When people think about murder victims (whether they’re real or fictional) they often think about the person/people who’ve been killed. But murder doesn’t just impact the victim. It impacts the victim’s family and friends, often for years afterwards. And it can impact the lives of the accused’s family members, too. Acknowledging that impact can add real sadness to a crime novel. But it is realistic, and that impact can also add character depth and plot layers to a story.
Agatha Christie explored that impact in several of her stories. For example, in Five Little Pigs (AKA Murder in Retrospect), Carla Lemarchant hires Hercule Poirot to investigate the sixteen-year-old murder of her father, famous painter Amyas Crale. At the time, Crale’s wife, Caroline, was assumed to be guilty, and there was plenty of evidence against her. In fact, she was arrested, tried, and convicted in connection with the crime. She…
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