Elizabeth Foxwell

[Malice Domestic 7] is maybe the first collection of murder mystery short stories I have read. This collection of 13 stories plus the editor's intro featured a range of authors and settings in the USA, UK, and Australia, from the early nineteenth century to present day (well, at least to 1998, the publication year). It felt like speed dating--just enough to get a sense of the author's style and an introduction to their protagonists if they happen to have a series in progress (more than half show more of these stories featured their main characters in a little one-off situation).

I have discovered these are not for me. I enjoy the mystery genre quite a bit, mostly historical but some contemporary. The problem with short stories is lack of space. Presenting the protagonist, the context, the murder, the potential suspects, and the solution in 7500 words or less doesn't really allow for much development of character, plot, the accumulation of clues, or narrative arc. What I found in these stories was pretty much the protagonist, the murder, and the solution, with maybe a clue or two thrown in. Often presented as the narrator witnessing the death, engaging in some serious cogitation, solving it, and that's it.--or maybe it's a past murder brought to light and resolved in present day with no action to be taken as a result. No process of discovery, no hints or red herrings, no exploration of the various possibilities. Just jump from crime to solution with not much in between. Sometimes it starts with the body, and sometimes ends with it. Sometimes the narrator decided whether to tell someone what happened. Or the story is the context and the murder and its consequences from the murderer's perspective.

I've learned to enjoy speculative fiction short stories and have amassed quite a few anthologies, but I just don't see that happening for mysteries. Yet clearly it works for plenty of other readers. After all, this is the seventh installment in the series. And I have greatly enjoyed every book from Sharyn McCrumb that I've read. I expect it was her name as editor that inspired to pick up this book in the first place. My ultimate reaction: meh. Another book that's not a keeper. show less

What a hoot!

The author of each chapter seems to be deliberately trying to - and succeeding in - turning the clues provided in previous chapters on their head, adding ever more ludicrous but fun complications to the story in the hope, presumably, of stumping the author of subsequent chapters.

For the reader it is incredibly enjoyable with every single trope of the detective novel - particularly those of the golden age of pulp fiction - used as some point or another.

Highly recommended. It is show more just fun from start to finish. show less

Dear Lord, this collection is dire. Out of the 16 stories, I only liked 3 ("Beauty is Only Skin Deep" by Gallagher Grey is the clear winner; the others I enjoyed were "The Stupid Pet Trick" by Margaret Maron and "Up the Garden Path" by Joyce Christmas), and of those 3, I only really liked one enough to look up more of the author's work. The other stories are outright stupid, or full of awful, homicidal narrators, including one who takes gleeful joy in killing her JB Fletcher character over show more and over again in her books. (WTF??)

I skipped the ~big draw~ story by Anne Perry because yeah, no. An actual murderer who moved to another country and remade her life into a successful author is not someone I care to support.

There's a third volume in this series (More Murder, They Wrote) and I'm both curious and dreading to find out if the quality continues going downhill. show less

Like most collections of short stories, this was a nice palate cleanser between novels, and a good way to try out several authors' work. This was a mix of good, average, and not-so-great stories, ranging from the light-hearted ("Safe Deposit") to the dark ("The Recluse"). My personal favorites were "The Potluck Supper Murders" by Nancy Pickard (using a character originated by Virginia Rich) and "Framed" by Sally Gunning. I was not impressed with Charlaine Harris's Aurora Teagarden short show more "Deeply Dead" (is the character always that judgmental and bitchy?!). show less