|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
MURDER MOST CRAFTY is a lackluster anthology of handicraft-related stories, each with a little how-to project attached. It's a cute idea that doesn't quite work in execution. Several of the stories aren't technically mysteries, and some of the ones that do involve crime don't involve murder. The craft projects included run from juvenile to high art, but without illustrations the casual crafter probably won't get beyond the macaroni necklaces or the painted gourd. Some of the crafts are so specialized that they simply can't be done by the novice; the fly-tying project outright recommends a reference book. The short story is an art form in its own right, but too many of the ones here are blotched with bad pacing, large unnecessary digressions, or missing information. For example, Susan Dunlap's If You Meet The Buddha is told from the point of view of a very confused person -- so confused that I went back over it a couple of times to be sure that I wasn't missing a vital clue to explain the ending. I wasn't. It simply didn't make sense. In sharp contrast was Judith Kelman's The M Word, about the slow breakdown of a fragile woman. Although technically it wasn't a mystery, it did have a perfectly paced plot and was both gripping and crystal clear. An anthology should start off with the strongest story, to draw the reader in. MURDER MOST CRAFTY starts with Susan Wittig Albert's The Collage to Kill For, which only made me wonder if evidence still can be considered evidence once it's been ripped up, rearranged, and shellacked. Stuffing something incriminating in a safe deposit box might be less crafty, but it would certainly be safer -- and more useful. Following that was The Gourd, The Bad and the Ugly (points for a surprise ending, but too convoluted to be believable), Call it Macaroni (readable, but lacking body, suspect, or mystery), No Good Deed (cute but perfunctory), and the aforementioned If You Meet the Buddha. Had I been reading this for pleasure, I would have given up by then. Fortunately for me, and for anyone else who picks up the book, things got better. Parnell Hall's Oh, What a Tangled Lanyard We Weave was the first story I considered a classic murder mystery. Bewreathed was a well-done, southern-flavored crime solver, Ellie's Chair has charm and some excellent cozy detection, and Deepest Blue wasn't very mysterious, but it was a creepy character sketch. Two stories stand out well above the rest, both shining examples of how to plot, pace, and populate a short murder mystery. Victoria Houston's How to Make a Killing Online was chilling, plausible, and the twist ending made my blood run cold. Sharan Newman's Light Her Way Home puts a lovely medieval twist on the locked room mystery -- who could have killed the anchorite after she had been walled into her cell? But that's two great stories out of 15, with about four more that are pleasantly readable. It's your call if those odds are worth the price.
Reviewed by Linnea Dodson, April 2005
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
