A prize-winning author presents seventeen witty mystery stories featuring everyday characters who discover their potential for murder, including a young woman who weds a string of old men and develops a penchant for widowhood. 10,000 first printing.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Crime master Barnard is at his roguish best in the short form as he effortlessly shifts these 17 tales through emotional and narrative gears. The act of murder is viewed through the eyes of a dog; an overabundance of "bliss" leaves a slew of older husbands dead and a merry young widow blessed with multiple inheritances; a randy old soldier who returns from the war to offer comfort to wives and widows gets his during a genteel game of bowls. A lifelong liberal, Barnard takes a special delight in skewering the privileged classes, often by letting driven working women cut a savage swath through legions of dull old boys. Occasionally, Barnard gets a shade gothic: a man imagines the son he never had and pays a steep price for his newfound happiness; a shy, secluded young woman is bartered into a disastrous marriage. Only once does the author stumble, as a violent sexual relationship between two men segues into theft. The wealth of ideas and inventions here might well be hoarded by other authors for a series of novels, but Barnard has such profligate wit and imagination that he can afford to deliver this abundance in a single volume.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
In this collection of 17 stories, Barnard (The Bad Samaritan, LJ 8/95), reveals the wide range of mood seen in his full-length mysteries. The title story, for example, details a young woman's propensity for marrying one elderly man after another. From a master of character, wit, and innuendo.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Warning -- not your usual Barnard,
By birdwalker "birdwalker" (Friday Harbor, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Habit of Widowhood (Hardcover)
One of the reasons I am working my way joyfully through all Robert Barnard's books is that he doesn't insert gratuitous scenes of sex and/or violence (emphasis on gratuitous). His earlier books in particular concentrate on marvelous character development, literate and witty writing, and skewering the evil. shoddy, and pretentious. The only added ingredient in this book of short stories is a very noir, occasionally grotesque, and, in one story, desperately sad and twisted slant on humanity. The only story I would care to RE-read is "Post Mortem".
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