Customer Reviews

The Mysterious West

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been reading a lot of novels lately. 600-pagers. So when I found this collections of short stories, I gave it a try. I love the West; I love short stories; why not a change of pace. Hillerman has collected stories set in the West, not western stories. At first I bridled: Hillerman without Navajos? But once I got into the first story, I was hooked. This is the only collection I have ever read whose stories are ALL good, and there are a lot of stories in the book. I liked the characters, the locations, the stories, and the surprise that most of the stories were by women. I hadn't expected that. A favorite? That would be tough. How about three: "Nooses Give" by Dana Stabenow--ridding the Tundra of bootleggers; "A Woman's Place" by D. R. Meredith--Highwater, Texas never saw no lady judge before!; and "With Flowers in Her Hair" by M. D. Lake--you CAN go back, but it may not be very nice there. What did I hate about the book? Closing the back cover.

This is one of the better anthologies of mystery stories that I have read. The Western theme works well to tie it all together, though for some authors it is apparent only from the location of the story. I enjoyed the short submissions from authors whose full length works I have already read - including D.R. Meredith, J.A. Jance and Karen Kijewski. The most notable reason to get this collection is to be exposed to authors you may not normally choose. A couple I found here and had to investigate further were Dana Stabenow (writes about an Eskimo female investigator - excellent stories) and Linda Grant - who I have only read in other short story collections

THE MYSTERIOUS WEST Edited by Tony Hillerman

This is an ecclectic collection of short stories in settings that rage the American West by a wonderful variety of writers. They are all new, never before published, stories.

Each story is a "mystery" of some sort. I found them all to be quite facinating, even if most are not about cats. One story is most decidedly about a cat, Midnight Louie.

Louie has his own series of novels. The short story in this anthology is a good example of Midnight Louie's other adventures.

If you or your purrrson like mysteries and stories of susspense, deceit and excitement, this is a great book to have. The stories are completey engrossing, easy to read and a treat! Take the book along when you have to wait for your next medical, dental or other appointment. Each tale is like a piece of gormet canip--a pleasure that almost doesn't last long enough.

A book for adult readers, but without sleaze, or the need for parental discression!

Twist, a prrroud member of CLAW, and the CLAW Bookstore Committee

Although this book has the same Hillerman brand as all his other books, the writing is done by authors who write about the West. I was a bit disappointed when I realized this, but the disappointment didn't last. Hillerman knows his mystery writers as well as he knows the West.

These stories are written by really great writers who tell stories of the West. Each story is a keeper. If Hillerman hadn't spent his life writing books, he certainly could have found work in the publishing industry industry for his sense of who's a great writer.

This is an anthology of short stories by authors other than Tony Hillerman written in 1994. I generally only read science fiction anthologies, but it was pretty spooky that the very first story was set in an area I just drove 500 miles to check out as a place to live. Timber Cove is breathtakingly beautiful, but very isolated (and controlled by the coastal commission among others).

This is one of those books you want to tell people about, and find more ways to call it to the attention of other readers. For me, The Mysterious West was a surprisingly rewarding used-book-store find. If you want to try out authors of mystery stories set in the West, it would be difficult -- maybe impossible -- to find a better introduction than this one. I particularly enjoyed stories that Hillerman included from Linda Grant and Harold Adams. A few of their signature mysteries are still available through Amazon.

Instead of throwing this item in with Hillerman's works, Amazon should have clearly highlighted that this was not WRITTEN by Hillerman, but is an anthology EDITED by him.

The book is in excellent condition and arrived earlier than expected but the reader reviews were misleading. Some of the short stories are full of bad language and unnecessary violence. An excellent writer, Hillerman, has put his name on a book of garbage.

Book written by other people, and is not as good as his usual.
Guess we are hooked on the Chee books!