Deadly Allies

Deadly Allies #1

by Robert J. Randisi (Editor)

An anthology of mystery works by the two most influential mystery writers' organizations includes stories by Sue Grafton, Loren Estleman, Susan Dunlap, Sara Paretsky, Ben Schutz, Max Allan Collins, Jeremiah Healy, and others.

Contents:
• "Easy Go," by Lia Matera
• "Summary Judgment," by Jeremiah Healy
• "A Little Missionary Work," by Sue Grafton
• "A Good Judge of Character," by Susan Dunlap
• "Sex and Violence," by Nancy Pickard
• "Mary, Mary, Shut the Door," by Benjamin M. Schutz
• "Role Model," by Michael Collins
• "Invitation," by Sarah Andrews
• "Nothing Ventured," by Carolyn G. Hart
• "Whatever Has to Be Done," by Jan Grape
• "Louise," by Max Allan Collins
• "Strung Out," by Sara Paretsky
• "Like Father, Like Daughter," by Sandra Scoppettone
• "Turnabout," by Robert J. Randisi
• "Before You Leap," by John Lutz
• "Hangnail," by Margaret B. Maron
• "Silk Strands," by Julie Smith
• "Safe House," by Loren D. Estleman
• "Unfinished Business," by Rob Kantner
• "Reunion," by Marilyn Wallace

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Anthologies, Canon

Audio Cassette

First published March 1, 1992

About the author

Robert Joseph Randisi was a prolific American author, editor, and screenwriter, best known for his work in detective and Western fiction. He wrote over 650 books, including The Gunsmith series under the pen name J.R. Roberts, and edited more than 30 anthologies. A co-founder of Mystery Scene magazine, the American Crime Writers League, and Western Fictioneers, he also established The Private Eye Writers of America and created the Shamus Award. Randisi collaborated on novels with Eileen Davidson and Vince Van Patten, and created memorable characters such as Miles Jacoby, Joe Keough, and The Rat Pack. He received multiple lifetime achievement awards and the John Seigenthaler Humanitarian Award.

Reviews

[Elena Santangelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone told me once that an anthology of short stories by many authors is like a box of chocolates (no, it wasn't Forrest Gump). You're bound to like some and not others. This audio version of the book only contained 8 of the stories from the anthology, though the description misleading stated "unabridged short stories."

In this anthology, I liked 2 a lot, disliked 1 a lot, one left me saying "huh?" and the rest were decent reads. The 2 I liked were "A Little Missionary Work" by Sue Grafton, and "Easy Go" by Lia Matera. Both stories were read by Loretta Swit, whose only fault in her reading was a tendency to try to make male voices too low.

The reader in audio can make or break a story. Margaret Maron's "Hangnail" was a nice little puzzle and I think would have made the liked-a-lot category, but David Dukes's narrative voice was rather bland and took energy from the prose. His character voices were terrific, though, so the story is definitely worth a listen. In Jeremiah Healy's "Summary Judgement", Dukes's voices were so good, you'd swear more than one person was reading the dialogues. The plot, though, is a bit bogged down by legal concepts, I thought. Still, not a bad way to spend an hour.

On the whole, I'd recommend this anthology.

[Christine Lucia Asha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read the SISTERS in this book. Mostly they were great stories. I did notice some bad editing on the VI story though...

[Dixie Dylla · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first 3 stories in this book of shorts were good, of course I expected that... the authors Sue Grafton & Margaret Maron were the reason I purchased this book. I also enjoyed the stories by Lia Matera & Sara Paretsky, authors that I’ve not read before. That’s the first half of the book. The last half, I could have done without, thus the 3-star rating. If you can get it on sale like I did... it might be worth the read since both Grafton & Maron have passed away & previously published short stories are the only “new” reads you might find for either of them...

[nanrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short fiction collection from the early 90s, this is an alright series of stories. some are better than others, none are very mysterious, but each one is short enough to not lose its charm. some of the stories are delightfully noirish, as well. The stories are loosely paired together by theme. Very loosely, in some cases. Stand out stories for me include "Like Father Like Daughter," "Silk Strands," and "Look Before you Leap." The last story in the anthology was pretty bad but they can't all be winners.