slowly realize that they’ve been lured to the island because of their pasts. Then, as more guests begin to die, it’s clear that the guests are all targets. As the novel goes on, we learn about the death each guest is accused of having caused. Those stories are mostly told in flashback form from the different guests’ perspectives. In this way, Christie tells the reader why each person is on the island, and gives the reader each guest’s perspective on the past.

Christie also uses flashbacks in The Hollow (AKA Murder After Hours). Successful Harley Street specialist John Christow iand his wife Gerda are invited to spend a week-end at the country home of Sir Henry and Lady Lucy Angkatell. Also invited are several other Angkatell relations. On the morning they’re to leave for the country, Christow is delayed in his office not because of a medical emergency but because of a flashback. He’s remembering a long-ago love affair with now-famous actress Veronica Cray. Although it was Christow who ended the relationship, he’s never quite gotten over her. When the Christows arrive at the Angkatell home, they join a house party of other Angkatell relations, and as the novel moves on, we learn about their history together in part through flashbacks. When Christow is shot that Sunday afternoon, Hercule Poirot, who’s been invited to lunch, comes upon the murder scene. He and Inspector Grange begin to look into the case. Here, Christie uses flashbacks not only to tell the backstories of the different characters and their relationships to each other but also, to show how they are affected by Christow’s death.

Ngaio Marsh uses the flashback strategy in Clutch of Constables. DCI Sir Roderick Alleyn is lecturing to students, and the case he’s telling them about involves his wife, painter Agatha Troy. While Alleyn is out of the country on another investigation, Troy decides to use the time to take a river cruise. Among her fellow passengers are some strange characters. One of them could very likely be an international criminal known as the “Jampot,” who’s wanted for murder. We learn about the cruise, the passengers, and of course, the crime mostly through letters that Troy writes to her husband. The story moves between Alleyn’s lecture to his students and the flashbacks to the cruise story, so the story doesn’t follow a really linear structure.

Neither does Ian Vasquez’ Lonesome Point. That’s the story of brothers Leo and Patrick Varela, who were born and raised in Belize, and who’ve both moved to the Miami area. Patrick has done well in local politics and is set for real success. Leo is a poet and a mental health worker. Both brothers seem to have solid lives, but both are hiding a terrible secret from their past. One day Freddy Robinson, a former friend from Belize, shows up at the hospital where Leo Varela works. Freddy’s now working for some very shady people who’ve given him a job for which he needs Leo’s help. Freddy asks Leo to release one of the patients under his care. It seems this patient may have “inside information” on some dirty tricks that Patrick Varela’s people have been using, and the people Freddy works for want that information. At first, Leo refuses. Then, Freddy threatens that if Leo doesn’t help, he’ll reveal a dark secret he knows about the Varelas’ past. That threat is enough to persuade a reluctant Leo to get involved with Freddy again, and the result is a tragic series of events. Throughout the novel, we learn bit by bit about the Varela brothers’ life in Belize and about the terrible secret they’ve both been keeping. That part of the story is told in flashback form. It’s intermingled with the present-day story so the reader sees the connection between past and present.

Colin Dexter uses flashbacks a few times in The Riddle of the Third Mile. The novel begins as Bert Gilbert, who now works for a moving company, remembers a terrible day during World War II. The events of that day set the scene for the present day, where we find out that Oxford don Oliver Browne-Smith seems to have disappeared. When a body is found dressed in Browne-Smith’s clothes, Morse and Lewis begin to investigate the murder. Through flashback, we learn that Browne-Smith was Morse’s mentor at Oxford, and that he considered Morse a brilliant student. We also learn through flashback why Morse left Oxford: he’d fallen in love with Wendy Spencer. When she ended their relationship, Morse fell into a deep depression and ended up having to leave the university. This story about Morse’s past is interwoven with the present-day investigation of Browne-Smith’s disappearance, and of its connection with the long-ago events of World War II.

James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux battles his share of personal demons and at times, the cases he works on brings those demons back. For instance, in A Morning for Flamingoes, Robicheaux is shot and left for dead by Jimmie Lee Boggs, a prisoner he was helping to transport. Robicheaux’s injury brings back memories of his time in Viet Nam, and Burke shares those memories as flashbacks. Once he’s healed from his physical wounds, Robicheaux reluctantly agrees to take part in a “sting” operation against a New Orleans crime boss, Tony Cardo. It turns out that Cardo is also a Viet Nam veteran, and s Robicheaux interacts with him, this, too, triggers flashbacks. In that same novel, Robicheaux re-unites with an old love, Bootsie Mouton Giacano. When he gets a letter from her, we learn about his first meeting with her through flashbacks, and later, as the two spend time together, Burke tells more about how they met and why they broke up.

Alexander McCall Smith uses flashbacks quite often in his No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series and his Sunday Philosophy Club series. The protagonists in each series, Mma. Precious Ramotswe and Isabel Dalhousie, are reflective individuals. So as the stories in these series unfold, we learn about those characters through their thoughts and memories. Those flashbacks make the novels in both series move in a more stream-of-consciousness than a linear progression.

And that can be one challenge of flashbacks. Since they can interrupt a story, they can be distracting if not done well. However, authors who use flashbacks effectively weave them in so that the reader can follow the story as well as get background information and important clues to the plot. When they’re deftly integrated, they can add an interesting depth to a novel. What’s your view? Do you enjoy flashbacks? Do they distract you? If you’re a writer, do you write flashbacks?

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from the Carpenters’ Yesterday Once More.

>What are you so afraid of?

>Many of us have what might seem like irrational fears, whether it’s claustrophobia, acrophobia or some other phobia. Those deep-seated fears can have their roots in a terrifying experience (that’s why, for instance, some people have a real fear of water if, for instance, they’ve ever come close to drowning). Other times, there’s less of a clear-cut reason for a phobia. Whatever their source, phobias are an integral part of human nature. In fact, there are mental health specialists whose primary expertise is in helping clients manage or conquer their phobias. Phobias are an interesting part of crime fiction, too, whether it’s the sleuth or another character who’s affected. They can add suspense, interesting character components and interesting plot points, too.

One of Agatha Christie’s short stories, The Gipsy, which appears in The Golden Ball and Other Stories, deals with phobias. Dickie Carpenter has an irrational fear of gipsies, and one day, he tells his friend, Macfarlane, the reason for it. It seems that Carpenter had childhood dreams where a gipsy appeared, and they frightened him. Since then, he’s had a few encounters with a gipsy, and each time, he gets a warning. For instance, he’s chasing a puppy that’s run off when he sees a gipsy who warns him not to go in a certain direction. He takes off in that direction, anyway, and nearly drowns when a bridge he’s crossing gives way and he falls in a river. Then, Carpenter’s about to have an operation; just before it, one of the nurses, who seems to Carpenter exactly like a gipsy, warns him against the operation. He doesn’t take heed, and ends up dying on the table. Macfarlane hears of his friend’s death and can’t resist finding out more about the mysterious woman who warned Carpenter. What he finds out is quite surprising. In the course of learning the truth behind what happened to Carpenter, Macfarlane also learns something he never knew about himself.

In Christie’s Evil Under the Sun, we meet another phobic, Miss Emily Brewster. Miss Brewster is taking a holiday at the Jolly Roger Hotel, off the Devon coast. Also staying at the hotel are Arlena Stuart Marshall, a beautiful and notorious actress, her husband, Kenneth and her step-daughter, Linda. The other guests include recently-married Patrick and Christine Redfern, retired soldier Colonel Barry, businessman Horace Blatt, American tourists Carrie and Odell Gardener, the Reverend Stephen Lane, and the great Hercule Poirot. Miss Brewster, who’s quite athletic, suffers from acrophobia. At the beginning of the novel, when several of the guests are sitting outdoors, enjoying the sun, Miss Brewster mentions that her fear of heights is the reason she can’t stand climbing up and down the ladder that leads from the hotel to one of the local coves. One day, Arlena Marshall is found strangled on that very cove. At first, her husband seems a logical suspect. Shortly after their arrival, Arlena took up with Patrick Redfern and they’ve been having a rather obvious affair. But Kenneth Marshall has an alibi for the time of the murder, and the police can’t make a case against him. Poirot looks into the case and finds out that Arlena’s death was not a case of sudden jealousy; it was carefully planned. One of the important clues Poirot gets comes from Miss Brewster’s acrophobia; she’s got genuine symptoms, and Poirot uses those to put the lie to another character’s made-up story of also being afraid of heights. That simple lie gives Poirot important information he needs to find out who killed Arlena Marshall.

Ellery Queen’s The Four of Hearts introduces us to Paula Paris, a famous and popular gossip columnist. Paris is agoraphobic, so she gets all of her information through telephone calls and visits. Queen meets her because he’s investigating the poisoning deaths of famous actors John Royle and Blythe Stuart. Years earlier, the two had been romantically involved, but their relationship ended bitterly. When Hollywood studio magnate Jacques Butcher decides to make a film about their lives, Royle and Stuart are at first against the idea. However, they’re also desperate for money, so they agree. Unexpectedly, the couple falls in love again and, on impulse, decide to marry. The ceremony takes place on an airstrip, and then the couple, together with Royle’s son, Ty and Stuart’s daughter, Bonnie, take off for their honeymoon. By the end of the flight, the newlyweds are dead. Their children suspect each other at first, but it turns out that the murder was committed by someone else entirely. Queen, whom Butcher persuaded to write the script for the film, sets out to find out who killed Stuart and Royle. As he looks into the case, he finds that someone had been sending mysterious packages containing playing cards to both victims, and since then, to Bonnie Stuart. Queen becomes convinced that the key to the murders lies in the couple’s past, so he visits Paula Paris, who knows everything about everyone in Hollywood. Before he knows it, Queen’s become infatuated with her, and she provides him with information that helps him solve the case. In his turn, Queen helps Paris conquer her fear of leaving her home. In fact, Paris appears in several other short stories that feature Queen.

In Martin Edwards’ The Serpent Pool, we find out that one of the “regular” characters in his Lake District series, Marc Amos, has a phobia. Amos is the live-in partner of DCI Hannah Scarlett, one of Edwards’ sleuths. Amos was attacked by a dog during his childhood, so he’s got a phobia about dogs. This fear comes back to haunt him in this novel, in which Scarlett and Oxford historian Daniel Kind investigate the drowning death of Bethany Friend. Six years earlier, Bethany drowned in eighteen inches of water in the Lake District’s Serpent Pool. Scarlett was never convinced that her death was a suicide, so she re-opens the case. As it turns out, Bethany’s death is connected to Kind’s research on 19th Century writer Thomas de Quincey, and to Scarlett’s own personal life.

Sometimes, it’s the sleuth or other protagonist who’s got a phobia. For instance, Isaac Asimov’s sleuth, Elijah “Lije” Baley is agoraphobic. In the futuristic New York in which Baley lives, residents live in large, underground caves, so it’s no surprise that Baley doesn’t like open spaces very much. In the series that features Baley, “Earthmen” are humans who’ve remained on the planet. “Spacers” are those who’ve traveled to or lived on other planets. The two groups are at odds, to say the least. So, in Caves of Steel, when Dr. Roj Nemennuh Sarton, a prominent Spacer, is killed, influential Spacers believe that an Earthman may be responsible. Police Commissioner Julius Enderby assigns Baley to investigate Sarton’s death, but because of the Spacers’ suspicions, he also assigns Baley a partner – R. Daneel Olivaw, a positronic robot. Now, not only is Baley forced to fight his agoraphobia – to solve a Spacer’s murder, no less – but also, he’s got to work with a robot, and Baley has an even deeper dislike of positronic robots than he does of Spacers. The alternative, though, is a possible flare-up of serious violence between Spacers and Earthmen, and the police have every reason not to want that outcome. So Baley and Olivaw set to work on the case, and in the process, Baley confronts his own demons.

Dan Brown’s sleuth, Robert Langdon, is claustrophobic. When he was seven, he fell down a well, and is still affected by the experience. As an adult, Langdon is a Harvard professor who specializes in symbology. So he’s called in to help solve mysteries that involve symbols and cryptology. In Angels and Demons and in The Lost Symbol, Langdon has bouts with his fear, and becomes uneasy when he has to enter small rooms, basements, and so on. Still, his fear doesn’t debilitate him too much.

In Ruth Rendell’s 13 Steps Down, we meet Mix Cellini, an eccentric young man with a host of obsessions and fears, including a fear of the number 13. Ironically enough, that’s the number of steps to the flat he takes in the home of Gwendolyn Chawcer, who, in her way, is just as mentally unstable. She grew up with a tyrant father who sabotaged her chances at marriage and a life on her own, so that she could stay at home and look after him. Neither Cellini nor Chawcer like each other, but they do form a business relationship when he moves into the flat. Bit by bit, Cellini loses the hold he had on reality as he lets his obsessions get the better of him. One of them is his obsession with beautiful model Merissa Nash, whom he meets in the course of his work as a repairer of exercise equipment. Another is his obsession with the life of Dr. Richard Christie, a famous serial killer. Cellini’s life gradually comes to resemble that of Christie in an eerie way, and with tragic results.

Also claustrophobic is Leo Varela, one of the protagonists in Ian Vasquez’ Lonesome Point. Leo and his brother, Patrick, grew up in Belize. Later, they move to the Miami area, where both marry. Patrick becomes a successful local politician on the point of real political fame. Leo is a poet who works on the mental health ward of a local hospital. All’s well until one day, an old friend from Belize, Freddy Robinson, shows up at the hospital where Leo works. Freddy’s been in and out of trouble since the boys’ teen years, and in fact, recently got out of jail on drugs charges. Now, he asks Leo to free one of the patients on the floor. It seems this patient has information on some shady campaign practices that some of Patrick Varela’s political staffers are using, and the people Freddy represents want that information. At first, Leo refuses. In the first place, he has no real affection for Freddy, who’s always been trouble. Besides, what Freddy is asking would lead to Leo losing his job or worse. Also, Leo doesn’t want his brother’s career sabotaged. Then, Freddy reminds Leo of his and Patrick’s involvement in a terrible incident back in Belize when they were younger. Freddy threatens to reveal what he knows unless Leo co-operates. Leo reluctantly agrees, and then he and Patrick try desperately to figure out how to stop Freddy. Before they know it, the brothers are on opposite sides, so to speak, so that Leo now faces danger from what seems like all fronts. At one point in the novel, he also has to confront his claustrophobia after he’s been abducted. In the end, the dark secret the Varela brothers have been keeping has tragic consequences for both of them.

Phobias are very human weaknesses, you might say, so it’s logical that they occur in crime fiction, too. They can add suspense, plot twists and other depth to a story. Which novels featuring phobias have you enjoyed?

>You Really Got A Hold On Me*

>There are people who have a way of exerting influence over others. Either they’ve got a great deal of charisma or a certain strength of personality that makes it hard for others to resist. Sometimes the influence comes from past history, a favor that’s owed, or a hold that one person has over another. Whatever’s behind that influence, it can have significant consequences. Sometimes, the consequences are quite positive (e.g. a mentor who guides someone on a career path). They can also be very dangerous. In real life, we’ve seen those terrible consequences in cases, for instance, of cult leaders. We also see them quite a bit in crime fiction. There are plenty of cases where that sort of Svengali-like influence leads to murder.

There’s an interesting example of this in Agatha Christie’s Appointment With Death. The Boyntons, an American family, are on a trip through the Middle East. The party consists of Mrs. Boynton, her grown children Lenox, Carol and Raymond, and her teenage daughter, Ginevra “Ginny.” Also with them is Lenox’s wife, Nadine. Sarah King, a newly-fledged doctor, meets the Boyntons in Jerusalem during her own travels through the Middle East and decides to befriend the family, especially Raymond, with whom she’s a bit smitten. Sarah quickly discovers that there’s something very, very wrong about the family. Mrs. Boynton is a mental sadist who exerts a frightening amount of power over the members of her family. Sarah tries to help, only to find that Mrs. Boynton’s influence is too great. When the Boyntons leave Jerusalem, Sarah tries to forget them and plans a trip to Petra. When she and the other people on the tour arrive at Petra, they discover the Boyntons have arrived before them, and Sarah is once again plunged into the Boyntons’ family drama. Then, one afternoon, Mrs. Boynton suddenly dies of what seems to be heart trouble. The investigating officer isn’t convinced that Mrs. Boynton’s death was natural, and asks Hercule Poirot, who’s traveling in the area, to investigate. Poirot finds that Mrs. Boynton was poisoned, and that the motive is directly related to her powerful influence over others.

We also see a clear example of the consequences of powerful influence in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. In that novel, Silas, a very troubled man with an abusive past, falls under the influence of a man he knows as the Teacher. Silas is also a religious fanatic. When the Teacher gives Silas instructions to kill Louvre curator Jacques Saunière, Silas obeys, believing it to be not only what the Teacher wants, but also, what God demands. Harvard Professor Robert Langdon had arranged a meeting with Saunière and had traveled to Paris for that purpose. Instead, he’s summoned to help figure out the meaning of some strange symbols found near Saunière’s body. Langdon and Sophie Neveu, a police cryptographer and Saunière’s granddaughter, work to solve the riddle of the secret messages and clues that Saunière left behind. Along the way, they’re pursued by the French police, who believe that Langdon’s guilty of Saunière’s murder. They’re also pursued by Silas, who thinks that by killing Langdon and Neveu, he’s fulfilling God’s will, and doing what the Teacher wants. In the end, Silas is betrayed by the Teacher, who wants the secrets behind the codes that Langdon and Neveu have unlocked.

In Ian Vasquez’ Lonesome Point, we meet Leo and Patrick Varela, immigrants from Belize. Patrick Varela is an up-and-coming Miami politican with a real future. Leo is a poet and mental health worker, who’s happily married and expecting his first child. The Varelas’ plans for success are changed forever when an old friend from Belize, Freddy Robinson, re-appears in their lives. Freddy’s now working for some very shady people, and wants Leo to help him with a job he’s been given. Freddy wants Leo to release one of the mental patients on his ward. It seems that this particular patient has some inside information on some illegal practices that Patrick Varela’s poltical staff has been using, and the people Freddy represents want that information. Leo doeson’t want to release the patient for a few reasons. First, it could cost him his job. Second, he has no desire to get his brother in trouble, and this patient’s release could mean the end of Patrick’s political chances as well as a prison term. It doesn’t help matters that Freddy’s an ex-convict with an unsavory record. But Freddy has a hold over the Varela brothers; he knows about a dark secret from the Varelas’ past in Belize. Freddy reminds Leo about this hold, and Leo reluctantly agrees to cooperate with Freddy. His agreement sets in motion a whole chain of dangerous and tragic events.

We also see a frightening amount of influence in Karen Osborn’s The River Road. That’s the story of David and Michael Sanderson and their next-door-neighbor and best friend, Kay Richards. The three grew up together and as they’ve become older, Kay and David have become deeply involved with each other. Michael’s in love with Kay, too, but David has such a strong influence over Kay that she’s not romantically interested in Michael. One night, while the three young people are home on a break from college, they decide to go out on an adventure. Late that night, all three are high on drugs and crossing a bridge not far from their home. David asks Michael to stop their car and when he does, David goes to the edge of the bridge and says he’s going to jump off and swim to the other side. Michael tries to talk his brother out of the stunt, but David refuses, and asks Kay to join him. He tells her to jump, too, and promises that he’ll go first and be waiting for her. Kay is so much under David’s influence that she joins him, planning to jump off with him. At the last miniute, David jumps, but Kay doesn’t, and David drowns. When the young men’s father, Kevin, finds out what happened, he begins to believe that Kay killed David and before Kay knows it, she’s been arrested and is on trial for David’s death. As the trial goes on, and as the characters cope with the death, we see more and more how much David’s influence on both Kay and Michael had to do with the events of that last night.

In Lilian Jackson Braun’s The Cat Who Said Cheese, we meet Aubrey Scotten. Scotten’s a beekeeper who also makes honey. He has a cabin in rural Moose County, “400 miles north of nowhere.” Scotten’s what you might call, “slow,” but certainly not incapable. He’s got a good friend from his Navy days who sometimes visits the area. During one visit, Scotten’s friend asks him to deliver some flowers to a guest in a local hotel. Scotten doesn’t think much of it; after all, he feels he owes his friend, since his friend once saved his life. When the flowers turn out to have a bomb in them, one of the hotel’s chambermaids is killed. Scotten’s heartsick about it, but his friend’s influence forces him to keep his mouth shut. When the bombing occurs, Jim Qwilleran, weekly columnist for the Moose County Something, and Braun’s sleuth, gets curious about what happened, especially since the woman for whom the flowers were intended has disappeared. Qwilleran slowly puts the pieces of the puzzle together and eventually discovers that Scotten holds the key to the mystery. It’s not until Qwilleran realizes how much information Scotten has that we see how much influence the killer has had over him.

In Jeffery Deaver’s The Sleeping Doll, Kathryn Dance, an expert interrogator with the California Bureau of Investigation, is assigned to interview Daniel Pell, who’s in prison for murdering all but one member of the Croyton family eight years earlier. The only surviver was the Croyton’s youngest child Theresa, who escaped because she was in bed that night, hidden among her toys. Pell is the leader of a Manson-like cult, and it’s believed that he and his “family” may also be responsible for a recently-unearthed murder. Dance plans to use her knowledge of interrogation and, especially, kinesics to find out whether Pell and his “famiy” committed the newly-dscovered murder, but Pell escapes. Now, more murders begin to occur, and it seems that Pell is on a quest to kill everyone who’s ever gotten in his way – including Dance’s family. This novel shows eerily how one person’s strong influence over others can cause catastrophe.

It can be fascinating, if in a frightening way, to think about how much power one person can have over others. On the other hand, there’s a strong argument that people can make their own decisions, so the belief that someone has that much influence doesn’t hold much weight. What do you think? Do you think the “Svengali factor” makes sense in crime fiction? Or do those plots seem too unrealistic?

*NOTE: The title of this post is the title of a Smokey Robinson song.