Sisters On the Case

October 1, 2007
This eclectic anthology from a variety of female mystery writers has something to please every fan. Editor and contributor Paretsky (V.I. Warshawski series) introduces the anthology with a brief history of Sisters in Crime, an organization formed by Paretsky in 1987 to help boost the profiles of women crime writers. The stories range in tone from Sue Henry's (Jessie Arnold series) haunting, lyrical "Sister Death" to "Murder for Lunch," Carolyn Hart's (Death on Demand series) tale of misunderstandings and murder. Libby Fischer Hellmann (Ellie Foreman series) and Susan Dunlap (Jill Smith series) both tackle the turbulent world of 1960s radicals from different perspectives, with tales of a captured fugitive and violent conflicts with the police. The collection also includes an early story from the late Charlotte MacLeod's impressive body of work, as well as a new story from Dorothy Salisbury Davis, a pioneer in the genre since the 1950s. Mystery fans will delight in reading new pieces from old favorites, as well as discovering new voices from every corner of this diverse genre.

Starred review from November 1, 2007
Overall, "A Hell of a Woman"featuring largely pink-collar workers, housewives, and studentsis raw, given its language and level of violence. Most memorable are Rebecca Pawel's "The Kiss of Death," in which women collectively deal with the "fat jerk" at their tango dances, Eddie Muller's "The Grand Inquisitor," with its twist on the Zodiac Killer, and Charlie Huston's "Interrogation B," a laconic account of a female cop at work. Although some of the women are perpetrators, the impression left by this cutting-edge anthology is of women as victims of men.

Because women mystery writers had been largely ignored by the publishing industry, a handful of them met in 1986 to form Sisters in Crime to make their work knownand it worked. Marking the organization's 20th anniversary, "Sisters on the Case" spotlights 20 stories (only three of them previously published) by its founders and leaders, now established names in the genre. Paretsky describes her popular PI's first case, in which ten-year-old V.I. Warshawski inadvertently solves a mob murder during the 1966 Chicago race riots. Barbara D'Amato, Margaret Maron, and Nancy Pickard provide delicious final twists in their tales about dealing with a wife's lover, dividing a mother's estate, and double-talking about death. Accomplished work.

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2007
Best-selling mystery writer Paretsky has collected20 stories from contemporary women mystery writers to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of Sisters in Crime. As Paretsky relates in her introduction, Sisters in Crime, a writers group for women designed to help generate ideas and publication, began with a grudge: women writers, two decades ago, werent getting published nearly as often as men, and if they were to be published, they didnt receive nearly the amount of review attention. Now there are many chapters of the group and about4,000 members worldwide. This collection highlights mostly new stories (only 3 were published previously) from women who helped get Sisters in Crime off the ground, including Paretsky, Barbara DAmato, Dorothy Salisbury Davis, Sue Henry, Nancy Pickard, and Charlotte MacLeod. Information about each author is given at the books end.There is no real thematic glue holding this collection togetherother than the involvement of thecontributors in Sisters in Crimebut the stories are of acceptable quality, and theauthors names will attractsome interest. Of great appeal to Sisters in Crime suppporters; a more marginal purchase beyond that.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)