- Hardcover: 367 pages
- Publisher: Delacorte Press; First Edition edition (May 2 1996)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0385314019
- ISBN-13: 978-0385314015
- Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 14.7 x 3.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 454 g
- Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
There's a marvelous mixture of mystery material in this collection of short fiction by and about women--from bestseller Nevada Barr's wrenching story about a daughter's discovery in her mother's garden to impressive entries from Russia, Germany, and Algeria by writers less famous, but equally talented. This is the perfect bedside companion for readers looking for a way into the genre, or searching for new writers to expand their mystery horizons.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
From Publishers Weekly
In her introduction to a collection that endorses good politics at least as much as good storytelling, Paretsky tackles the thorny issue of "what if anything I am doing to acknowledge my duty to other women writers, and to the suffering of women in my own age." Fortunately, many entries satisfy both agendas admirably. In Nancy Pickard's "A Rock and a Hard Place," a woman who was raped and shot dreads further violence and hires a PI to prevent three murders that could be imminent. Frances Fyfield hints that some cultural differences can be deadly in "Nothing to Lose," in which an Englishwoman marries a West African and soon begins contemplating his "lovely funeral." One of a few entries in translation, "Saturday Night Fever" by Viennese writer Helga Anderle, trails a journalist the night she stumbles on a murder that demands she choose between career and conscience. Less rewarding is Ruth Rendell's "Astronomical Scarf," which follows a scarf from owner to owner and in which Rendell's habitual delicious darkness takes a backseat to mere cleverness. The leadoff story, P.M. Carlson's "Parties Unknown by the Jury," sets the tone of the book: in 1892, a white stage actress finds herself a witness to a Memphis lynching and comes upon Ida Wells at the dawn of her journalism career. Wells, as a woman who writes her way toward equality, is clearly intended as a guiding spirit of this purposeful collection.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
20 Mediocre Tales, 6 Good Ones,
By jimnypivo "Jim Hisson" (west of Chicago, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Women on the Case (Paperback)
An avid VI Warshawsky and Sara Paretsky fan, I ran out VI novels to read ... So I grabbed this one thinking that Sara would pick some interesting or controversial subjects.Sara didn't let me down. There are six jewels in this 26 story meat pie. Unhappily the majority are made of "mystery meat". The six Jewels make me want to seek out other works by their authors. They are: Nevada Barr's *Beneath the Lilies*, an excellent piece of short fiction. Part drama and part mystery, it equals a Paretsky or a Sayers tale of the same length. Nancy Pickard's *A Rock and a Hard Place* is a shot of rye in the eye, sap to the back of the head, Phyllis Marlowe detective yarn. Sara's own *Publicity Stunts* is a good chapter in the VI Warshawsky saga. Its only flaw is that it hurtles to a conclusion in four paragraphs. I prefer a well-paced unraveling, not the abrupt crashing-of-a-meteorite-through-the-ceiling type of ending. Must have been getting close to press time. Andrea Smith's *A Lesson in Murder* is a good, by-the-books whodunit. *The Baroness* by Amanda Cross is very Dorothy Sayers-like in that we get a lesson in art forgery while trying to keep up with the detective as she solves the case. Susan Dunlap spins an entertaining story about a Private Eye of the Afterworld in *I'll Get Back to You*. Linda Grant's *Hamlet's Dilemma* ingeniously uses literature as a tool for detection. I rated this collection low because there are twenty mediocre or bad stories in the muck. Even the collected stories of Hemingway have a stinker or two among them, but over 75%? Ugh! Sara would've been better off using the six stories I mentioned, spent more time on *Publicity Stunt's* ending and chosen a few of the European tales to add flair and spice. That would have made for a more balanced collection.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Morose and Depressing,
By Beth McKenzie (South Eastern USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Women on the Case (Paperback)
This book is filled with stories by many of my favorite authors, which is why I purchased it. All of the stories are good mysteries; none of the endings are overly obvious, and most of the outcomes left an impression to be thought about later. (The picture of Heaven and Salvation in Susan Dunlap's "I'll Get Back to You" has started many thought-provoking conversations.) The reason I would highly praise the individual stories yet rate the book so low is that as a group the stories are depressing. Even the relatively happy endings are tainted with sadness, failure, fear or misery. Being the owner of two fickle little kittens I still cry occasionally when I think of "A Witch and Her Cats" by Antonia Fraser. I realize that it is the purpose of each of these women to reach out and impact her audience, but the combination of stories in this book turns the pen into an arrow, piercing the soul. It is a rare occurrance, but I have given my copy away.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
2.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews) 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
20 Mediocre Tales, 6 Good Ones,
By jimnypivo "Jim Hisson" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Women on the Case (Paperback)
An avid VI Warshawsky and Sara Paretsky fan, I ran out VI novels to read ... So I grabbed this one thinking that Sara would pick some interesting or controversial subjects.Sara didn't let me down. There are six jewels in this 26 story meat pie. Unhappily the majority are made of "mystery meat". The six Jewels make me want to seek out other works by their authors. They are: Nevada Barr's *Beneath the Lilies*, an excellent piece of short fiction. Part drama and part mystery, it equals a Paretsky or a Sayers tale of the same length. Nancy Pickard's *A Rock and a Hard Place* is a shot of rye in the eye, sap to the back of the head, Phyllis Marlowe detective yarn. Sara's own *Publicity Stunts* is a good chapter in the VI Warshawsky saga. Its only flaw is that it hurtles to a conclusion in four paragraphs. I prefer a well-paced unraveling, not the abrupt crashing-of-a-meteorite-through-the-ceiling type of ending. Must have been getting close to press time. Andrea Smith's *A Lesson in Murder* is a good, by-the-books whodunit. *The Baroness* by Amanda Cross is very Dorothy Sayers-like in that we get a lesson in art forgery while trying to keep up with the detective as she solves the case. Susan Dunlap spins an entertaining story about a Private Eye of the Afterworld in *I'll Get Back to You*. Linda Grant's *Hamlet's Dilemma* ingeniously uses literature as a tool for detection. I rated this collection low because there are twenty mediocre or bad stories in the muck. Even the collected stories of Hemingway have a stinker or two among them, but over 75%? Ugh! Sara would've been better off using the six stories I mentioned, spent more time on *Publicity Stunt's* ending and chosen a few of the European tales to add flair and spice. That would have made for a more balanced collection. 5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Morose and Depressing,
By Beth McKenzie - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Women on the Case (Paperback)
This book is filled with stories by many of my favorite authors, which is why I purchased it. All of the stories are good mysteries; none of the endings are overly obvious, and most of the outcomes left an impression to be thought about later. (The picture of Heaven and Salvation in Susan Dunlap's "I'll Get Back to You" has started many thought-provoking conversations.) The reason I would highly praise the individual stories yet rate the book so low is that as a group the stories are depressing. Even the relatively happy endings are tainted with sadness, failure, fear or misery. Being the owner of two fickle little kittens I still cry occasionally when I think of "A Witch and Her Cats" by Antonia Fraser. I realize that it is the purpose of each of these women to reach out and impact her audience, but the combination of stories in this book turns the pen into an arrow, piercing the soul. It is a rare occurrance, but I have given my copy away.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Very disappointing,
By Karen J. Eller Baker "ellerbaker" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Women on the Case (Paperback)
If not for Ruth Rendell and Sara Paretsky, the book would have been a total waste of time
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