Murder and Obsession (Hardcover)

by Otto Penzler (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Anyone who is old enough to remember what great fun it was to crack open a brand-new magazine (from Black Mask to Collier's) and discover two or three excellent stories by your favorite writers will beam with pleasure at Otto Penzler's Murder and Obsession. As in his two previous volumes of original stories (Murder for Revenge and Murder for Love), Penzler knows how to pick a wide and deep variety of writers and then coax them into producing their best work.

In "Burglary in Progress," Kent Anderson brings back his errant hero Hanson from Sympathy for the Devil and Night Dogs for a short but spectacular burst of urban angst. James Crumley's C.W. Sughrue, last seen in The Mexican Tree Duck, explodes again in a story called "The Mexican Pig Bandit." But most of the writers, from Edna Buchanan and James W. Hall to Ed McBain and Anne Perry, use the occasion to leave their series characters far behind (especially Dennis Lehane, whose absolutely riveting "Running Out of Dog" is as full of meat as most full-length novels). --Dick Adler

From Publishers Weekly
Like his Murder for Love and Murder for Revenge, Penzler's latest collection features original stories (14, plus one reprint) by an all-star team. Most of the writers score solid hits but, unexpectedly, not Elmore Leonard. In "Sparks," Dutch seems to be going through the motions as a good-looking widow and an insurance claims investigator talk over the recent destruction of her overly insured house; Leonard even resorts to characterization through celebrity-branding: "Linda Fiorentino. That was who Robin looked like... Robin had the same effortless way about her.... " Ed McBain does better in his cute tale ("Barking at Butterflies") of a man whose plans to dispose of the dog he hates and to keep the woman he loves badly misfire. James W. Hall provides surprise in "Crack," when a Fulbright scholar peeping on his nubile neighbor sees more than he expected. In "The Vampire," Joyce Carol Oates waxes gothic, freezing a murder in progress to backtrack through a dying artist's last years with his manipulative mistress. And in the collection's only reprint, "The Mexican Pig Banquet," James Crumley has C.W. Sughrue laying low until a gang of thieves and their accomplice tap his usual weakness: a damsel in distress. Top marks go to Dennis Lehane; his "Running Out of Dog" manages a novel's worth of fine tension and nuanced characters as two childhood friends deal with loving the same woman in a small town after Vietnam. Elizabeth George, Anne Perry and Eric Van Lustbader are among the others contributing to this enjoyable collection. (Mar.) FYI: Penzler is the proprietor of the Mysterious Bookshop in New York City and the Mysterious Bookshop West in Los Angeles.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press (March 9, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385318006
• ISBN-13: 978-0385318006
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,857,218 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling Chronicles of Compulsion and Crime, July 22, 2001

By	George R Dekle "Bob Dekle" (Lake City, FL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Murder and Obsession, Volume 2 (Audio Cassette)

This review is for the second volume of the audiocassette edition. Volume 2 contains seven stories by a constellation of literary luminaries: Elmore Leonard, Eric Van Lustbader, Michael Malone, Ed McBaine, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Perry, and Shel Silverstein.

"Sparks" details the smoldering particulars of an insurance investigator's inquiry into the burning of a beautiful woman's house. Three stars.

"Slow Burn" is a police procedural weighted down by the protagonist's Freudian baggage. It gives a disturbing look at child molestation, sexual exploitation, mental illness, and revenge. Two stars.

"Invitation to the Ball" presents a mystery in three parts. The protagonist, obsessed with a painting of a beautiful lady, seeks to determine whether she murdered her husband almost a century ago. He meets and woos a descendant of the lady. For all his interest in the ancestor, he shows remarkably little interest in the mystery presented by the descendant. The third mystery is a modern murder that ties in neatly with the other two. Five stars.

"Barking at Butterflies" tells the story of a man with a rival for his wife's affection. He fantasizes about taking murderous action towards the rival. Then . . . . Four stars.

"Heroes" began as a war story but resolved itself into quite a nice little mystery; not so much a who-done-it as a what-did-he-do. A good exploration of perception and reality as it relates to heroism. Five stars.

In "The Guilty Party," an eccentric judge applies the wisdom of Solomon to cases which come before him. Four stars.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strong stories by talented writers, July 19, 2000

By	Brenda S. Weeaks "MyShelf.Com" (United States) - See all my reviews

Authors are: Kent Anderson, Edna Buchanan, Amanda Cross, James Crumley, Philip Friedman, Elizabeth George, James W. Hall, Dennis Lehane, Elmore Leonard, Eric Van Lustbader, Michael Malone, Ed McBain, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Perry and Shel Silverstein.

As in any anthology, each writer has her or his own style. This anthology came across as hard-boiled and straightforward. The first story by Kent Anderson is about a cop uses drugs and loves to make bust. It's a harsh introduction and a touch of reality into this anthology. Anne Perry steps out of the Victorian age for a moment and writes one about an obsessive solider in W.W.I in her title Heroes. Edna Buchanan in The Red Shoes, writes about a man who trades his alcohol obsession for shoes, with a dangerous out come. These are definitely some stories you will remember.

If you like your stories strong and straightforward without mincing words, dirty or other wise, this is the mystery for you. Hardboiled fanatics will love this one.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific short stories by talented writers, August 1, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Murder and Obsession: 15 New Original Stories (Mass Market Paperback)

I could not put this book down. Every story was good. The stories emphasize original twists on traditional obsession themes. Some are humorous. Others are shocking. Others are low-key and subservise. This is a well-written and intelligent collection.