MALICE DOMESTIC 3 by Rosalind Greenberg
My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
I downloaded this collection of “cozy” short stories from Overdrive on a whim.
I find short story collections to be hit or miss even at their best. As I listened to the first pieces, I thought perhaps this one had been a mistake. Short story mysteries are tricky, and maybe they don’t adapt well to the audio format. Not having a list of stories/authors didn’t help*.
I started with
# His Tears by Marilyn Wallace
# Sign of the Times by Nancy Pickard
# Cast Your Fate to the Wind by Deborah Adams
which didn’t make much of an impression on me. In fact, I remember pretty much nothing about them.
After that, either I adapted to the stories, or the stories got better.
I really enjoyed
# Fannie’s Back Fence Caper by Susan & Bill Albert
and will need to track down the authors, who have been recommended to me before. Following the path of a small town adventure through call-ins to the local radio show was very entertaining.
# The Dying Light by Taylor McCafferty
Was an interesting character study. Very creepy, a little spooky, and a nice buildup.
# The Family Jewels by Dorothy Cannell
Is an absolutely hilarious parody of historical adventure/romance novels.
# The Trouble with the Shoot by Camilla T. Crespi
Didn’t grab me. Fashion and a dead body.
# High Heels in the Headliner by Wendy Hornsby
This was entertaining. I looked at as meta-fiction, the story of a woman who got a little too involved in the research for writing a myster novel. Or she could have just been delusional, in which case this would just be creepy and bizarre.
# Cara’s Turn by Marlys Millhiser
Something about real estate. I restarted several times, but I just kept tuning out. Don’t know whether it was the story or the narrator that was the problem, but it didn’t click for me.
# Gentle Reader by Sharyn McCrumb
A humorous piece, which I enjoyed, even if it was a bit predictable– an author and the mob.
# Double Delight by L.B. Greenwood
# Make Yourselves at Home by Joan Hess
# Highwater by D.R. Meredith
As far as I can tell, these weren’t in the audiobook, even though they were listed in the IBL as being in the collection.
In the end, I think the collection was successful. I’ll check out more from Overdrive at some point.
*(Thanks to the Internet Book List http://www.iblist.com/ for the list of stories and authors)
