Today’s book review of a crime short story collection is brought to you by yours truly, Morgen Bailey.
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In a Word: Murder
Amazon synopsis: A collection of crime stories from the world of writing, editing, publishing and reviewing.
This collection is available via http://www.amazon.co.uk/In-Word-Murder-An-Anthology-ebook/dp/B00GFXNZYE and http://www.amazon.com/In-Word-Murder-An-Anthology-ebook/dp/B00GFXNZYE.
Review
After a tribute introduction and teasers of the nine stories (which I didn’t read because I didn’t want them spoiled), we have the first story, The Agency by Pamela Griffiths. Apart from the occasional cliché (and incorrect dialogue punctuation), it’s an interesting story. We have the body early on but then it goes rather slow for a short story, with the sort of detail you’d have in chapter three or four of a novel (a lot of character information rather than plot) which is fine where you’ve already got the reader hooked. I did wonder how the parts were connected but then it was revealed (in a lot of ‘tell’ rather than ‘show’) and although it felt more like the synopsis of a novel, I enjoyed the story and a great last line.
The second story of the collection is The Story by Paula K. Randall and it takes us straight into the conflict which ends abruptly as the reveal of the story within a story is played to us. I love stories about writers and this character sells about as few eBooks as I do. 🙂 I guessed the ending of this short piece but enjoyed it all the same.
The Million Seller by Margot Kinberg features a writer who will hopefully live up to the title (isn’t that what we all want?) and after a threat to part ways with his publisher, his contact has ways of ensuring his loyalty.
The next story is Hollywood Coverup by Jane Risdon. We start with the action; a burglar in the midst of a raid at a publisher’s (did I say I loved writing about writing?). There’s then the repercussions of a lost manuscript, its content and a faulty computer. It’s a complicated but clever tale with an ending, I’m sure, few would guess.
A Beach Report by Myrtle Clover by Elizabeth S. Craig is a story of a far from ordinary beach trip, unbelieving son, a mysterious tattooed red-head, and an Einstein-white-haired octogenarian (my favourite character). This is one of the shortest stories so far and my favourite.
The title ‘La Lotte’ in Sarah Ward’s story is the name of a restaurant, a food theme that follows on nicely from the previous piece and the setting of the ‘crime’. I love the line ‘He glanced at the door as if willing for a more desirable customer to enter.’ My only picks are that men have blond hair not blonde, some incorrect punctuation (and other editing issues) in places, and too many ‘Well’s at the beginning of sentences (easily done… as it also appears in Martin Edwards’ story).
The In-Box by Margot Kinberg, via a series of emails, is a story about a writer’s inability to accept the rejection of her manuscript. The story then has a Penguin / Author Solutions merger-type subplot followed by a murder. Although the emails were short, I found them a little confusing until the story continues in standard prose. Again there are minor editing issues (for example, there’s no reason for a ‘ before the word photo, and Tamara becomes Tamera in one instance) and unfortunately the ending didn’t gel for me, despite me going back through the story and checking where the ‘line’ appeared. Continue reading