Customer Reviews

A Confederacy of Crime

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Steal magnolias seem feeble next to the titanium magnolias that make up this superb collection. The twelve stories center on the more menacing southern perspective where murder and mayhem are just another mint julep. Locales vary from big cities like Atlanta to small rural towns, but each entry is fun to read.

Some of the leading mystery writers of today have contributed clever entries to A CONFEDERACY OF CRIME: New Stories of Southern Style Mystery. The stories run the gamut from private and police investigatioons to the iron-fisted Twiddle, but each indulges fans of anthologies and regional mysteries with a distinct taste of the underside of the South.

Harriet Klausner

A Confederacy of Crime contains twelve short stories by writers who, even if they are not natives of the states below the Mason-Dixon Line, have managed to capture the Southern Style of writing. Plenty of crime, sex and humour, dressed up with grace and good manners, sultry drawls and steamy weather. The stories by Jeffrey Deaver, Joan Hess, Michael Malone, Margaret Maron and Sarah Shankman are especially delicious.

This anthology certainly localizes crime! The editors here have compiled 12 stories set in the South, an interesting collection of good writing, both in the mystery genre and of local color. Some top names are included (Jeffery Deaver, Michael Malone, Joan Hess, Margaret Maron, to name four) and for the short story enthusiast and appreciator, this is a good collection. Deaver's "The Widow of Pine Creek" is my favorite, maybe because Deaver is my favorite writer of this group. But Joan Hess's "Miss Tidwell Takes No Prisoners" is a close second. Short stories have their limitations, certainly in crime fiction, but that aside, these stories will hold your attention. Good job here! (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)