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Guppy Anthology
Fish Tales: The Guppy Anthology
Multiple Award nominations including Agatha, Anthony and Macavity Fish Tales, The Guppy Anthology, casts a wide net across the mystery genre, delivering thrills, chills, and gills. This water-themed collection features locked room puzzles, police procedurals, cozy characters and hardboiled detectives. With a pool of motivations ranging from greed and revenge to loyalty and justice, these stories will lure you in with killer hooks and fishy characters. Come on in, the water's fine. But be careful, or you might find yourself sleeping with the fishes. INTRODUCTION, by Chris Roerden THICKER THAN BLOOD, by Leslie Budewitz THE SECRET OF THE RED MULLET, by Nancy Adams ACCIDENTS HAPPEN, by James Montgomery Jackson IDENTITY CRISIS, by Diane Vallere SLEEPING WITH THE FISH, by KB Inglee FEEDING FRENZY, by Patricia Winton SASE, by Karen Pullen NEW AGE OLD STORY, by Sarah E. Glenn THE SHADOW OF THE RIVER, by Gigi Pandian THE TURKEY HILL AFFAIR, by Warren Bull SOMETHING FISHY, by Peggy Ehrhart THE TRUCK CONTEST, by Kaye George AMAZING GRACE, by Betsy Bitner A MURDER RUNS THROUGH IT, by Annette Dashofy DEAD-EYE GRAVY, by Krista Davis THE PROFESSOR'S BOOKS, by Gloria Alden KOI PALACE, by Heidi Saunders SOMETHING FISHY THIS WAY COMES, by Deborah J. Benoit PALACE ON THE LAKE, by Daryl Wood Gerber FATAL FISH FLOP, by Beth Groundwater THE FRAIN LEGACY, by Darlene Ryan THE CRITIQUE GROUP, by Patricia Gulley
230 pages, Paperback
First published March 23, 2011
1 person is currently reading
320 people want to read
About the author
Ramona DeFelice Long
17 books19 followersRamona DeFelice Long was a writer and frequent literary judge.. Ramona received numerous awards from the Division and most recently, in 2016, the prestigious Masters Fellowship in Literature: Fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 14, 2011
The Sisters in Crime GUPPY Chapter has come up with a winning recipe for mystery and intrigue. The twenty-two stories that make up Fish Tales are a tasty blend of flavors and writing styles. The anthology is well-written and has enough variety to suit any mystery reader. I look forward to seeing more from these new voices in mystery fiction.
While the collection as a whole is very good, there are some stories that were so delightful or delightfully evil that they merit individual recognition. My personal favorite story was Betsy Bitner's Amazing Grace. Her murder method is ingenious and her writing style made the story a fun read. I haven't seen Betsy's work before, but will be looking for more. SASE by Karen Pullen was an excellent read. Her dark humor and tongue-in-cheek look at the publishing industry made the story stand out from the crowd. Sarah E. Glenn puts an interesting spin an old fashioned PI story in a new age setting in New Age Old Story. Her characters are well drawn and I would like to see her detective again in a longer work.
With twenty-two authors in the anthology, I don't have space to talk about every story I liked or to mention every author, so I will end with a shout-out to Nancy Adams for her historical mystery story, The Secret of the Red Mullet. Her young protagonist came alive on the page. Her bio states that she is working on novels with an older version of the girl, but she should consider doing some young adult stories with the character.
Now that I have given you a small sampling of what is in store for you in Fish Tales, I hope you'll consider diving into the book and sampling these stories for yourself.
While the collection as a whole is very good, there are some stories that were so delightful or delightfully evil that they merit individual recognition. My personal favorite story was Betsy Bitner's Amazing Grace. Her murder method is ingenious and her writing style made the story a fun read. I haven't seen Betsy's work before, but will be looking for more. SASE by Karen Pullen was an excellent read. Her dark humor and tongue-in-cheek look at the publishing industry made the story stand out from the crowd. Sarah E. Glenn puts an interesting spin an old fashioned PI story in a new age setting in New Age Old Story. Her characters are well drawn and I would like to see her detective again in a longer work.
With twenty-two authors in the anthology, I don't have space to talk about every story I liked or to mention every author, so I will end with a shout-out to Nancy Adams for her historical mystery story, The Secret of the Red Mullet. Her young protagonist came alive on the page. Her bio states that she is working on novels with an older version of the girl, but she should consider doing some young adult stories with the character.
Now that I have given you a small sampling of what is in store for you in Fish Tales, I hope you'll consider diving into the book and sampling these stories for yourself.
November 6, 2024
This was an awesome Anthology,
And I am an admitted Anthology connoisseur and junkie--
I had bought this several years ago, just discovered it in my "unread" Kindle files,
so read it.
It was the Guppies/Sisters-In-Crime first anthology (I believe),
and had some fab stories...I ended up buying the books and even the series'
of many of the writers--
Especially loved the story "Amazing Grace," which is built around the theme of the
old hymn, where the MC is plotting and planning her husband's funeral.
Great idea for another Anthology Theme--old hymns!
Thanks! Love the Guppies and all they do.
And I am an admitted Anthology connoisseur and junkie--
I had bought this several years ago, just discovered it in my "unread" Kindle files,
so read it.
It was the Guppies/Sisters-In-Crime first anthology (I believe),
and had some fab stories...I ended up buying the books and even the series'
of many of the writers--
Especially loved the story "Amazing Grace," which is built around the theme of the
old hymn, where the MC is plotting and planning her husband's funeral.
Great idea for another Anthology Theme--old hymns!
Thanks! Love the Guppies and all they do.
October 9, 2021
The Guppies (short for The Great Unpublished) are a subgroup of Sisters in Crime, and serves as a support group for aspiring crime writers, providing a safe haven where writers in progress can congregate and support each other, and where published writers can offer their expertise and encouragement.
The stories run the gamut from a few where I felt the endings/ reveals were somewhat predictable to some really neat stories. The part I was most impressed about was the variety of how the theme was used - if I hadn't already known, I'm not sure I would have picked up on it.
The stories run the gamut from a few where I felt the endings/ reveals were somewhat predictable to some really neat stories. The part I was most impressed about was the variety of how the theme was used - if I hadn't already known, I'm not sure I would have picked up on it.
October 30, 2019
Usually, I review anthologies bit by bit. But this one was so lackluster that I don't feel like doing that. Most of the mysteries had no mystery about them. They went from Point A to B almost in a straight line. The others may have had some twists but I cannot remember any of them. It means that they failed to leave an impression. I only picked this book for a challenge. It mentions many animals, so if that is what you need to get out of a tight spot in a reading challenge, go ahead! Oh, and it is a short read too, so there's that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 5, 2022
Just read The Shadow of the River by Gigi Pandian.
February 14, 2014
This fun collection of 22 stories all share a common thread of water and/or fish. The way authors work in that theme and comes up with a totally unique story showcases their imaginations very well.
There's too many stories to review them all, but I'll mention some I particularly enjoyed.
Note: In reviewing I ignored my occasional urge to take out a red pencil. This is a "Guppy", or the "Great Unpublished", Anthology, so many of the authors haven't been in print before. I'm not going to nitpicked about using commas correctly or a few run-on sentences. It's the imagination and the story that counts.
That said, the writing style of Identity Crisis by Diane Vallere, had me laughing all the way through.
Some other favorites:
The Secret of the Red Mullet by Nancy Adams, esp. for old Roman setting.
Sleeping with the Fish by KB Inglee, for early 19th-century Quaker setting (with appropriate language & community dynamics)
SASE by Karen Pullen for a clever way of structuring the story
The Professor's Books by Gloria Alden, because I like books about books, and because, well, to avoid a spoiler you'll just have to read it yourself.
The Koi Palace by Heidi Saunders, for the Korean woman working as a hostess in a Chinese restaurant
The Critique Group by Patricia Gulley, because it was just plain fun.
There's too many stories to review them all, but I'll mention some I particularly enjoyed.
Note: In reviewing I ignored my occasional urge to take out a red pencil. This is a "Guppy", or the "Great Unpublished", Anthology, so many of the authors haven't been in print before. I'm not going to nitpicked about using commas correctly or a few run-on sentences. It's the imagination and the story that counts.
That said, the writing style of Identity Crisis by Diane Vallere, had me laughing all the way through.
Some other favorites:
The Secret of the Red Mullet by Nancy Adams, esp. for old Roman setting.
Sleeping with the Fish by KB Inglee, for early 19th-century Quaker setting (with appropriate language & community dynamics)
SASE by Karen Pullen for a clever way of structuring the story
The Professor's Books by Gloria Alden, because I like books about books, and because, well, to avoid a spoiler you'll just have to read it yourself.
The Koi Palace by Heidi Saunders, for the Korean woman working as a hostess in a Chinese restaurant
The Critique Group by Patricia Gulley, because it was just plain fun.
January 31, 2017
As the first anthology of the Sisters in Crime Guppies, it was interesting to find so many now-published authors in this collection: Gigi Pandian, Annette Dashofy, Krista Davis, and Kaye George to name just four. A solid collection, my favourites were THE PROFESSOR'S BOOKS by Gloria Alden and AMAZING GRACE by Betsy Bitner. If you love short crime fiction, this is a collection to consider adding to your library.
August 22, 2012
Each story is written by a member of Sisters in Crime, Guppies (Great Unpublished) Internet Chapter. There are some great little gems. All of the stories held my attention and kept me reading to the end. There were a lot of really good twists. I really enjoyed them. :)
February 16, 2012
Nice stories. I enjoyed them all.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews