The Plot Thickens

Fearless Jones #0.5

by Mary Higgins Clark, Janet Evanovich

Joining together for a good cause brings out the best in today's top mystery and suspense writers! For this marvelously entertaining anthology, these outstanding contributors rose to a unique literary challenge: each penned a tale that ingeniously features a thick fog, a thick book, and a thick steak. The result is a collection of wonderfully imaginative tales that both chill the spine and warm the heart: proceeds from The Plot Thickens will help bring the gift of reading to millions of disadvantaged Americans.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Mystery Thriller, Humor, Suspense

Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

The #1 New York Times bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark has written thirty-eight suspense novels, four collections of short stories, a his­torical novel, a memoir, and two children’s books. With bestselling author Alafair Burke she wrote the Under Suspicion series. With her daughter Carol Higgins Clark, she has coauthored five more suspense novels. Her sister-in-law is the also author Mary Jane Clark.

Clark’s books have sold more than 100 million copies in the United States alone. Her books are beloved around the world and made her an international bestseller many times over.

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an anthology by several authors including Mary Higgins Clark, Lawrence Block, Edna Buchanan, Carol Higgins Clark, Lauren Demille and Janet Evanovich. These authors came together to benefit a literacy group.

Each author wrote a short story that had to include a thick fog, a thick steak, and a think book. This idea was a great one and half the entertainment came from seeing how each author encompassed all three elements into one story.

My favorite story in the book though had to be the Janet Evanovich one. It was a short story with Stephanie, Lula, and Grandma Mazur in it. The placement in the books was a great idea. It was right in the middle of the heavier stories. Gave you a good laugh and then you go on to the deeper ones.

I give it a 4 out of 5. It's a great idea for a great cause, a good book for a rainy day or day at the park with the kids.

[Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is solely for "Thick-Headed," the first Fearless Jones tale, which was a short story in this collection.

This story doesn't really compare to the other three Fearless novels. It's a bit overstuffed with plot and light on character development or introduction, and it's obvious that Walter Mosley needed a full novel to really bring Paris Minton and Fearless Jones to life.

That said, I'm always in the mood for one of Mosley's noir yarns about 1950s Los Angeles.

Recommended for fans of the Fearless Jones trilogy.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the better anthologies that I have read lately. Quite divertgent takes on three plot elements - thick fog, thick steak, and thick book.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the "requirement" to enter a short story in this book was interesting....... outlined at the beginning of the book. I guess I had higher expectations of the book... the stories kind of let me down. I am usually blown away when an author writes a great short story......... these just left me nodding my head at the inevitable ends to each story.

[Crystal Toller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an anthology of short stories by a lot of authors I haven't read before. I really enjoyed this collection. I saw it at the library and decided this seemed like a good read. There is even a story by Ann Rule. Very good editing and stories that grabbed my attention from the first. Highly recommend this book.

[Adam Bricker · Rating 4 out of 5]

It promotes itself as a short story collection written by mystery/suspense writers and that's what it delivers. Some stories were "meh" and some I really enjoyed and would like to see fleshed out to novella/novel length. Overall a good read that is worth picking up.

[Trish Goodgame · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was so long ago that I read this book (borrowed from the library) that I can't actually remember much about it! I found all my library slips and am going through them and adding them to my read list.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

11 short mysteries by some of the biggest names in the genre. Each story contains a thick book, thick steak, and thick fog. Interesting to see how these come into the story, either as a main feature or sideline.

Recommended for any mystery fans.

[Angie Titus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just okay for me. I really liked some of the stories, and some of the stories I really didn't like, but most of them were...okay. You can tell the book is 30 years old; it was outdated, and some of the language was offensive. In all, it wasn't too bad, but it wasn't anything special.

[Erika · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 I enjoyed a couple of the stories (Mary Higgins Clark's one specifically felt like an episode of Criminal Minds), but as a whole, this was just kind of bland. Not necessarily bad, but I'm just quite indifferent to a lot of the stories. Very dated, too.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great short stories! Good leisure read.

[Crystal Fawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Hanjun · Rating 3 out of 5]

About half of the stories deserve 4 stars or even 5. But the rest isn’t quite of the same quality.

[Greta Sneed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining. An easy, fast read. Going from one suspenseful tale to the next kept me up past midnight.

[Tabatha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This rating is for Thick-headed

[Betty Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Short stories where each author had to include fog,thick steak and a thick book.

[Kathie Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very fun anthology of short stories that had to include three items, enjoyed all the stories

[Mari · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read of multiple mysteries! So fun to try so many authors in one book! Funny requirements: a thick book, a thick steak & a thick fog!

[Penny Dobbins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Higgins Clark presented a short story hit. A writers’ dream.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another of the books that came from my great-aunt's house. I gave it a second glance because of Mary Higgins Clark's name and actually read it because of Linda Fairstein. Several of the other authors were known to me, and then there was a few that I had never heard of. I didn't reaalize until I read the foreword, that there was a theme to concur in each tale; a mention of thick fog, a word about a thick book and a hint to a thick steak.

"How Far It Would Go" by Lawrence Block.
A short introduction to the collected stories that mainly seemed to be written for the sole purpose of meeting the requirements of thick book/steak/fog. It never really caught my eye and was over before it began. Not the best introduction to an author I have never read. -2 stars

"Foolproof" by Edna Buuchanan
Another writer that was new to me. A clever story, well-written, despite not really having an explanation. However, I am sure that explaining how it could be possible would make for a much larger story. -3 stars

The Man Next Door" by Mary Higgins Clark
I enjoyed this short from Ms. Clark, much as I have done many of her books in the past. It was in-depth, and played out an entire plot, not leaving the reader feeling as if a few pages had been ripped from another book and presented to them as a short. I do not recall a mention of fog, but I might have been too engrossed in the story to realize. -3 stars

"Too Many Cooks" by Carol Higgins Clark
I was not impressed with this installment. It read as filler material. A slapped together tale, written with the purpose of mentioning the 3 thick items. I've never really enjoyed the daughter's books as much as the mother's and this just drove that point home. -2 stars

"Revenge and Rebellion" by Nelson DeMille and Lauren DeMille.
Whereas I had heard of Nelson DeMille, this was my first encounter with either of these writers and I was left feeling relieved when the tale ended. I can understand the direction that the writers wished to take the ending, but the overall plot felt rushed. My least favorite of the set. -1 star

"The Last Peep" by Janet Evanovich
Having read several Evanovich's books and novellas, I was not surprised to see Stephanie Plum as her focal point. It read like any of the other Plum novels that I have read, but I think I enjoyed it a bit more due to the fact that I knew it was a mini version of a book, instead of a full novel. I can only take so much Plum in one sitting, which is why I stopped reading the books after whatever the 3rd one was. This was another entry that I don't recall fog being mentioned.-3 stars

"Going Under" by Linda Fairstein
This is the reason that I cracked the anthology open in the first place. I was hoping for a Cooper 0.5, or 2.5, but was satisfied with a well written, creepy case that took place in Coop's world with the added bonus of Mike Chapman. It made reading this whole set worth it. -4 stars

"Thick-Headed" by Walter Mosley
My first encounter with another author, and another involving a beloved favorite. The basic idea behind the plot wasn't attention grabbing and I felt there was too many players. The story was practically over before I could realize who was who, so I just moved on to the next contribution. -2 stars

"Love's Cottage" by Nancy Pickard.
I'm not sure if I have read a book by Pickard, but I know the name. I really liked this story and wished that it had been longer, much as I had with the Fairstein. This idea for a tale hooked my attention and I would read a full-length novel on the subject. -4 stars

"The Road Trip" by Ann Rule.
Since MS. Rule is known for her true crime novels, this entry kind of gave me the creeps, as I can't help but feel that it might be based on something that she knows really happened. I've never read any of Rule's previous writings, but I liked this short. It was well written, detailed and contained a self-contained story that read as a whole. Granted it could have been expanded, much as most, but it was perfectly fine the way that it was. - 3.5 stars

"Take It Away" by Donald E. Westlake
Quick and short, but not a high note to end the book on. This one read as filler as well, and while slightly entertaining, a weak link in the book. -2.5 stars

All stars added together gives a 2.72 rating, so I rounded up, mainly because of the two that I really enjoyed and the other few that were enjoyable.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eleven suspenseful short stories involving thick that twist the ending from the expected.

Series
"Last Peep" (Stephanie Plum, xx.5)
"Thick Headed" (Fearless Jones, 0.5)

The Stories
Lawrence Block's "How Far It Could Go" is a slightly scary encounter between a woman wronged and a guy who owns parking lots, reads books, and sets up bully boys. It's a do-it, don't-do-it scenario with all the ramifications spelled out.

Edna Buchanan's "Foolproof" finds Detective Dan Flood and Dr. George Webb, the Dade County Medical Examiner at point-non-plus with a set of fingerprints...that match two guys.

Mary Higgins Clark's "Man Next Door" makes you realize you just ain't safe anywhere and pay attention! A serial killer versus love.

Carol Higgins Clark's "Too Many Cooks" is actually rather funny with Ellie Butternut on location to act in a commercial for a steak sauce with an ambitious director. That damned rash she suffered is back again...and sets off her radar.

Nelson DeMille and Lauren DeMille's "Revenge and Rebellion" is too, too funny! A dumped writer who creates a magnum opus of her short life, dwelling on every single feeling she's ever had and how awful everyone else is to and around her! And the agent who tells her the truth. The ending was absolutely hilarious!

Janet Evanovich's "Last Peep" occurs a year into Stephanie's working for Vinnie when she and Lula track down Sammy the Squirrel. Dead. It's definitely a Plum scenario but with less of the usual hilarity although it is Steph, Lula, and Grandma who work out the real whodunnit and leave it with a nice sense of frontier justice. No Joe or Ranger in this one.

Linda Fairstein's "Going Under" finds Officer Samantha Atwell agreeing to visit the dentist for her abscessed tooth in exchange for a promotion. Seems the guy is a bit too handy...

Walter Mosley's "Thick Headed" is convoluted and very complicated in its short length of betrayals and vengeance. Pimps, whores, gangsters, and a family torn up. It's amazing how much detail Mosley can get in, in just a few pages.

Nancy Pickard's "Love's Cottage" was rather unsatisfying. A fictional account of events occurring a few days before a tragic fire at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin in Wisconsin putting it down to the damaged ego of a newly-hired butler as seen from his wife's, the new cook's, perspective.

Ann Rule's "Road Trip" was also unsatisfying with its ending. I wanted her to leave the bugger! Instead, Blair Scott took the newfound courage she found after the road trip she took across the Cascades to Wenatchee and returned to the controlling, jealous husband she left.

The whole trucker thing made no sense whatsoever. What were the drivers doing so far from "home territory" driving a big rig that followed that particular road?? Why on earth would they imagine that Blair could take them seriously? Duh...

Donald E. Westlake's "Take It Away" is pretty funny with a long line at the local Burger Whopper where one of the screw-up FBI agents is picking up food for the team on stakeout on a person-of-interest in a series of art thefts from European churches. It's all about a conversation between two guys waiting in line. A conversation filled with innuendo that could go two ways.

Oh man, I can definitely see why this group of Feebies are screw-ups...

The Cover and Title
The cover is quite dull and boring with its strip of red for the promoting author's name, the gray perspective with a table setting of one extremely thick book, blood spilling down the side accented with the thick goggles and all followed by a slightly larger black filled with contributing author's names.

The title sounds more like a catchy-sounding manual for writers with tips on how to write. Instead, it actually refers to the twisty ends of the individual stories.

[aCupcakeBlonde · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really only interested in reading three stories from this collection. The ones by Janet Evanovich, Mary Higgins Clar and Carol Higgins Clark. Those are the three authors I know and love. While the stories were nothing truly special they were entertaining in their own ways. It was an interesting twist to have all the authors include the three specific things in their stories: a thick steak, a thick fog and a thick book. I found myself searching for these items like a Where's Waldo for plots. In Evanovich's story I missed any mention of Morelli and Rnager. Not having them included with Stephanie made it feel not like a Stephanie Plum story. Mary Higgins Clark had my favorite tale and managed to weave a lot of suspense into one small story. I liked Carol Higgins Clark's story the least and felt it really had little to no direction or meaning. I did try to read a few of the other author's submissions but could not get into them.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book of short stories - some really good, others not so good (in my opinion). I rated each one, then averaged the scores for the book rating of 3.36. Here are the ratings for each story:

5 for "How Far It Could Go" by Lawrence Block (my favorite story in the book!)
2 for "Foolproof" by Edna Buchanan
4 for "The Man Next Door" by Mary Higgins Clark (I almost always like her writing)
3 for "Too Many Cooks" by Carol Higgins Clark (just not quite as good as her mother)
3 for "Revenge and Rebellion" by Nelson and Lauren DeMille
2 for "The Last Peep" by Janet Evanovich (I lowered the 3 I would have given due to language)
3 for "Going Under" by Linda Fairstein
3 for "Thick-Headed" by Walter Mosley
4 for "Love's Cottage" by Nancy Pickard
4 for "The Road Trip" by Ann Rule
4 for "Take It Away" by Donald E Westlake

[Rumeur · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book of 11 short stories that Mary Higgins Clark asked friends to each wrote a story and proceeds from sale of book went to a literacy program
I enjoyed how each author incorporated the three items into their stories. They had to include 1) a thick steak 2) a thick book and 3) thick fog. Some were better at disguising these things and working them into the story where you could easily forget where they were in, whereas others made it quite obvious and in my opinion the first story, that author tried to get finished with that part with a paragraph or two.
Most if the stories were entertaining but as in al collections there's always a few that make you wonder why it was included or why that author was included

All in all they were entertaining and of course my two favorites were by Janet Evanovich and Mary Higgins Clark

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tara and I read this for book club after feeling an urge to read a best selling mystery suspense book. We read short stories by many. They ranged from dirty dentist, to serial killer scary, to 3 lady bounty hunters taking justice into their own hands but only after they were thinking more clearly on a stomach full of chocolate cake. Oh I liked the one about the woman thinking of hiring a thug to work on her ex-husband but maybe ending up dating him cause of his irresistible charm and straight forward compliments. I think his name was like Johnny Parking Lots. All of the stories featured a thick book, a thick fog, and a thick steak. Soon we are going to eat steak as a celebration of completion.

[Ronald Wise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is apparently a collection of original mystery stories written or solicited by Mary Higgins Clark. The edition I read (large print) was lacking the introduction apparently in the original edition, so I'm left supposing that these were stories solicited from the contributing authors, and perhaps with a list of topics which had to be mentioned — they all seemed to have fog, steak, and a mentioned lack of cell phones (or other communication device). A couple of the stories were rather lame, a couple very gripping, and the rest a pleasant read. This collection came to my attention numerous times because of contributing authors I've enjoyed: Clark herself, Walter Moseley, Nelson DeMille, and Janet Evanovich.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the most part I enjoy short-stories because they are just that...short. If I don't like it I skip to the next one and a whole new world opens up. The stories tend to get right to the point fairly quickly, no unnecessary nattering on about things not pertinent. I did enjoy this book in particular. All of the included stories were well written, flowed smoothly and were all different. I especially liked "How Far It Could Go" by Lawrence Block. An interesting twist in there I didn't see coming. "Too Many Cooks" by Mary Higgins Clark was also good. I will probably reread this book at least a few more times as I do all my short-story books depending on my mood and interest in other reading material available.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best collection of short stories I have ever read in my life (literally). Most collections like these tempt me to read a mere handful stories before I set the book aside, completely bored. Not this one. I read all the way to the end. The only two I did not like happened to be the last two short stories, so I was at the end anyway and read on. Without a doubt, and like another reviewer said, the best short story was Janet Evanovich's, starring Stephanie Plum, Lulu and Grandma Mazur. The latter had such a one-liner that I ended up dropping the book and laughing my butt off for at least five minutes. And with that, I became a fan of the Stephanie Plum series.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories by Lawrence Block, Edna Buchanan, Mary & Carol Higgins Clark, Nelson & Lauren DeMille, Janet Evanovich, Linda Fairstein, Walter Mosely, Nancy Pickard, Ann Rule, & Donald E. Westlake.

I read this specifically for the Janet Evanovich story, but also enjoyed most of the others (except for Mosely & Pickard, just couldn't get interested). Each story features the following: a thick fog, a thick steak, & a thick book. All in all, it was pretty cool seeing how the authors incorporated these elements into their stories.

[Sara ♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I FINALLY finished. It was a cute little story. I thought it was pretty obvious who did it, but I LOVED the ending..... :) Bad people will always get their comeuppance eventually!!! ;)

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Janet Evanovich has a short story in this anthology about Stephanie Plum... The story takes place between Books 3 and 4. I just got it through Interlibrary Loan, so I'm reading it out of order. There's no Morelli though... which makes sense if you read the first chapter of Book 4. Morelli.... *shakes her fist at him*