9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent collection of paranormal mysteries, May 31, 2010
This review is from: Crimes by Moonlight: Mysteries from the Dark Side (Hardcover)
The names Margaret Maron and Max Allan Collins on the cover of "Crimes by Moonlight" caught my eye. After discovering that this was a collection of 20 "Mysteries from the Dark Side", I was hooked. After reading each story, I can say the collection lived up to its promise. This is an excellent and varied collection of short stories by a mixture of well-known and lesser known authors.
I hadn't read anything by the editor of the collection, Charlaine Harris, prior to this. However, I loved her story about vampire Dahlia Lynley-Chivers. It was full of both adventure and humor, and I would love to read more stories about this character. Other great vampire stories in this collection are Parnell Hall's "Death of a Vampire" and Toni L.P. Kelner's "Taking the Long View". Not all of the stories were related to vampires. For example, Elaine Viets' story of second sight was suspenseful, but still included her wonderful sense of humor. I enjoyed the ghost stories by Barbara D'Amato, Mike Wiecek, and Carolyn Hart. I also liked Dana Cameron's story, which started out like a traditional mystery - until a werewolf came along! I enjoyed the collaboration of Max Allan Collins and Mickey Spillane in an unusual Mike Hammer story. There is quite a mixture of different types of stories and settings, so the collection really does have something for everyone.
I have read many collections that have only a couple of good stories, but "Crimes by Moonlight" contains one great story after the other. Fans of vampire and other paranormal stories will love this collection. In addition, those that like the work of contributing authors such as Harley Jane Kozak, Elaine Viets, and Margaret Maron, who aren't usually known for paranormal stories, will love seeing another side of these authors.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
strong paranormal mysteries anthology, April 10, 2010
This review is from: Crimes by Moonlight: Mysteries from the Dark Side (Hardcover)
These twenty short stories focus on paranormal mysteries that run the urban fantasy gamut with vampires, werewolves, witches, ghosts, seers, mages and Mike Hammer making featured appearances. All of the contributions by The Mystery Writers of America authors are enjoyable tales that sub-genre fans will want to read as the diversity of the supernatural adds to the overall fun. Vampires are right at home in Parnell Hall's amusing "Death of a Vampire" and Charlaine Harris's "Dahlia Underground". Ghosts star in Harley Jane Kozak's "Madeeda", Carolyn Hart's "Riding High" as a marriage counselor and even as a phantom ship in Lou Kemp's "In Memory of the Sibylline". Finally Hammer has a "Grave Matter" (by Max Allan Collins and Mickey Spillane) case with a supernatural taint. This is a strong anthology as everyone contributing showed up in top form providing enjoyable Crimes by Moonlight: Mysteries from the Dark Side collection.
Harriet Klausner
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Almost all good, May 14, 2011
Usually when I read an anthology, I find several that are not to my liking. This time I enjoyed to various degrees eighteen of the twenty stories. Of course my favorite was by Harris, because I am familiar with her writing and characters. Some of the others seemed a bit amateurish, perhaps because the authors were not used to the genre or format.
The only two I found unreadable were by Meyers and Moran.
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