This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Portraits of Murder
Series: ———-
Editor: Alfred Hitchcock
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Crime Fiction
Pages: 607
Words: 241K
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.
★★★★☆
Table of Contents:
Click to Open
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
No comments:
Post a Comment