Portraits of Murder 4Stars

 

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Title: Portraits of Murder
Series: ----------
Editor: Alfred Hitchcock
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Crime Fiction
Pages: 607
Words: 241K

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This is the final Alfred Hitchcock collection that I have access to. After this, I have several of the issues of the new magazine. So it seems fitting to end this reading journey, which started in 2021 with “Death Mate”, with a gigantic collection (it is over 600 pages after all) of murder, almost murder and revenge.

Of the 47 stories, I found that only 2 or 3 were repeats and they were good enough that I didn’t mind reading them again. This kept me occupied for almost a week, as I would just dip my toes into its pages each night until I was tired enough to go to sleep. That’s a great way to read a collection of short stories.

The final 10 or so stories dealt with the supernatural. There was a clear demarcation up to that point. Everything up to then had been plain old people doing dirty or being done dirty. Then suddenly things got all supernatural. It was kind of jarring, as it felt like a completely different collection. Murder was still the main dish, but suddenly the menu with all the sides had changed, dramatically. It was like I went from having the option of ordering loaded baked potatoes, cheese sticks or onion rings to carrot sticks, apple slices or plain yoghurt. And that is why this collection was 4stars and not more. It was too much of a change for me to comfortably enjoy.

★★★★☆

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Table of Contents:

EDWARD D. HOCH—Shattered Rainbow

DONALD HONIG—Wonderful, Wonderful Violence

LAWRENCE BLOCK—The Most Unusual Snatch

NEDRA TYRE—A Murder Is Arranged

HENRY SLESAR—The Poisoned Pawn

DON TOTHE—The Lifesaver

JACK RITCHIE—What Frightened You, Fred?

HAROLD Q. MASUR—Doctor’s Dilemma

CLARK HOWARD—Money To Burn

BABS H. DEAL—The House Guest

WILLIAM LINK and RICHARD LEVINSON—The Man in the Lobby

LAWRENCE TREAT—Family Code

WILLIAM BANKIER—To Kill an Angel

PAULINE C. SMITH—That Monday Night

CHARLES W. RUNYON—The Waiting Room

CLARK HOWARD—The Keeper

BILL PRONZINI—The Jade Figurine

REYNOLD JUNKER—The Volunteers

EDWARD D. HOCH—Arbiter of Uncertainties

FLETCHER FLORA—Variations on an Episode

ED LACY—Finders-Killers

W. E. DAN ROSS—The Pearls of Li Pong

MICHAEL COLLINS—Who?

STANLEY ABBOTT—A Quiet Backwater

PHIL DAVIS—Murder, Anyone?

WILLIAM JEFFREY—The Island

HAL ELLSON—Room to Let

AL NUSSBAUM—The One Who Got Away

BRYCE WALTON—Unidentified and Dead

EDWIN P. HICKS—The Lure and the Clue

BORDEN DEAL—The Big Bajoor

JACK RITCHIE—The Operator

DONALD OLSON—The Souvenir

NANCY SCHACHTERLE—Speak Well for the Dead

JONATHAN CRAIG—The Girl in Gold

DONALD HONIG—Minutes of Terror

ARTHUR PORGES—Puddle

LAWRENCE BLOCK—When This Man Dies

ELIJAH ELLIS—Public Office

MARGARET B. MARON—The Beast Within

C. B. GILFORD—Murder in Mind

ARTHUR PORGES—The Invisible Tomb

JAMES H. SCHMITZ—Just Curious

HENRY SLESAR—The Girl Who Found Things

CLAYTON MATTHEWS—Death Trance

GEORGE C. CHESBRO—The Healer

PATRICK O’KEEFFE—Murder by Dream

• All of My “Alfred Hitchcock” Reviews