Copycat Crimes

Another great way to use two Villains in your book, without making your plot feel overly coincidental, is to have one Villain’s crimes be prompted by those of the other. Let’s see how this works in “Poison,” an episode of HBO’s The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency

In this episode, our Sleuth, Precious Ramotswe, is investigating an ivory smuggling operation. She’s hot on the trail of the culprits when she is approached by a new client, Mr. Makgothi, who is dealing with a family problem. Since his younger brother married, there have been several incidents in which everyone in their large family home became violently ill—and several family members suspect that the new bride is behind it.

This post contains the 26th chapter of my work in progress, The Tangled Web Twists the Plot. Looking to catch up on previous chapters? Start here.

Precious agrees to go undercover at the Makgothi home—and that very evening, after dinner, the entire household becomes ill. Precious investigates, and learns that the cook deliberately tampered with the food. This is our first Villain, but once we talk to him, we learn that he’s not such a bad guy. He never wanted to kill anyone, only to make them sick. He hates his job, but for social reasons, he can’t leave it. He’s hoping that if he proves himself to be a terrible cook, he’ll be fired. Case closed, right?