Helpful Score: 7
As with any anthology, there are some weak stories in here and some real gems. One of the short stories in this book introduced me to the work of Laurie R. King, and that was worth the price of the book.
Helpful Score: 1
I find that reading anthologies that include short stories by different authorss an excellent way to test out new (to me) authors as well renew acquaintances with familiar authors. With historical story anthology, I can also explore historical eras with which I am not familiar and perhaps see unique points of view of characters living in eras in which I am familiar. Of course, reading short stories can be satisfying once in a while because one story can be completed start to finish without having to invest hours or days of time. Also, I can skip stories that fail to grab my interest.
However, for me, it is extremely hard to judge short story anthologies. There are always many stories that I enjoy, many I hate, and some that may be well written, but whose solutions don't make sense to me. The collection. though, included many of my favorite historical myster authors as well as other authors whose books I am familiar and have enjoyed.
Miriam Grace Monfredo and Anne Perry, two of my favoriet historical authors, both submitted excellent stories.
Monfredo showed her versitility once again by writing a classic mystery in first-person perspective of a teenager/young adult woman living with her father during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. Because she dared to be well-read, with her studies sometimes coupling with frightening visions, she dared to speak out against the witch hunt.
Perry also wrote about a young woman who dared to go against her greedy family, and won.
Carola Dunn also contributed a classical mystery written with her usual warmth about a battered waitress who dared to eleminate her abuser.
In Laurie King's story, Sherlock Holmes's housekeeper Mrs. Hudson dares to solve her own mystery and help a few people, all without the Great Detective's awareness or approval.
The anthology also included an interesting story involving game fixing of baseball in the 1890's
On the bad side, although the last story in this collection was wonderfully written, (it was told from the point of view of an elderly man dying in the present remembering an event during the fall of Berlin at the end of WWII). and although it include almost poetic imagry that drew me into the emotion and scenes both past and present, still the ending was confusing and frustratingto me, leaving me to guess who was the victum.
Of the three "Crime Through Time" anthologies, I find that this third book offered the strongest mix of interesting (to me) stories overall. The first book in the series had the second best mix. The second book was the weakest.
However, for me, it is extremely hard to judge short story anthologies. There are always many stories that I enjoy, many I hate, and some that may be well written, but whose solutions don't make sense to me. The collection. though, included many of my favorite historical myster authors as well as other authors whose books I am familiar and have enjoyed.
Miriam Grace Monfredo and Anne Perry, two of my favoriet historical authors, both submitted excellent stories.
Monfredo showed her versitility once again by writing a classic mystery in first-person perspective of a teenager/young adult woman living with her father during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. Because she dared to be well-read, with her studies sometimes coupling with frightening visions, she dared to speak out against the witch hunt.
Perry also wrote about a young woman who dared to go against her greedy family, and won.
Carola Dunn also contributed a classical mystery written with her usual warmth about a battered waitress who dared to eleminate her abuser.
In Laurie King's story, Sherlock Holmes's housekeeper Mrs. Hudson dares to solve her own mystery and help a few people, all without the Great Detective's awareness or approval.
The anthology also included an interesting story involving game fixing of baseball in the 1890's
On the bad side, although the last story in this collection was wonderfully written, (it was told from the point of view of an elderly man dying in the present remembering an event during the fall of Berlin at the end of WWII). and although it include almost poetic imagry that drew me into the emotion and scenes both past and present, still the ending was confusing and frustratingto me, leaving me to guess who was the victum.
Of the three "Crime Through Time" anthologies, I find that this third book offered the strongest mix of interesting (to me) stories overall. The first book in the series had the second best mix. The second book was the weakest.
