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I'm sometimes commitment phobic --- not at all in a relationship sense (my husband's
saying, "Uh, that's GOOD!") but when it comes to reading. Occasionally, I just
don't feel like investing the energy in a novel. No, I'd rather dally. A short
story collection is the perfect solution at these times, much like sampling dim
sum rather than sitting down to a seven-course feast. I've been on a short story
binge lately, and it's been so delicious that my love affair with short fiction
has been rekindled.
A MOMENT ON THE EDGE is a massive (over 500 pages) compilation of luscious
tidbits. The editor, much-loved mystery novelist Elizabeth George, starts us out
with a fascinating introduction discussing our simultaneous fascination with crime
stories and the low value many people place on it. She briefly sums up the history
of female mystery writers. About the authors of this anthology, George says: "All
of them share in common a desire to explore mankind in a moment on the edge. The
edge equates to the crime committed. How the characters deal with the edge is
the story."
The collection begins with "A Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell (1917) and
ends with "English Autumn--American Fall" by Minette Walters (2001). The variety
of crime stories is immense, including cozies, murder mysteries, suspense tales,
horror stories, psychological studies, and more. Reading the older tales and then
moving on to the more modern works is a subtle education in how crime stories
have changed over the years.
Some of the authors' contributions are completely unlike their novels (for
example, Nancy Pickard's dark "Afraid All the Time.") In other cases, characters
from an author's novels appear in her short story (such as Sara Paretsky's "The
Case of the Pietro Andromache.") I joyfully became reacquainted with authors I've
loved (and nearly forgotten) for years, such as Charlotte Armstrong and Shirley
Jackson. I also discovered many writers whose novels I will now find and devour,
having sampled their wares.
I must admit to sometimes skimming and/or skipping stories in an anthology
if they don't catch my interest. However, I was never tempted to skim or skip
a word in this fine collection. In such a group of stellar tales, I discovered
a few personal standouts:
· A ghost appears in Agnes and Oscar's RV as they winter in Arizona ("Death
of a Snowbird" by J. A. Jance), setting the plot spinning and giving me goose
bumps.
· A picnicking couple discusses their relationship in "The River Mouth" by
Lia Matera. They're approached by someone who puts the STRANGE in the word "stranger"
--- and completely creeped me out.
· Joyce Carol Oates's "Murder-Two" is gut-churningly disturbing. My first
inclination is to say I hated this piece about a murdered mother, yet I'll never
forget the plot or my strong reaction to it.
· "Afraid All the Time" by Nancy Pickard, in which a woman's move to the plains
sends her over the edge into depression and fear, impressed me with its darkness
and unpredictable twists.
· One man suggests to another that he has the means to murder anyone in Dorothy
Sayers's "The Man Who Knew How," a fine exercise in obsession, psychological suspense
and blackest irony
. · A dirt-poor woman discovers how to step up to finer living in "A Nice Place
to Stay" by Nedra Tyre, a story with sociological implications that ring true
today.
A MOMENT ON THE EDGE is an absolute delight. Don't wait for commitment phobia
to strike before treating yourself to this excellent collection.
--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (terryms2001@yahoo.com)
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