From Booklist
California sisters Mary and Pamela O'Shaughnessy, who write under the pseudonym Perri, have parlayed their respective talents as editor-writer and attorney into a popular series of legal thrillers starring Nina Reilly, who makes a brief appearance in one of the 19 stories in this stellar collection, which runs the gamut from psychological thriller to traditional detective yarn. The sisters explain in an introduction that, unlike their novels, which are fifty-fifty collaborations, all of the stories in this collection except one ("Juggernaut") are individual endeavors; who did what is also delineated in the introduction. Among the most memorable are "Gertrude Stein Solves a Mystery," a laid-back, stylized "mostly-true recounting" of a strange incident in Stein's life, and "The Furnace Man," tinged with the sort of shivery horror that Alfred Hitchcock exploited so well on television. Unreliable narrators, historical incidents, and horror grown out of ordinary life can be found aplenty in this entertaining collection, sure to please Perri's fans as well as devotees of the likes of the venerable Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Kurzbeschreibung
The New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Nina Reilly thrillers brings her prodigious storytelling gifts to this first-ever collection of short crime fiction. From desperate housewives to hard-boiled PIs to an appearance by Nina Reilly herself, these chilling short mysteries–many appearing in print for the very first time–set the mood and ratchet up the suspense as only Perri O’Shaughnessy can.
Here are tales of love and betrayal, rage and revenge–nineteen sizzling stories that run the gamut from classic whodunits to winding thrillers to an unusual cozy that casts Gertrude Stein as an unlikely Miss Marple. And here Perri O’Shaughnessy has created some of her most sinister and compelling characters yet: a college student who devises an ingenious method for getting her sexy teacher’s attention . . . a haunted ex—homicide cop who takes a long walk into his blood-shadowed past in a twisting tale of brutal murder and escalating violence . . . a model wife who surprises both herself and a bothersome furnace man when she is confronted with an unacceptable ultimatum . . . a lemon tree that plays a pivotal role in the tale of a woman who at long last asserts her independence. . . .
From a blood-soaked scheme that’s born at a slot machine in Vegas to the violence that ensues when the fat lady stops singing, Sinister Shorts shows us life at its most menacing, murderous, and unbearably suspenseful. And it proves once again the unique and captivating genius of Perri O’Shaughnessy.
From the Hardcover edition.
Here are tales of love and betrayal, rage and revenge–nineteen sizzling stories that run the gamut from classic whodunits to winding thrillers to an unusual cozy that casts Gertrude Stein as an unlikely Miss Marple. And here Perri O’Shaughnessy has created some of her most sinister and compelling characters yet: a college student who devises an ingenious method for getting her sexy teacher’s attention . . . a haunted ex—homicide cop who takes a long walk into his blood-shadowed past in a twisting tale of brutal murder and escalating violence . . . a model wife who surprises both herself and a bothersome furnace man when she is confronted with an unacceptable ultimatum . . . a lemon tree that plays a pivotal role in the tale of a woman who at long last asserts her independence. . . .
From a blood-soaked scheme that’s born at a slot machine in Vegas to the violence that ensues when the fat lady stops singing, Sinister Shorts shows us life at its most menacing, murderous, and unbearably suspenseful. And it proves once again the unique and captivating genius of Perri O’Shaughnessy.
From the Hardcover edition.
