September 25, 2003

The Charlotte Austin Review Ltd.

Review: Crimestalker Casebook

Crimestalker Casebook Editor: Andrew McAleer
Falconcroft Press
Periodical, quarterly. Winter issue - 35 pages
ISSN15207463
Reviewed by Pevorah Stone
Available by subscription from the publisher

The Crimestalker Casebook revives the art and science of the mystery short story. This eclectic collection includes mystery short stories, essays, book reviews, interviews and poetry.

The editor Andrew McAIeer has assembled intriguing fiction by John Shepphird Michael Mallory, Jonathan Harrington, Clayton Emery and Margaret DiCanio. The stories range from hard boiled, humorous, modern gothic to historical mysteries. These writers are masters of both the mystery and the short story. Each story has a strong hook and an unexpected ending.

Scorned by Jonathan Harrington is a psychological drama about revenge. Before their wedding, Jason confesses his unfaithfulness to Lorna but he reluctantly agrees to go ahead with the wedding to please her parents. After the wedding, Jason tells Loma that he loves her and it will never happen again. Lorna Cromwell devises a plot to test her new husband's resolve during their Caribbean Island honeymoon. The writer explores the personalities and social circumstances of the newlyweds, creating a fast but delightful story.

John Vernon's essay The Holmes in Rumpole is an amusing examination of the differences and surprising similarities of these two well-known fictional sleuths. At first it seems as though the Chateau Fleet Street drinking, overweight married Rumpole could not have anything in common with fit, sober (except when indulging in cocaine), razor sharp bachelor Sherlock Holmes. Vernon argues all great sleuths think alike and this one similarity overrides all others.

The stories, essays and interviews are interspersed with poetry. Kelly Lawrence's full page rhyming poem Poetry Noir has a stanza for all the classic literary sleuths. These clever rhymes round out this excellent anthology.