Review : Mary Higgins Clark Presents Malice Domestic (Malice Domestic #2)

This anthology consisting of 17 short stories is put together by the Queen of Suspense Mary Higgins Clark . Below are the teasers to some of the stories –

Goodbye, Sue Ellen – Ellsworth Hummer married Sue Ellen for her money and he has finally come to realize the truth of the old adage . With no say in the matters of the family business , Ellsworth finally sees that he would never be family and that his plans of gaining control of his wife ‘ s family business would not come to pass if his wife continued to be around . So begins a string of perfectly good attempts at murdering his wife but it seems like Sue Ellen has nine lives . . . While I was expecting something along the lines of The Murder of My Aunt ending , I was amused to see that the author had provided a brilliant spin on TMMA ending . . . ( Now that might be something of a spoiler but trust me , there is more . . . )

Even Steven – When one of four musketeers wins a trip to Las Vegas , she decides to take the other three along with her for a ladies – only trip . However , one muskeeter ‘ s husband insists on tagging along with them . This husband ends up murdered in the Las Vegas hotel room . The Audible narrator of this one deserves a special mention – her perky narration had me smiling the entire time . . .

Kim’s Game – The narrator is a young girl who has been sent to a summer camp to keep her out of her parents ‘ divorce drama . She knows that only one of the parents will be at home when she gets back . Coming from such a home , she has developed an uncanny sense of reading her surroundings . She also has enough sense to not to flaunt her gift . . . Soon , one of the camp counsellors is murdered . The police want to speak to our narrator as she was the first one at the crime scene . A second sweeping glance at the crime scene and she knows that she can identify the murderer by one of the items which (s)he has taken care to remove from the crime scene . . .

Cold and Deep – The sons are visiting their father who now lives in the family home with his daughter in law who is also his caretaker and his aging dog . While this story is primarily about a dysfunctional family ( with no mystery ) , there ‘ s a lot packed into this story . It ‘ s atmospheric & brilliant story – telling hints that there ‘ s something happening behind the doors of that crumbling family home ( while offering the reader nothing too concrete to base their ideas on except for dropping a word here and there . . . )

Now for some bad news – for some reason , Audible decided to cut out 5 or so stories from it ‘ s audiobook production ( including Clark ‘s As It Was in the Beginning ) . I have purchased both Malice Domestic #1 and Malice Domestic #3 also ( reviews will shortly follow but I expect that they too will have some stories missing . . . I feel so cheated , thanks Audible ) . So it would be better if you pick up the paperback . . . Who Shot Mrs. Byron Boyd , the first story is the weakest IMHO . There are several stories that are simply brilliant – it ‘s simply amazing how the authors manage to pack a lot into a few pages – great character development , atmospheric & innovative POV narratives , jaw dropping twists ( to name a few ) . I ‘ ve given the teasers of some of my favorites among them . . . Hopefully they can convince you to pick up this one . . .

P . S : I never realized that short story format could work brilliantly for suspense genre until I discovered Peter Lovesey ‘ s stories . The introduction to the Malice Domestic anthology has only whetted my appetite for the short story format in the crime fiction genre . So the readers can expect to see more reviews on short story anthologies ( primarily in the crime fiction genre ) in the future . . .

Rating : 4 / 5

If you have already read Malice Domestic #2 , let me know in the comments section about your thoughts on the book  . If you have any interesting recommendations , please do share them . Until the next review then . . .

Review : The Crime of Miss Oyster Brown and Other Stories by Peter Lovesey

The first review for 2022 and I am happy that it is not going to be a rant . My first read for the year is Peter Lovesey ‘ s anthology The Crime of Miss Oyster Brown and Other Stories consisting of 18 superb short stories . The author notes in the introduction that “the unexpected is what you are entitled to expect from a short story ” . I was a bit wary about getting my hopes high with an introductory passage but I was delighted when the man actually delivered . While anthologies generally tend to be mixed bags where few stories do the heavy lifting while the other more conventional ones quietly line up to make up a good number , that is not the case here . Every story is an absolute delight – each with its own narrative style , plot structure ( to say nothing of the humor ) . Below are the teasers to three short stories from this anthology . Hopefully they can convince you to pick up this one . . .

In The Crime of Miss Oyster Brown , Oyster Brown ‘ s twin sister Pearl Brown has not been seen by the anyone in the village recently . Although long time residents of the village , their neighbors and friends know nothing of what goes on behind the closed doors of their mock Tudor style mansion . When Oyster turns up at a local chemist ‘ s with three severely scalded fingers from an accident with the kettle ( or so she says ) and a neighbor remarks that Oyster had been drawing the curtains in her sister ‘ s bedroom to give the impression that Pearl is at home , the chemist decides to investigate . . . This one has the ending which even the most imaginative crime fiction reader will not guess . . .

In The Model Con , a young woman who has enrolled with a modelling agency gets roped in for a seemingly standard assignment until she discovers it is definitely not one . While the handsome compensation definitely quelled some of the misgivings she has about the latest assignment from the same woman , she did not foresee that she would soon become a suspect in a murder investigation . . .

In Pass The Parcel , a family gathered for Christmas decide to have a game of Pass The Parcel ( obviously ! ) which has become something of a family tradition while waiting for a family member . When the parcel is finally unwrapped and it ‘ s contents revealed , things quickly take a turn from a possible cozy Christmassy suspense to something possibly sinister . . .

I am not putting out too many teasers here because with short stories it takes only a few extra plot points for the astute overly – imaginative reader to work out the trajectory of the story . With few like A case of Butterflies , Being Of Sound Mind & You May See A Strangler , while there were some plot elements which I could spot , there were still some surprises which made for a thoroughly satisfying read . And of course , a special mention to the ones with highly inventive narratives – Curl Up & Dye ( a monologue from a hairdresser who is attending to a client ) , The Pomeranian Poisoning which is entirely told in letters & Youdunnit where you , the reader , will become the murderer . . .

This one is highly recommended from me . If you have an Audible Premium membership , you are in luck – this one is included in the membership ( you can get it for free ) . . .

Rating : 4.5 / 5

If you have already read The Crime of Miss Oyster Brown and Other Stories , let me know in the comments section about your thoughts on the book  . If you have any interesting recommendations , please do share them . Until the next review then . . .

Review : The Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories ( editor : Martin Edwards )

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My next read for the holiday season is The Christmas Card Crime , an anthology of Christmas mysteries edited by Martin Edwards . The individual stories have been rated ( check out the stars next to the title for the rating ) . Also , there are only quick holiday season references and no detailed delving into the festivities of the season . Still , I would say that there are some gems here which should not be missed . . . Here’s a quick look at the teasers for each of the eleven stories – I should warn you that this is a mixed bag . . .

A Christmas Tragedy by Baroness Orczy ** :

Lady Molly ‘ s lady – in – waiting is the narrator here . I have several complaints against this one – the narrator ‘ s tone was obsequious throughout the story ( I could have lived with that if Lady Molly had done some decent detective work . But her actions and suspicions are frequently attributed to her excellent intuition ** Duh!!** ) and took on a snobbish tone when it came to narrative about the servants of the manor where she is investigating the murder of one Major Ceely . The motive for the murder seems to be pretty absurd and there is next – to – nothing detection done by our ” detective ” whose detective powers are praised to the skies . While I can understand that the pen has been wielded by one of Lady Molly ‘ s social standing to warrant this narrative style and that it has not aged well , the close to zero detective work made this a boring read . I would suggest anyone to save this one for the last and start with Crime At Lark Cottage or The Christmas Card Crime . . .

By The Sword by Selwyn Jepson **** :

The Cathertons have always died by the sword . Read this one to find out how this family curse plays out in the latest death in the family . A clever one but the story – telling could have been better with holding the reader ‘ s interest . . .

The Christmas Card Crime by Donald Stuart ***** :

A group of passengers in a train end up in a lodge with a shady past . One of the passengers ends up murdered and another seems to have someone shadowing her . Plus there is the torn half of a Christmas greeting card which she seems keen to protect from someone . Why is it that an old , torn Christmas greeting card hold much value ? The solution to this one is a really clever one . . .

The Motive by Ronald Knox **** :

A lawyer narrates a curious case in which he defended a man named Westmacott ( yes , that ‘ s a nod to Agatha Christie ) . A very interesting and clever story but you might probably have to stick with the somewhat mediocre narrative to get to the superb ending – I would say that the ending is worth persisting with this one . ( The narrative alone would have got only 3 stars but I loved this story – so , bumping it up to a 4 . . . )

Blind Man ‘ s Hood by Carter Dickson **** :

A couple arrive at their host ‘ s late and a young woman narrates the story of a mysterious death in the same house . A superb locked room mystery with a delicious paranormal twist at the end . . .

Paul Temple ‘ s White Christmas by Francis Durbridge *** :

Paul and his wife have flown to Switzerland for Christmas but what they don ‘ t expect is a mini – adventure which plays out the moment that land in Switzerland . There is not much mystery here and it is very predictable . . .

Sister Bessie or Your Old Leech by Cyril Hare ***** :

Timothy , a banker , recounts his tracking down of his ” blackmailer ” and getting rid of this supposed blackmailer . But , in a deliciously ironic twist , he has only put himself at the mercy his blackmailer once again who signs the blackmail notes as Your Old Leech . . . I loved this one and will be picking up more by this author in the future . . .

A Bit of Wire Pulling by E . C . R . Lorac :

Inspector Lang from the Yard recounts a murder which took place in a Christmas party in which he was present .

I am not very good at visualizing contraptions or mechanisms even if they are explained in the For Dummies fashion . So I would reserve my judgement on this one . I only remember that the solution involved what the title is about – some wire pulling .

Pattern of Revenge by John Bude *** :

Two men loved Karen Gaborg and one of them is now serving time for her murder . Now , the other one is confessing to Karen ‘ s murder and detailing how he framed his rival for her murder . Some elements of the solution were not very surprising but it was a pretty decent read . . .

Crime at Lark Cottage by John Bingham ***** :

John Bradley stops at a home near Skandale where a woman and her daughter reside . The woman seems frightened and hints that she would like the visitor to stay for the night . Eventually Bradley comes upon a newspaper article which enlightens him as to the strange situation which he finds himself in . . .

This one has a brilliant narrative which managed to fool me about the trajectory the plot was about to take with a superb twist at the end . . .

Twixt the cup and the lip by Julian Symons *** :

A jewel heist masterminded by a bookseller goes awry in every way possible , all thanks to his bungling comrades . The narrative is on the lighter side and the solution is quite clever . . .

If you have already read this anthology , let me know in the comments section about your thoughts on the book  . If you have any interesting Christmas themed recommendations , please do share them . Until the next review then . .