Having money comes with many benefits. Beautiful clothes, a house, and a spouse. A pony with a glamorous life, glossy hair, and a strange shiny coat. Better health care and a better diet that is fully balanced and rich in macro and micronutrients. The wealthy may live long lives, but they are not immortal. They are not untouchable. the other halfMy debut novel features an antagonist of love and hate named Rupert Achilles de Courcy Beauchamp. Rupert is the very epitome of British privilege, but also the emotional devastation that such wealth can bring. His only living family is his distant grandfather, a former member of Parliament and now a baronet, who was left behind at boarding school at the age of seven and completely unloved. It would be pathetic if Rupert wasn't a complete pervert. His gorgeous Instagram influencer girlfriend, Clemmie, goes missing on the night of his 30th birthday party, which he hosts in the children's party area of McDonald's in London (black tie and BYOC). The next day Clemmy's body was discovered on Hampstead Heath by DI Caius Beauchamp (apparently not related, his surname being a putative legacy of both families' 'involvement' on opposite sides of the slave trade). Rupert looks and acts like he did it. Caius and his team must prove that this pompous official had opportunity as well as motive, but he has a room full of alibi's that he couldn't have done it. Will Rupert be able to escape this charge, or will his wealth protect him from the consequences of his actions?
Here are some of my favorite wealthy criminals. They think they might commit murder, but they don't necessarily commit murder.
dorian gray picturesOscar Wilde
Beloved by teenagers who are going through something — and I speak from experience — Oscar Wilde's only novel is devoted to the selfish pursuit of beauty and earthly sensibilities. It is a meditation on the evils of life. Dorian Gray is free-spirited and has not aged a day despite his ways, but his portrait hidden in the attic has aged so much that even the artist cannot discern it. The number of Dorian's bodies increases. Dorian joins forces with Sybil Vane, the actress she loved but abandoned, her vengeful brother James, and Basil, the painter who blames Dorian for his fate and begs him to repent before killing him. Scientist Alan Campbell. To dispose of the body of Basil, who later committed suicide. I like the idea that rich people can only really be held responsible for the creepy art they buy.
great gatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald's Jazz Age classic is a novella filled with terrifyingly great wealth and ill-gotten gains. Gatsby himself made his fortune through bootlegging, but I'm more interested in Tom Buchanan. Gatsby paid with his life for his illegal ways and his presumptuous rise to social status (by sleeping with Daisy). Meanwhile, Tom tells a calculated little lie to the husband of his dead mistress, which results in the death of his rival and the preservation of the old order. Gatsby is dead, but Daisy hasn't left Tom. Tom did it.
american psychoBret Easton Ellis
Bret Easton Ellis' classic violent and vicious capitalist horror is one of the only novels I've had to read in installments. After reading the part about killing kids at the zoo, I had to put it down and have a calming cup of tea. Patrick Bateman's crimes become increasingly grotesque as his proclivities escalate into “isms,” but there's also an incisive analysis of pop culture (the chapter on Whitney Houston sticks out to me) , which contains some very trite information about being a super wealthy person, but I won't bother mentioning it. A world of consumerism. The genius of Ellis's work is that we never know whether Bateman has escaped or not. Did he kill his colleague? He is adamant that he did so, but his colleagues say they had dinner with him in London. Was it murder or just mania?
suckerDaniel Hornby
Daniel Hornby's 2023 Novel sucker Chuck is the story of a trust fund baby who secretly runs a punk label with his father's money (though he tries hard to hide it). When the money faucet is turned off, Chuck luckily reunites with his old college friend Olivia and takes a trumped-up position at her company. Olivia is a fallen biotech genius who aims for immortality with new technology, but then her employees start going “missing.” Was Olivia's reappearance really a stroke of luck, or bad timing? Hornby's satire perfectly lampoons both the super-rich and tech start-ups, with just the right amount of horror. .
secret historyDonna Tartt
I hate to admit it, but when I first read The Secret History, half of me and BookTok had a bit of a crush on Henry Winter. He can read ancient Greek and is charismatic enough to convince his friends to kill Bunny in order to stop him from exposing his murder of a farmer in the name of a ridiculous reenactment. There's something about the man who holds it. Classics as an academic discipline is the province of the rich (and this is definitely true, at least in Britain), and I don't think it does them any good to have such a high level of education. Poor Henry will never be caught, but he won't be acquitted.
***
