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Death Comes Too Late
CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF HARD CASE CRIME –
20 UNFORGETTABLE STORIES BY HARD CASE CRIME FOUNDER CHARLES ARDAI
“A MASTER OF THE SHORT STORY.” – STEPHEN KING
Since debuting 20 years ago, Hard Case Crime has won acclaim for publishing the best in hardboiled crime fiction – not least of all the work of founding editor Charles Ardai, which has won the Edgar, Shamus and Ellery Queen Awards, been selected for ‘Best of the Year’ anthologies, and earned praise from everyone from the Washington Post and Chicago Tribune to Megan Abbott and Stephen King.
Collected here for the first time anywhere are the author’s 20 finest stories, including his Edgar-winning “The Home Front,” about death and repentance during World War II; the Shamus Award finalist “Nobody Wins,” about a brutal gangland enforcer searching for the woman he loves; and year’s-best selections such as “A Bar Called Charley’s,” about a traveling salesman’s most grueling night on the road. From Brazil at Carnival to Times Square at midnight, from Tijuana, Mexico to history’s first gunshot in 11th-century China, Ardai will take you to some of the most dangerous places in the world – and the darkest corners of the human heart.
20 UNFORGETTABLE STORIES BY HARD CASE CRIME FOUNDER CHARLES ARDAI
“A MASTER OF THE SHORT STORY.” – STEPHEN KING
Since debuting 20 years ago, Hard Case Crime has won acclaim for publishing the best in hardboiled crime fiction – not least of all the work of founding editor Charles Ardai, which has won the Edgar, Shamus and Ellery Queen Awards, been selected for ‘Best of the Year’ anthologies, and earned praise from everyone from the Washington Post and Chicago Tribune to Megan Abbott and Stephen King.
Collected here for the first time anywhere are the author’s 20 finest stories, including his Edgar-winning “The Home Front,” about death and repentance during World War II; the Shamus Award finalist “Nobody Wins,” about a brutal gangland enforcer searching for the woman he loves; and year’s-best selections such as “A Bar Called Charley’s,” about a traveling salesman’s most grueling night on the road. From Brazil at Carnival to Times Square at midnight, from Tijuana, Mexico to history’s first gunshot in 11th-century China, Ardai will take you to some of the most dangerous places in the world – and the darkest corners of the human heart.
395 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 12, 2024
49 people are currently reading
292 people want to read
About the author
Charles Ardai
75 books110 followersCharles Ardai is a founder of Hard Case Crime, a pulp crime novel publisher, as well as an editor and author. In 1991 he received the Pearlman Prize for his fiction. He also writes under the pen name Richard Aleas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
March 11, 2024
The latest novel from Hard Case Crime is a collection of twenty short stories, originally published over a 33-year period. Coming in March 2024, to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Hard Case Crime, Ardai, the editor and founder of Hard Case Crime, releases this collection of twenty unrelated little gems.
Besides crime fiction, the sort of consistent theme running through these stories – at least some of them- is a sense of sardonic surprise because not everything or everyone is quite who you think they are. This remains true from a wartime ration checker to a guy who takes on the crew who put his wife in a coma to the guy who manages to win a concession from a hardened gangster. As you read these stories, be on the lookout for characters who rise to the occasion and become someone they never would have suspected.
The review follows an advance reader’s copy
Besides crime fiction, the sort of consistent theme running through these stories – at least some of them- is a sense of sardonic surprise because not everything or everyone is quite who you think they are. This remains true from a wartime ration checker to a guy who takes on the crew who put his wife in a coma to the guy who manages to win a concession from a hardened gangster. As you read these stories, be on the lookout for characters who rise to the occasion and become someone they never would have suspected.
The review follows an advance reader’s copy
February 22, 2024
An outstanding collection of wide ranging crime fiction. Ardai has serious talent for evocative prose, snappy dialogue and keen detail. My particular favorites include:
A Bar Called Charley's - A character study of a despondent traveling salesman that gets caught up in a messy robbery.
The Case - A botched assassination brimming with explosive suspense.
Nobody Wins - A classic case of a PI hunting down a missing person, only the client is a mob enforcer whose fiancé has disappeared. Full of deliciously shady characters.
Thank you to Hard Case Crime for providing an ARC!
A Bar Called Charley's - A character study of a despondent traveling salesman that gets caught up in a messy robbery.
The Case - A botched assassination brimming with explosive suspense.
Nobody Wins - A classic case of a PI hunting down a missing person, only the client is a mob enforcer whose fiancé has disappeared. Full of deliciously shady characters.
Thank you to Hard Case Crime for providing an ARC!
February 19, 2024
Thank you Charles Ardai and Hard Case Crime (HCC) for a prepublication eARC of Death Comes Too Late, a collection of 20 short stories by Ardai celebrating 20 years since HCC started publication. The stories by Ardai were originally published from 1990 to 2023 and include award winners. Some of the original publications include Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. Expected publication is March 2024.
The stories are a mixture of noir / crime stories and do not disappoint. The first two stories are a punch to the solar plexus and the collection continues from there through to the final story, a Confucian detective (police) procedural. Like many short stories, there often is a twist at the end. Ardai does an excellent job of writing an unexpected (but believable) ending. I basically read the stories through over a week, but definitely a recommended read if you like to go through them one after another, or if you like to savor them one at a time over weeks.
Here's hoping for many more years of HCC. Thanks C. Ardai!
The stories are a mixture of noir / crime stories and do not disappoint. The first two stories are a punch to the solar plexus and the collection continues from there through to the final story, a Confucian detective (police) procedural. Like many short stories, there often is a twist at the end. Ardai does an excellent job of writing an unexpected (but believable) ending. I basically read the stories through over a week, but definitely a recommended read if you like to go through them one after another, or if you like to savor them one at a time over weeks.
Here's hoping for many more years of HCC. Thanks C. Ardai!
February 21, 2024
I had the pleasure to read an advance copy of Charles Ardai's upcoming collection of 20 short stories to celebrate Hard Case Crime's 20th anniversary. Death Comes Too Late was one of my most anticipated reads for 2024, and the collection exceeded my expectations!
"Grow until your mind is the size of the world. Do not try to compress the world to make it fit inside your mind."
–Charles Ardai
"Grow until your mind is the size of the world. Do not try to compress the world to make it fit inside your mind."
–Charles Ardai
March 15, 2024
Charles Ardai writes in the introduction of this book that when compared to a novel, "a well-crafted short story has pleasures all its own, not limited to brevity." I couldn't agree more. I've always been a lover of short stories and was more than excited when Ardai's collection celebrating 20 years of Hard Case Crime was announced. These stories are certainly tied together by a theme, even if decades separate their writing. The collection never feels homogenized though. There's just too much variety for that. Stories of Chinese detectives, comic book super heroes and Elvis lie within these pages. It's fun, it's heavy, it's dark - it's a wonderful celebration of 20 years of wonderful crime fiction. Here's to 20 more.
February 27, 2024
Writing reviews of short story collections is hard. Maybe a little easier when it's the same author. With Death Comes Too Late Charles Ardai has made it pretty easy to review since they're all really, really good. The Hard Case Crime Library has become automatic reads for me in the past twenty years and this collection celebrates that by reminding us that he himself, is a gifted writer. I've read a few of these before, along with a couple of his novels and comic books and my admiration for him has only grown. Like with any good short story collection there were some stories I liked more than others, but there isn't a bad one in the bunch and writing short fiction is its own art and Charles Ardai is a master of this art.
Special Thanks to Hard Case Crime, Titan Books and Edelweiss Plus for the digital ARC. This was given to me for an honest review.
Special Thanks to Hard Case Crime, Titan Books and Edelweiss Plus for the digital ARC. This was given to me for an honest review.
February 27, 2024
Titan Books provided an early galley for review.
This cover, painted by Paul Mann, looks like it came right from the paperbacks I would see around town in the early 1970's. Its nostalgic feel drew me into checking this one out.
In the introduction, Ardai talks about how satisfying a good short story can be. He certainly knows from experience as these tales of his here are quite good indeed. The lengths vary - some longer while others shorter (the shortest being just two pages). Ardai though knows how to make the most of his words, to move the narrative along and to convey the concepts cleanly and consisely. I easily found several favorites in the tales presented.
The stories cover over three decades of the author's work, from 1990's "A Bar Called Charley's" to 2023's "Game Over". I definitely connected with some of the stories more than others, but that is always the benefit of collections like this. There is bound to be something that will appeal to every reader.
I also liked the fact that we are given a bit of variety in the settings. Sure, there are several tales with similar themes (like finding a missing woman or committing a murder), but Ardai switches it up by putting the stories into different environments. Vareity is the spice of life, after all.
This cover, painted by Paul Mann, looks like it came right from the paperbacks I would see around town in the early 1970's. Its nostalgic feel drew me into checking this one out.
In the introduction, Ardai talks about how satisfying a good short story can be. He certainly knows from experience as these tales of his here are quite good indeed. The lengths vary - some longer while others shorter (the shortest being just two pages). Ardai though knows how to make the most of his words, to move the narrative along and to convey the concepts cleanly and consisely. I easily found several favorites in the tales presented.
The stories cover over three decades of the author's work, from 1990's "A Bar Called Charley's" to 2023's "Game Over". I definitely connected with some of the stories more than others, but that is always the benefit of collections like this. There is bound to be something that will appeal to every reader.
I also liked the fact that we are given a bit of variety in the settings. Sure, there are several tales with similar themes (like finding a missing woman or committing a murder), but Ardai switches it up by putting the stories into different environments. Vareity is the spice of life, after all.
February 15, 2024
Work from Hard Case Crime founder Charles Ardai is always a real treat, and this collection of short stories, originally published across the last thirty-plus years - is the perfect celebration of 20 years of the imprint.
My favourites here include:
"The Home Front" - an Edgar Award winner about a man tasked with tracking down black-market fuel sales in WW2 that rapidly veers in and out of tragedy; will appeal to fans of Lawrence Block
"Game Over" - a jet-black story about kids, arcade games and ne'er-do-wells that shares Stephen King's aptitude for coming-of-age observation
"The Case" - an incredibly readable race-against-time
"Nobody Wins" - a pleasingly dark mystery with a very satisfying conclusion
"Mother of Pearl" - a brief, jet-black tale of a penknife salesman that doesn't go where you'd expect
"Sleep! Sleep! Beauty Bright" - a satisfying revenge story with few twists and turns
"A Bar Called Charley's" - a tense story set in a bar, that segues into a fascinating character study
All in all, essential reading for hardboiled noir fans.
My favourites here include:
"The Home Front" - an Edgar Award winner about a man tasked with tracking down black-market fuel sales in WW2 that rapidly veers in and out of tragedy; will appeal to fans of Lawrence Block
"Game Over" - a jet-black story about kids, arcade games and ne'er-do-wells that shares Stephen King's aptitude for coming-of-age observation
"The Case" - an incredibly readable race-against-time
"Nobody Wins" - a pleasingly dark mystery with a very satisfying conclusion
"Mother of Pearl" - a brief, jet-black tale of a penknife salesman that doesn't go where you'd expect
"Sleep! Sleep! Beauty Bright" - a satisfying revenge story with few twists and turns
"A Bar Called Charley's" - a tense story set in a bar, that segues into a fascinating character study
All in all, essential reading for hardboiled noir fans.
February 7, 2024
I have just finished reading the ARC furnished by Hard Case Crime. Short stories are a very different genre that novels. It required a special talent for developing character and plot in a compressed format. Charles Ardai has done so masterfully. Kudos to Mr Ardai. These stories run the gamut from exciting, clever, witty, poignant and about a dozen other adjectives that I just can't come up with right away. It was a great read
October 8, 2024
Twenty years ago Charles Ardai was one of the founders of Hard Case Crime, an imprint that tries (and mostly succeeds) to capture the spirit of hard-boiled pulp fiction that flourished in the middle of the last century. To celebrate the 20th anniversary we have “Death Comes Too Late”, a collection of short stories from Charles Ardai that captures the heart and spirit of the pulps.
These short stories run all over the place, showing that the attitude of noir can be applied to various times and various settings, from the home front of WWII to gangsters in postwar Mexico and even ancient China.
Catching black marketeers, with deadly consequences. A kind gesture between friends playing videogames leads to a dark ending. Joining the circus. A plane that was supposed to explode but didn’t interjects with a guy stealing some pearls. An east coast casting director comes to the end of the line and tries to do the right thing. A man searches for another in Mexico to give him a letter, a warning. A man hires a PI to find his fiancé, a case of mistaken identity. Taking care of the boss’s sister can be dangerous work when you’re a gangster. Even superheroes need a PI once in a while. Two factions both believe Elvis is alive, but they have cross-purposes. A woman comes looking for her father among the ladies of the night. A suicide note leads to a difficult conversation. A son lies to his dying father. A husband avenges his wife’s attackers. Three loan sharks fulfill a murder contract during Carnival. A woman has an affair while her husband is at a conference. How easy is it to kill a presidential candidate? A traveling salesman makes a fateful stop at a bar one night. A man walks out of his life and right into a murder. Two Chinese brothers have different approaches to solving a murder.
Each of these situations has a dark side, a twist you didn’t see coming, an unexpected tragedy. Mr. Ardai demonstrates that noir can happen anywhere, anytime. And we are fortunate to have him to show us.
I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Titan Books, Hard Case Crime Press via NetGalley. Thank you!
These short stories run all over the place, showing that the attitude of noir can be applied to various times and various settings, from the home front of WWII to gangsters in postwar Mexico and even ancient China.
Catching black marketeers, with deadly consequences. A kind gesture between friends playing videogames leads to a dark ending. Joining the circus. A plane that was supposed to explode but didn’t interjects with a guy stealing some pearls. An east coast casting director comes to the end of the line and tries to do the right thing. A man searches for another in Mexico to give him a letter, a warning. A man hires a PI to find his fiancé, a case of mistaken identity. Taking care of the boss’s sister can be dangerous work when you’re a gangster. Even superheroes need a PI once in a while. Two factions both believe Elvis is alive, but they have cross-purposes. A woman comes looking for her father among the ladies of the night. A suicide note leads to a difficult conversation. A son lies to his dying father. A husband avenges his wife’s attackers. Three loan sharks fulfill a murder contract during Carnival. A woman has an affair while her husband is at a conference. How easy is it to kill a presidential candidate? A traveling salesman makes a fateful stop at a bar one night. A man walks out of his life and right into a murder. Two Chinese brothers have different approaches to solving a murder.
Each of these situations has a dark side, a twist you didn’t see coming, an unexpected tragedy. Mr. Ardai demonstrates that noir can happen anywhere, anytime. And we are fortunate to have him to show us.
I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Titan Books, Hard Case Crime Press via NetGalley. Thank you!
March 24, 2024
An enjoyable batch of expertly antiqued stories. My only hesitation is that the achievement here feels more formal than I would like; in other words, in only a few stories do I really care about the protagonists. (Also, Ardai too frequently resorts to the same noirish twist ending.) In many of them, I admire the craftsmanship and the sentence-to-sentence construction, and I think, "this would surely have stood out in 1955 or 1975 or 1995 in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine." But I think that to get beyond well-crafted professionalism, you need something deeper--which, to be fair, happens here: whether it's the compressed James M. Cain emotionalism of the award-winning "Home Front," the hilariously sociopathic narrator (imagine Ripley played as straight-faced comedy) in "My Husband's Wife," the goofily surrealistic Elvis-cultist PI tale, the one set in a Ming-dynasty Buddhist monastery, or the one featuring a normcore PI coping with romantic/career infighting among superheroes. So I preferred something extraordinarily heartfelt...or offbeat, or imaginative, that nudges Ardai out from the familiar. Don't get me wrong: this is one of those books you just race through, in large part for the evocation of bygone times (the vast majority are set in the past, and characters have names and professions like traveling salesman that seem more appropriate to midcentury America) and the classic tang of a good hard-boiled kiss-off. I just wanted to feel a bit more a bit more often.
February 14, 2024
My thanks to Charles Ardai Hard Case Crime for the digital proof (🇬🇧 release 12/03/24)
Death Comes Too Late is a fine collection of 20 short stories from Charles Ardai (that were originally published over 30+ years) These stories have been collected into one volume to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hard Case Crime publications. The stories are all well written & varied with tales ranging from a P.I. searching for Elvis (after his death), two young boys playing the arcade games, Wartime petrol bootlegging & my favourite The Case which has a man named Leland transporting a suitcase which goes astray at the airport. A great read.
Death Comes Too Late is a fine collection of 20 short stories from Charles Ardai (that were originally published over 30+ years) These stories have been collected into one volume to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hard Case Crime publications. The stories are all well written & varied with tales ranging from a P.I. searching for Elvis (after his death), two young boys playing the arcade games, Wartime petrol bootlegging & my favourite The Case which has a man named Leland transporting a suitcase which goes astray at the airport. A great read.
April 11, 2024
Charles Ardai proves his mastery of the short story in this collection of varied and thrilling tales. Great read!
April 23, 2024
20 short stories to celebrate 20 years of Hard Case Crime publishing! Quite a milestone!
“The Case” was awesome with all of its twists and turns! In fact, twists and turns are what really appealed to me in the 17 or so stories that I enjoyed in this collection! LOTS of twists, especially at the endings! The 3 I didn't enjoy, well, overall that's one heck of a batting average - 17 for 20! Bravo!
“You don’t, I have learned, have to love something to miss it.”
“When they reached the jail, he walked into his cell a free man.”
“The Case” was awesome with all of its twists and turns! In fact, twists and turns are what really appealed to me in the 17 or so stories that I enjoyed in this collection! LOTS of twists, especially at the endings! The 3 I didn't enjoy, well, overall that's one heck of a batting average - 17 for 20! Bravo!
“You don’t, I have learned, have to love something to miss it.”
“When they reached the jail, he walked into his cell a free man.”
March 10, 2024
Thank you to Hard Case Crime for an advanced copy of the book.
I’ve been big fan of Charles Ardai since I read Little Girl Lost. Although I’m not a huge fan of short story collections I found myself enjoying a lot of these.
If you’re a fan of the genre you’ll enjoy this collection of stories.
I’ve been big fan of Charles Ardai since I read Little Girl Lost. Although I’m not a huge fan of short story collections I found myself enjoying a lot of these.
If you’re a fan of the genre you’ll enjoy this collection of stories.
March 20, 2024
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Hard Case Crime imprint, the publishers have released Death Comes Too Late, a collection of 20 mostly noir short stories from across the career of imprint founder Charles Ardai. The author admits the choice of title is a bit cheeky for a collection of stories in which death seems to arrive in a timely manner, if not early and unexpectedly. Regardless, it is a phenomenal collection by an author who I think is truly underrated. I say this as someone who is mostly familiar with Ardai as founder/editor/publisher and who had previously read only one of the stories contained herein.
That story, “Mother of Pearl,” blew me away when I first read it in From Sea to Stormy Sea (edited by the great Lawrence Block), and it blew me away again here. It is one of the few non-noir stories in the collection, if noir must include a crime or double-cross of some kind. There is a mystery at its core – who is this nameless, seemingly genderless, narrator telling us this tale of a young woman’s search for the truth of her father’s death and the mother who put her up for adoption? As I said back in 2020, the story is “a rumination on success, failure, identity, and the search for where we come from,” and upon multiple rereads I continue to find some moment or bit of phrasing or twist in the story that didn’t stand out to me on previous reads. As with most of the stories in Death Comes Too Late, “Mother of Pearl” has layers upon layers, twists to the twists, that keep you wondering where Ardai is leading you right up to the last paragraph.
I think it is safe to say that the whole collection is a rumination on success, failure, identity, and the search for where we come from (sometimes to embrace it, sometimes to understand it, sometimes to leave it behind). And equally safe to say that most of the time, those ruminations take some long, complicated routes to get to that moment of embracing, understanding, or leave-taking.
The book starts strong with “The Home Front,” in which a private investigator hired by the United States government to suss out black marketeers during World War Two is responsible for the accidental death of a young man he’s just arrested – which is just the start of a journey that turns brutal and bloody by the end while our protagonist tries to decide who he is after the tragedy. This is followed by “Game Over,” which starts with a boy’s simple wish to treat his less-well-off best friend to a free afternoon of video games at the local pizza place but whose plan to do so results in wounded pride, misunderstanding, harsh accusations, and yes tragedy. Two quite different time frames with characters of very different ages, both dealing with expectations of who they are based on something someone else has done (or not done). “The Fall of Man” is another heartbreaking story with a teen at the center, a startlingly honest look at suicide and its aftermath.
Charles Ardai is an expert at making sure his stories don’t end where they start – those long, complicated routes mentioned earlier – even when obeying genre dictates. “The Case” starts out as a standard “missing luggage” story but neatly twists through two characters’ points-of-view into something that would be at home on Alfred Hitchcock Presents. “Goin’ West” starts with a classic “Hollywood casting couch” scene (only in New York) that doesn’t quite go where you’d expect but with a conclusion that feels inevitable. “The Shadow Line” opens with our narrator waking up in a room in Mexico with a sex worker, intent on hunting down a man he’s been sent to locate – but not for the reasons that seem apparent. “Jonas and the Frail” is a “bodyguard loses his teenage charge, chaos ensues” tale with a killer reveal and ending; “Sleep! Sleep! Beauty Bright” is a revenge tale writ large; “My Husband’s Wife” is a riff on “disaffected corporate wife has affair” type stories. But they all take surprising turns, and each protagonist faces challenges that reveal something about where they came from or who they really are.
Ardai is also not above twisting his genres. “The Deadly Embrace,” one of my favorites in the collection, is a neat bit of super-hero noir that takes the real-world fierce competition between comics publishers in the 1950s (think the famous DC vs. Fawcett lawsuit over the original Captain Marvel) and combines it with a twist on the Hollywood Studio System in a world where super-heroes are real but under contract to the comics companies, which some of them find stifling. “Don’t Be Cruel” plays with conspiracy theories (particularly around Elvis’s supposed survival) in a noir light. “The Day After Tomorrow” is another tale that is not really noir at all, but more horror.
The collection ends with another decidedly non-noir tale, the mystery “The Investigation of Things.” If any story in the book can be called “Sherlockian,” it is this one. Two brothers in 11th century China, both detectives with decidedly different investigatory styles, are called to solve the murder of a Buddhist monk and stumble upon the invention of something we are all too familiar with as a weapon of murder in our modern era. There are twists upon twists, with one brother looking at minute and seemingly unimportant minute details while the other systematically interviews reluctant peers of the deceased (said brother even utters a variation on Detective Columbo’s famous “oh, just one more question” line, which brought a smile to this reader’s face).
If you love short stories in the mystery/crime genre that are more than just a recitation of the facts of the case or the reveal of the mystery, stories that explore the breadth of human interactions and passions, then Charles Ardai is your man, and Death Comes Too Late is your next must-read short story collection.
I received an advance reading copy of this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
That story, “Mother of Pearl,” blew me away when I first read it in From Sea to Stormy Sea (edited by the great Lawrence Block), and it blew me away again here. It is one of the few non-noir stories in the collection, if noir must include a crime or double-cross of some kind. There is a mystery at its core – who is this nameless, seemingly genderless, narrator telling us this tale of a young woman’s search for the truth of her father’s death and the mother who put her up for adoption? As I said back in 2020, the story is “a rumination on success, failure, identity, and the search for where we come from,” and upon multiple rereads I continue to find some moment or bit of phrasing or twist in the story that didn’t stand out to me on previous reads. As with most of the stories in Death Comes Too Late, “Mother of Pearl” has layers upon layers, twists to the twists, that keep you wondering where Ardai is leading you right up to the last paragraph.
I think it is safe to say that the whole collection is a rumination on success, failure, identity, and the search for where we come from (sometimes to embrace it, sometimes to understand it, sometimes to leave it behind). And equally safe to say that most of the time, those ruminations take some long, complicated routes to get to that moment of embracing, understanding, or leave-taking.
The book starts strong with “The Home Front,” in which a private investigator hired by the United States government to suss out black marketeers during World War Two is responsible for the accidental death of a young man he’s just arrested – which is just the start of a journey that turns brutal and bloody by the end while our protagonist tries to decide who he is after the tragedy. This is followed by “Game Over,” which starts with a boy’s simple wish to treat his less-well-off best friend to a free afternoon of video games at the local pizza place but whose plan to do so results in wounded pride, misunderstanding, harsh accusations, and yes tragedy. Two quite different time frames with characters of very different ages, both dealing with expectations of who they are based on something someone else has done (or not done). “The Fall of Man” is another heartbreaking story with a teen at the center, a startlingly honest look at suicide and its aftermath.
Charles Ardai is an expert at making sure his stories don’t end where they start – those long, complicated routes mentioned earlier – even when obeying genre dictates. “The Case” starts out as a standard “missing luggage” story but neatly twists through two characters’ points-of-view into something that would be at home on Alfred Hitchcock Presents. “Goin’ West” starts with a classic “Hollywood casting couch” scene (only in New York) that doesn’t quite go where you’d expect but with a conclusion that feels inevitable. “The Shadow Line” opens with our narrator waking up in a room in Mexico with a sex worker, intent on hunting down a man he’s been sent to locate – but not for the reasons that seem apparent. “Jonas and the Frail” is a “bodyguard loses his teenage charge, chaos ensues” tale with a killer reveal and ending; “Sleep! Sleep! Beauty Bright” is a revenge tale writ large; “My Husband’s Wife” is a riff on “disaffected corporate wife has affair” type stories. But they all take surprising turns, and each protagonist faces challenges that reveal something about where they came from or who they really are.
Ardai is also not above twisting his genres. “The Deadly Embrace,” one of my favorites in the collection, is a neat bit of super-hero noir that takes the real-world fierce competition between comics publishers in the 1950s (think the famous DC vs. Fawcett lawsuit over the original Captain Marvel) and combines it with a twist on the Hollywood Studio System in a world where super-heroes are real but under contract to the comics companies, which some of them find stifling. “Don’t Be Cruel” plays with conspiracy theories (particularly around Elvis’s supposed survival) in a noir light. “The Day After Tomorrow” is another tale that is not really noir at all, but more horror.
The collection ends with another decidedly non-noir tale, the mystery “The Investigation of Things.” If any story in the book can be called “Sherlockian,” it is this one. Two brothers in 11th century China, both detectives with decidedly different investigatory styles, are called to solve the murder of a Buddhist monk and stumble upon the invention of something we are all too familiar with as a weapon of murder in our modern era. There are twists upon twists, with one brother looking at minute and seemingly unimportant minute details while the other systematically interviews reluctant peers of the deceased (said brother even utters a variation on Detective Columbo’s famous “oh, just one more question” line, which brought a smile to this reader’s face).
If you love short stories in the mystery/crime genre that are more than just a recitation of the facts of the case or the reveal of the mystery, stories that explore the breadth of human interactions and passions, then Charles Ardai is your man, and Death Comes Too Late is your next must-read short story collection.
I received an advance reading copy of this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
February 10, 2025
"Honesty is a path only infrequently followed, and even then not without straying."
This 2024 short story collection marks the 20th anniversary of the author's Hard Case Crime imprint. For its 151st book, Charles Ardai chooses twenty of his own stories, including four standouts: "The Home Front", "Goin' West", "Mother of Pearl", and "The Investigation of Things".
Here are my individual story reviews, in order from most- to least-liked:
"The Investigation of Things" (1991) - Two Confucian brothers investigate the murder of a Buddhist monk in ancient China. Ch'eng I specializes in science, Ch'eng Hao in human motives. "Half the art of Buddhism is appearing to have all the answers and the other half is being sure never to give them"
"Goin’ West" (2004) -- Lisa is an aspiring actress on the plus side of thirty who just wants her big break, her one shot at success, but how far will she go to get it? This is a superb examination of Hollywood's casting couch culture at the turn of the century--at times funny, but more often heartrending.
"The Home Front" (2006) -- As an investigator for the Office of Price Adjustment, Rory's job is to crack down on black marketeers who sell gasoline beyond the ration coupon allotments during WWII. The line between lawman and criminal is blurry, as Rory's job often involves entrapping poor people who are just trying to stay alive. His personal life deteriorates after one of his detainees is killed in a fiery car crash… Won the Edgar Award
"Mother of Pearl" (2019) -- Pearl was conceived in a tryst on V-E Day. Eighteen years later, in 1963, she arrives in Times Square to find answers about her parents.
"Nobody Wins" (1993) -- A scarred, violent mafioso hires a PI to investigate the disappearance of his rich, beautiful fiancée. This is a solid noir story with surprising heart.
"The Case" (1992) - Two identical metal cases are on the conveyor belt at O'Hare, one containing a bomb and the other three million dollars of Japanese black pearls. When one of the cases is picked up by mistake, it sets off a chain of events that ends in a twist worth of O'Henry.
"Sleep! Sleep! Beauty Bright" (2022) -- A grieving husband seeks vigilante justice against the men who attacked his wife, but he loses control of the situation.
"A Free Man" (2010) -- Dan Odams walks out on his wife on his fortieth birthday and begins hitchhiking to nowhere. He becomes a murder suspect when one of his drivers is found dead with Dan's fingerprints in the car. This story feels like it was written solely to explain the final sentence: "When they reached the jail, he walked into his cell a free man."
"A Bar Called Charley’s" (1990) -- Marty has been a traveling salesman for fifty years. Tonight, at Charley's Bar, he will face violence for the first time and discover what sort of man he really is: "Fifty years on the road had taught him to survive at all costs, to worry about himself first and others not at all, to talk his way out of scrapes, to say and do anything to accomplish what he wanted… You could always move on to another town, another state, but you couldn't get another you."
"Masks" (1993) -- A Brazilian business owner gets in too deep with a loan shark. The best thing about this story is that it's set against the colorful backdrop of Carnival.
"Jonas and the Frail" (2008) - A Jewish gangster's sister disappears, holed up in the bed of an Irish mobster.
"My Husband’s Wife" (2009) -- Carolyn is a philandering wife who obsessively looks for ways to degrade her unloving husband David.
"Fathers and Sons" (2006) -- A son targeted for death must face his enemies before he can visit his dying father in the hospital.
"Game Over" (2023) -- A thirteen-year-old boy just wants to spend his birthday money but is instead framed for stealing quarters out of video game arcades.
"Secret Service" (2002) -- Anders prides himself on having saved the lives of at least four US presidents, even though nobody else knows about it. Will he save another one tonight, or will his name go into the history books in infamy?
"The Shadow Line" (2012) - Fletcher is sent to track down a man on the lam in Tijuana, a city beset with grifters, cutpurses, and killers. But Fletcher's reason for chasing Francisco Mendoza is not what it appears to be at first blush. This story builds an effective noir atmosphere inspired by Raymond Chandler, but there is a complicated backstory between these two men that is only barely hinted at.
"The Fall of Man" (2022) -- A distraught mother tries to make sense of her son's suicide from the three notes he left behind.
"Don’t Be Cruel" (2003) -- A writer becomes embroiled in a deadly feud between militants who believe Elvis is still alive. The leftists believe he should be left alone, the rightists believe they have the right to make his whereabouts known.
"The Deadly Embrace" (2004) -- A PI looks for a missing wife in a city populated by superheroes and comic book villains.
"The Day After Tomorrow" (2013) - Jack wants to go to the circus--his parents promised they'd take him for a Christmas present--but his mother does not know he is planning to get a carny tattoo.
3 stars.
This 2024 short story collection marks the 20th anniversary of the author's Hard Case Crime imprint. For its 151st book, Charles Ardai chooses twenty of his own stories, including four standouts: "The Home Front", "Goin' West", "Mother of Pearl", and "The Investigation of Things".
Here are my individual story reviews, in order from most- to least-liked:
"The Investigation of Things" (1991) - Two Confucian brothers investigate the murder of a Buddhist monk in ancient China. Ch'eng I specializes in science, Ch'eng Hao in human motives. "Half the art of Buddhism is appearing to have all the answers and the other half is being sure never to give them"
"Goin’ West" (2004) -- Lisa is an aspiring actress on the plus side of thirty who just wants her big break, her one shot at success, but how far will she go to get it? This is a superb examination of Hollywood's casting couch culture at the turn of the century--at times funny, but more often heartrending.
"The Home Front" (2006) -- As an investigator for the Office of Price Adjustment, Rory's job is to crack down on black marketeers who sell gasoline beyond the ration coupon allotments during WWII. The line between lawman and criminal is blurry, as Rory's job often involves entrapping poor people who are just trying to stay alive. His personal life deteriorates after one of his detainees is killed in a fiery car crash… Won the Edgar Award
"Mother of Pearl" (2019) -- Pearl was conceived in a tryst on V-E Day. Eighteen years later, in 1963, she arrives in Times Square to find answers about her parents.
"Nobody Wins" (1993) -- A scarred, violent mafioso hires a PI to investigate the disappearance of his rich, beautiful fiancée. This is a solid noir story with surprising heart.
"The Case" (1992) - Two identical metal cases are on the conveyor belt at O'Hare, one containing a bomb and the other three million dollars of Japanese black pearls. When one of the cases is picked up by mistake, it sets off a chain of events that ends in a twist worth of O'Henry.
"Sleep! Sleep! Beauty Bright" (2022) -- A grieving husband seeks vigilante justice against the men who attacked his wife, but he loses control of the situation.
"A Free Man" (2010) -- Dan Odams walks out on his wife on his fortieth birthday and begins hitchhiking to nowhere. He becomes a murder suspect when one of his drivers is found dead with Dan's fingerprints in the car. This story feels like it was written solely to explain the final sentence: "When they reached the jail, he walked into his cell a free man."
"A Bar Called Charley’s" (1990) -- Marty has been a traveling salesman for fifty years. Tonight, at Charley's Bar, he will face violence for the first time and discover what sort of man he really is: "Fifty years on the road had taught him to survive at all costs, to worry about himself first and others not at all, to talk his way out of scrapes, to say and do anything to accomplish what he wanted… You could always move on to another town, another state, but you couldn't get another you."
"Masks" (1993) -- A Brazilian business owner gets in too deep with a loan shark. The best thing about this story is that it's set against the colorful backdrop of Carnival.
"Jonas and the Frail" (2008) - A Jewish gangster's sister disappears, holed up in the bed of an Irish mobster.
"My Husband’s Wife" (2009) -- Carolyn is a philandering wife who obsessively looks for ways to degrade her unloving husband David.
"Fathers and Sons" (2006) -- A son targeted for death must face his enemies before he can visit his dying father in the hospital.
"Game Over" (2023) -- A thirteen-year-old boy just wants to spend his birthday money but is instead framed for stealing quarters out of video game arcades.
"Secret Service" (2002) -- Anders prides himself on having saved the lives of at least four US presidents, even though nobody else knows about it. Will he save another one tonight, or will his name go into the history books in infamy?
"The Shadow Line" (2012) - Fletcher is sent to track down a man on the lam in Tijuana, a city beset with grifters, cutpurses, and killers. But Fletcher's reason for chasing Francisco Mendoza is not what it appears to be at first blush. This story builds an effective noir atmosphere inspired by Raymond Chandler, but there is a complicated backstory between these two men that is only barely hinted at.
"The Fall of Man" (2022) -- A distraught mother tries to make sense of her son's suicide from the three notes he left behind.
"Don’t Be Cruel" (2003) -- A writer becomes embroiled in a deadly feud between militants who believe Elvis is still alive. The leftists believe he should be left alone, the rightists believe they have the right to make his whereabouts known.
"The Deadly Embrace" (2004) -- A PI looks for a missing wife in a city populated by superheroes and comic book villains.
"The Day After Tomorrow" (2013) - Jack wants to go to the circus--his parents promised they'd take him for a Christmas present--but his mother does not know he is planning to get a carny tattoo.
3 stars.
March 12, 2024
Happy 20th anniversary to Hard Case Crime – and to me – because founder and author Charles Ardai has released a collection of 20 stories to celebrate Hard Case Crime’s first 20 years. And best of all: he’s written each and every one of them. Not sure what the proper noir word would be, but I’m just going to go with great, terrific, fantastic, amazing.
Not everyone likes short stories. As Ardai notes in the introduction, when people move from reading short stories to novels they usually don’t go back. But they should; as readers we forget that a short story isn’t just a skimmed down novel; it has all the elements of a novel, and if done right has power and laser focus. In a novel the author has time to ramble on, let the words lose a little of their impact and then circle back and pick it up again, but with a short story every word counts, you need to get to the point, to stick to the point, to make the point.
This is a collection of stories you’ll want to read right through, they are so compelling. Slow down, though. Don’t rush. Take your time and think about how these words have been put together, how they make a sentence, and how the sentences make these very compelling stories. Appreciate the crisp writing, crackling dialogue (to use one of the author’s words) and almost-can’t-believe-that-happened in every story; it’s apparent every word has been carefully chosen. These stories are edgy and will leave you a little unsettled. The endings are not always explicitly spelled out, there’s no, “And then he died. The end.” You know what happened. Well, you think you know, but maybe . . . maybe. You’re not quite sure. It’s perfect.
According to author Ardai, his stories are inspired by classic noir authors, and he has earned his place among them. Subjects, times, people, places vary but the common thread is complete satisfaction when done reading. The heroes (not sure there are actually any heroes) and villains are sometimes hard to identify. People get what’s coming to them. People try to do good deeds and it backfires. Horribly. Irrevocably.
And if you need a little chuckle in the midst of all your hard-boiled reading, think carefully about the title of the book: maybe natural death comes too late – and might need a little push?? Trust me, you have to read this book. The Hard Case Crime website is a regular stop of mine and I always have something on pre-order. Thanks to the author for providing an advance copy of Death Comes Too Late. My pre-order should also be arriving any minute now. Just one peek at the first story in the book and I had to have it. Plus, I love the way these books look on my shelves, and rereading is as much fun as the first time through. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.
Not everyone likes short stories. As Ardai notes in the introduction, when people move from reading short stories to novels they usually don’t go back. But they should; as readers we forget that a short story isn’t just a skimmed down novel; it has all the elements of a novel, and if done right has power and laser focus. In a novel the author has time to ramble on, let the words lose a little of their impact and then circle back and pick it up again, but with a short story every word counts, you need to get to the point, to stick to the point, to make the point.
This is a collection of stories you’ll want to read right through, they are so compelling. Slow down, though. Don’t rush. Take your time and think about how these words have been put together, how they make a sentence, and how the sentences make these very compelling stories. Appreciate the crisp writing, crackling dialogue (to use one of the author’s words) and almost-can’t-believe-that-happened in every story; it’s apparent every word has been carefully chosen. These stories are edgy and will leave you a little unsettled. The endings are not always explicitly spelled out, there’s no, “And then he died. The end.” You know what happened. Well, you think you know, but maybe . . . maybe. You’re not quite sure. It’s perfect.
According to author Ardai, his stories are inspired by classic noir authors, and he has earned his place among them. Subjects, times, people, places vary but the common thread is complete satisfaction when done reading. The heroes (not sure there are actually any heroes) and villains are sometimes hard to identify. People get what’s coming to them. People try to do good deeds and it backfires. Horribly. Irrevocably.
And if you need a little chuckle in the midst of all your hard-boiled reading, think carefully about the title of the book: maybe natural death comes too late – and might need a little push?? Trust me, you have to read this book. The Hard Case Crime website is a regular stop of mine and I always have something on pre-order. Thanks to the author for providing an advance copy of Death Comes Too Late. My pre-order should also be arriving any minute now. Just one peek at the first story in the book and I had to have it. Plus, I love the way these books look on my shelves, and rereading is as much fun as the first time through. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.
March 17, 2024
As the blurb says the stories genuinely took me to the darkest places and darkest corners of the heart. The stories were unsettling, unforgettable, and unputdownable. There were shocking revelations and jaw dropping twists and turns. Some stories were simply heart wrenching and brutal. While some of them were so gripping and unforgettable. They blur the line between truth and unsettling reality. The stories diminished the line between whom to trust and whom to not. The book has the best crime stories featuring noir crime, dark-minded truths, cold blood murder, hard boiled detective stories, questioning morals, pain of losing loved ones, revenge and diminishing the line between moral and immoral.
In home front, rory harper killed a boy in an accident and it turns his life upside down but the worst happens when he ends up at Moira’s house. Game over shared the story of Lyle and kyle, expect the unexpected in this story. The day after tomorrow was really short but frightening. The case was unpredictable and intense. Goin’ West was a mysterious and complex story. The Shadow Line is so deep and action packed. In Nobody Wins, Leon Culhane hires Mr. Mickity to find his fiancé Lila. The truth is gruesome and this is a noir crime story. Jonas and the Frail was filled with horror and twists and turns. The Deadly Embrace was twisted and the plot twists were unpredictable. Don’t be cruel unveiled the dark corners of human heart. Mother of Pearl, this is a story of a mother and daughter. The Fall of a man is such a clever story. Fathers and sons, unthinkable things happens and secrets from the past unravels. Sleep! Sleep! Beauty Bright, a man learns horrible truths. Masks, dreadful truth and secrets unveils in this story. The Investigation of Things, this is about moral, unthinkable things and unsettling reality. The ending was shocking. Some tales unveils the buried secrets from the past while some were about revenge.
My absolutely favourite stories are Nobody Wins, Jonas and the Frail, The Deadly Embrace, Don’t be cruel, Sleep! Sleep! Beauty Bright, Fall of a man, The investigation of things and the home front.
Many Thanks to Titan Books and Netgalley
In home front, rory harper killed a boy in an accident and it turns his life upside down but the worst happens when he ends up at Moira’s house. Game over shared the story of Lyle and kyle, expect the unexpected in this story. The day after tomorrow was really short but frightening. The case was unpredictable and intense. Goin’ West was a mysterious and complex story. The Shadow Line is so deep and action packed. In Nobody Wins, Leon Culhane hires Mr. Mickity to find his fiancé Lila. The truth is gruesome and this is a noir crime story. Jonas and the Frail was filled with horror and twists and turns. The Deadly Embrace was twisted and the plot twists were unpredictable. Don’t be cruel unveiled the dark corners of human heart. Mother of Pearl, this is a story of a mother and daughter. The Fall of a man is such a clever story. Fathers and sons, unthinkable things happens and secrets from the past unravels. Sleep! Sleep! Beauty Bright, a man learns horrible truths. Masks, dreadful truth and secrets unveils in this story. The Investigation of Things, this is about moral, unthinkable things and unsettling reality. The ending was shocking. Some tales unveils the buried secrets from the past while some were about revenge.
My absolutely favourite stories are Nobody Wins, Jonas and the Frail, The Deadly Embrace, Don’t be cruel, Sleep! Sleep! Beauty Bright, Fall of a man, The investigation of things and the home front.
Many Thanks to Titan Books and Netgalley
August 22, 2024
Sborník povídek, který mě postavil před zásadní otázku: existuje vůbec nějaký autor, kterému Stephen King nenapsal nadšený výkřik na obálku? A jako to King zvládá vůbec psát… samozřejmě, knížky nečte, to by pak nemohl psát tak nadšené reakce, ale chrlení takového množství oslavných větiček musí dát zabrat.
Ono, kdyby to četl a byl by upřímný, tak z něj asi v tomhle případě vypadne spíš něco „ale jo, docela to ujde“, nebo „nic převratného, ale číst se to dá“.
Pro mě to bylo zajímavé jak proto, že to vyšlo v edici Hard Case Crime (kterou sice už nekupuju komplet, ale pořád sleduju, co se tam objeví), tak i proto, že to napsal šéf téhle řady Charles Ardai. Ten už si tam párkrát něco střihl (když už tomu šéfuje, tak proč to nevyužít) a nebylo to zase tak hrozný, takže teď si ke dvacátému výročí nadělil sborník dvaceti povídek. A ty povídky…
Ale jo, docela to ujde.
Povídky můžete mít postavené na nápadu, na zvratu, nebo na atmosféře. Ardai lavíruje mezi tím, někdy si dává ryzí noir, někdy sahá po zajímavé době (ať už je to druhá světová nebo stará Čína), ale ze všeho nejvíc se snaží o charakterové studie. Nějaká atmosféra mu upřít nedá, občas dorazí i nápad, ale je málokterá povídka ve mně něco zanechala… tedy kromě pocitu, že by se z toho dalo vymáčknout víc. První pět jsou emoční žídímačky se sociálním podtextem, což na mě působilo spíš odpudivě. Pak jde kvalita přece jen nahoru, ale kdybych měl nějaký příběh vypíchnout, tak asi epizodu s detektivem, který zjišťuje, kam zmizela superhrdinova manželka a pak pátrání po Elvisovi, kde se ukazuje, že i magor s komickou posedlostí může být nebezpečný. Jinak si spíš pohrává s psychologií a emocemi, což je většinou snesitelné, ale zase ne tak objevné a zábavné. Jediné, kde je to nějak líp a překvapivěji využité, je v příběhu Secret Service, který nahazuje příběh agenta, který zachránil životy spoustě politiků, aniž by o tom věděli.
Je to jedna z knih, které když přečtete, tak vám to nijak fyzicky neublíží a chvílemi se i budete bavit, ale jednotlivé příběhy nejsou dost ostré a vypointované, aby po sobě něco zanechaly.
Nic převratného, ale číst se to dá.
Ono, kdyby to četl a byl by upřímný, tak z něj asi v tomhle případě vypadne spíš něco „ale jo, docela to ujde“, nebo „nic převratného, ale číst se to dá“.
Pro mě to bylo zajímavé jak proto, že to vyšlo v edici Hard Case Crime (kterou sice už nekupuju komplet, ale pořád sleduju, co se tam objeví), tak i proto, že to napsal šéf téhle řady Charles Ardai. Ten už si tam párkrát něco střihl (když už tomu šéfuje, tak proč to nevyužít) a nebylo to zase tak hrozný, takže teď si ke dvacátému výročí nadělil sborník dvaceti povídek. A ty povídky…
Ale jo, docela to ujde.
Povídky můžete mít postavené na nápadu, na zvratu, nebo na atmosféře. Ardai lavíruje mezi tím, někdy si dává ryzí noir, někdy sahá po zajímavé době (ať už je to druhá světová nebo stará Čína), ale ze všeho nejvíc se snaží o charakterové studie. Nějaká atmosféra mu upřít nedá, občas dorazí i nápad, ale je málokterá povídka ve mně něco zanechala… tedy kromě pocitu, že by se z toho dalo vymáčknout víc. První pět jsou emoční žídímačky se sociálním podtextem, což na mě působilo spíš odpudivě. Pak jde kvalita přece jen nahoru, ale kdybych měl nějaký příběh vypíchnout, tak asi epizodu s detektivem, který zjišťuje, kam zmizela superhrdinova manželka a pak pátrání po Elvisovi, kde se ukazuje, že i magor s komickou posedlostí může být nebezpečný. Jinak si spíš pohrává s psychologií a emocemi, což je většinou snesitelné, ale zase ne tak objevné a zábavné. Jediné, kde je to nějak líp a překvapivěji využité, je v příběhu Secret Service, který nahazuje příběh agenta, který zachránil životy spoustě politiků, aniž by o tom věděli.
Je to jedna z knih, které když přečtete, tak vám to nijak fyzicky neublíží a chvílemi se i budete bavit, ale jednotlivé příběhy nejsou dost ostré a vypointované, aby po sobě něco zanechaly.
Nic převratného, ale číst se to dá.
February 7, 2024
I received an advance reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
I love Hard Case Crime novels. I do not always love short story collections.
Short stories are fine for what they are: brief and occasionally visceral peaks into the window of whatever context they are examining. I prefer a long, drawn out tale to sink my teeth into, but I do appreciate those who can move an entertain with a limited scope.
Given that the best noirs rely on sparseness, it’s a genre that lends itself to the short story. And considering that most of the stories in Charles Ardai’s Death Comes Too Late (if not all) lean heavy into noir, this collection works quite well.
I’ve been reading Ardai’s work since his early years editing Hard Case Crime and it’s great to see how he continues to improve as a writer. He has a deep love of the genre he works in and it shines here in a collection of tales, each with an unpredictable end that’s steeped in the noir tradition. Tonally, they range from the silly and hilarious (Don’t Be Cruel, which was my personal favorite) to the brief and incredibly tragic (The Day After Tomorrow). Other favorites included The Case, Goin’ West, Nobody Wins, Jonas and the Frail (oh what an ending!), and Last Night at Charley’s (never went the way I expected). But you can’t go wrong with any of them.
Ardai has worked hard to keep the lights on at Hard Case Crime so it’s great to see him get a chance to shine with his own work. This is a must read for anyone who likes the label, appreciates the noir tradition, or just wants some great short stories.
I love Hard Case Crime novels. I do not always love short story collections.
Short stories are fine for what they are: brief and occasionally visceral peaks into the window of whatever context they are examining. I prefer a long, drawn out tale to sink my teeth into, but I do appreciate those who can move an entertain with a limited scope.
Given that the best noirs rely on sparseness, it’s a genre that lends itself to the short story. And considering that most of the stories in Charles Ardai’s Death Comes Too Late (if not all) lean heavy into noir, this collection works quite well.
I’ve been reading Ardai’s work since his early years editing Hard Case Crime and it’s great to see how he continues to improve as a writer. He has a deep love of the genre he works in and it shines here in a collection of tales, each with an unpredictable end that’s steeped in the noir tradition. Tonally, they range from the silly and hilarious (Don’t Be Cruel, which was my personal favorite) to the brief and incredibly tragic (The Day After Tomorrow). Other favorites included The Case, Goin’ West, Nobody Wins, Jonas and the Frail (oh what an ending!), and Last Night at Charley’s (never went the way I expected). But you can’t go wrong with any of them.
Ardai has worked hard to keep the lights on at Hard Case Crime so it’s great to see him get a chance to shine with his own work. This is a must read for anyone who likes the label, appreciates the noir tradition, or just wants some great short stories.
March 23, 2024
I had very high expectations for this book, and it did not disappoint me. This is a fine collection by a writer who has, without a lot of fanfare, become one of the best writers of crime fiction working today. There are true gems here: stories with sharply-etched characters in gripping situations, where plots move in unexpected directions. The endings have a delicious habit of leaving you somewhere you never imagined you were headed while at the same time fitting the pieces together perfectly.
For me, the thing that brought the volume together was that most of these are family stories. The book is full of parents and children, siblings, and spouses relating to and sometimes killing (or avenging) one another. In this, Ardai shows that he has a working familiarity with human nature to go with his strong sense of craft; after all, murder often begins at home. The result is a book that often feels as real as it is entertaining.
Ardai says he writes short stories “in spite of the fact that short stories might as well be written in sand with a pointy stick.” He is, of course, right about the typical shelf life of short fiction, but he may be wrong about this book. To me, Death Comes Too Late lands near the top of the heap of single-author collections I’ve read, waaaaaaaaaay up there with books like Joe Lansdale’s High Cotton and Stephen King’s Night Shift. Collections this good tend to stick around a while.
I could identify some favorites, but that could keep us here all day. Do yourself a favor: stop reading this and go read the book.
For me, the thing that brought the volume together was that most of these are family stories. The book is full of parents and children, siblings, and spouses relating to and sometimes killing (or avenging) one another. In this, Ardai shows that he has a working familiarity with human nature to go with his strong sense of craft; after all, murder often begins at home. The result is a book that often feels as real as it is entertaining.
Ardai says he writes short stories “in spite of the fact that short stories might as well be written in sand with a pointy stick.” He is, of course, right about the typical shelf life of short fiction, but he may be wrong about this book. To me, Death Comes Too Late lands near the top of the heap of single-author collections I’ve read, waaaaaaaaaay up there with books like Joe Lansdale’s High Cotton and Stephen King’s Night Shift. Collections this good tend to stick around a while.
I could identify some favorites, but that could keep us here all day. Do yourself a favor: stop reading this and go read the book.
October 24, 2024
Short story collections are hard to review. That's particularly true given the way I tend to read them, which is generally one or two stories (depending on length) between novels. So by the time I get to the end of a collection or anthology the earlier stories tend to have faded into vague memories unless it's just a stand-out collection (or one I've read a number of times). This wasn't a stand-out collection. Which isn't to say it's bad...it just isn't on that level that it's going to burn holes in my memories.
Ardai is probably best known as the co-founder and editor of Hard Case Crime. And for that I'll always been grateful. He's definitely been on the cutting edge of the neo-noir renaissance. He's also published novels under his own name and under the alias Richard Aleas. And a number of short stories in the few remaining magazines and digest that print them, in anthologies and in a number of late, lamented e-zines.
This is a nice collection of neo-noir short stories. None are actively bad. A few are quite good. I never felt compelled to toss it aside and move on to something else. But I also never felt compelled to just keep plowing through the stories. They were just fine. Ardai is in no danger of being a short story writer on the level of Hammett or Chandler. But then, who is? He does a nice job at that page level and sometimes that's enough for a breather between long works.
I recommend it as long as you've already read the best works available.
Ardai is probably best known as the co-founder and editor of Hard Case Crime. And for that I'll always been grateful. He's definitely been on the cutting edge of the neo-noir renaissance. He's also published novels under his own name and under the alias Richard Aleas. And a number of short stories in the few remaining magazines and digest that print them, in anthologies and in a number of late, lamented e-zines.
This is a nice collection of neo-noir short stories. None are actively bad. A few are quite good. I never felt compelled to toss it aside and move on to something else. But I also never felt compelled to just keep plowing through the stories. They were just fine. Ardai is in no danger of being a short story writer on the level of Hammett or Chandler. But then, who is? He does a nice job at that page level and sometimes that's enough for a breather between long works.
I recommend it as long as you've already read the best works available.
February 20, 2024
In this collection of hard-boiled short stories, Charles Ardai respects the rules and boundaries of noir fiction while at the same time expanding, explaining, and exploding them.
His McGuffin might be “a banded stack of hundred dollar bills” or a roll of quarters. His tough guy could be a petty street-corner thug selling gasoline, or a petty casting agent trying to bed a starlet. Each time, the author takes a black and white world and colorizes it with expanded depth, surprising detail, and dialogue so real it leaves spit on the sidewalk.
Even those stories that remain skin-tight close to the typical noir plot structure provide us with an ammo-belt of neat twists. The story “Nobody Wins” begins with a scene we have read and seen a thousand times— a client brings a missing-person case into the private-eye’s office— but here the client isn’t a beautiful woman, he’s an oversized ogre of a hoodlum. “Jonas and the Frail” stacks switch-eroo upon switch-eroo upon switch-eroo. The final story investigates history’s first ever killing by gun shot.
A few of the stories skid off the roadway of hard-boiled fiction into the ditch of soft-boiled fantasy— comic book super-heroes and reincarnations of Elvis— but I suppose even Mickey Spillane had to do a light beer commercial once in a while.
Altogether, rarely does today’s pulp run this smooth and enticing and surprising.
His McGuffin might be “a banded stack of hundred dollar bills” or a roll of quarters. His tough guy could be a petty street-corner thug selling gasoline, or a petty casting agent trying to bed a starlet. Each time, the author takes a black and white world and colorizes it with expanded depth, surprising detail, and dialogue so real it leaves spit on the sidewalk.
Even those stories that remain skin-tight close to the typical noir plot structure provide us with an ammo-belt of neat twists. The story “Nobody Wins” begins with a scene we have read and seen a thousand times— a client brings a missing-person case into the private-eye’s office— but here the client isn’t a beautiful woman, he’s an oversized ogre of a hoodlum. “Jonas and the Frail” stacks switch-eroo upon switch-eroo upon switch-eroo. The final story investigates history’s first ever killing by gun shot.
A few of the stories skid off the roadway of hard-boiled fiction into the ditch of soft-boiled fantasy— comic book super-heroes and reincarnations of Elvis— but I suppose even Mickey Spillane had to do a light beer commercial once in a while.
Altogether, rarely does today’s pulp run this smooth and enticing and surprising.
July 16, 2024
Bit dull. I think literary awards ruin my expectations for stories. I kept waiting to get to the award winning stuff, then I double checked and I was like wait, Homefront was what the entire anthology was sold on? Yikes. Not that Homefront is a bad story, but it's so paint by numbers, it doesn't seem like it would be that hard to win a crime fiction award.
Every story ends identically. I don't think it was an intelligent decision to have a themed crime anthology where the theme is all the stories end with a murder/suicide. Kind of takes any mystery out of a genre that is entirely reliant on mystery.
I try to experiment with genres I don't normally read. Critics and readers seemed to really like Charles Ardai, and the cover art is quite captivating, love the old 60's oil painting covers. Even the pre-modern settings were fun at first but became less interesting each time and weren't really leveraged in any interesting way. And I don't know if an underfunded library in 1993 without two books to rub together would have computers AND internet. Just felt a bit jarring to read that. Just go to a normal library.
I'm sure interesting crime fiction exists, but my suspicion is that interesting crime fiction is about a twisting maze of personalities, lies, and mysteries, and short fiction isn't conducive to that.
Every story ends identically. I don't think it was an intelligent decision to have a themed crime anthology where the theme is all the stories end with a murder/suicide. Kind of takes any mystery out of a genre that is entirely reliant on mystery.
I try to experiment with genres I don't normally read. Critics and readers seemed to really like Charles Ardai, and the cover art is quite captivating, love the old 60's oil painting covers. Even the pre-modern settings were fun at first but became less interesting each time and weren't really leveraged in any interesting way. And I don't know if an underfunded library in 1993 without two books to rub together would have computers AND internet. Just felt a bit jarring to read that. Just go to a normal library.
I'm sure interesting crime fiction exists, but my suspicion is that interesting crime fiction is about a twisting maze of personalities, lies, and mysteries, and short fiction isn't conducive to that.
March 10, 2024
Charles Ardai’s new short story collection is an engrossing read and one well worth your time. His prose is, as always, tight and crafted with the proficiency of someone who I selfishly wish had devoted his life to writing. If you haven’t read his other books in the Hardcase line, this collection will make them must-reads. As it is, there are no out-and-out clunkers in the collection, and as we’ve seen from his choices as editor of Hardcase Crime, he has an affinity for classic crime fiction that shines through in his writing — an original voice oozing reverence for those who have come before him. I had a great time with Death Comes Too Late and I recommend it. (The Home Front, the collection’s first story, is clever as all hell and a fine gut-punch to start an anthology, so if you’re on the fence about Death Comes Too Late, check a sample or “see inside” which should give you a taste of The Home Front and reason enough to treat yourself to a wildly engrossing book).
Hardcase Crime provided me an advance copy of Death Comes Too Late, which I was pleased to have but have not let influence my review.
Hardcase Crime provided me an advance copy of Death Comes Too Late, which I was pleased to have but have not let influence my review.
April 12, 2024
Ardai is the editor of the Hard Case Crime series. It is the best publisher of classic crime stories.
In honor of the twentieth anniversary of Hard Case Crime, this is a collection of short stories by Ardai. He has published several previous books in the Hard Case series. His short stories have been nominated for and have won Edgar and Shamus Awards.
Ardai's stories usually have punch lines. He enjoys surprise twists. Stephen King is quoted on the cover saying that Ardai is "a master of short stories." The King quote is appropriate because ,like King, Ardai tends to feature regular working stiffs and small timers who get mixed up in a mess.
I enjoyed his portrait of Times Square, "Don't Be Cruel", in the early 2000s, just as it was changing from the sleazy porn neighborhood to a middle-class tourist attraction. The 1992 story, "The Case" captures a PI at the very beginning of the personal computer age. He goes to a library to use the computer to track down a suspect.
Some of the ironic twists and coincidences are predictable, particularly once you learn to expect them, but this is a good solid story collection.
In honor of the twentieth anniversary of Hard Case Crime, this is a collection of short stories by Ardai. He has published several previous books in the Hard Case series. His short stories have been nominated for and have won Edgar and Shamus Awards.
Ardai's stories usually have punch lines. He enjoys surprise twists. Stephen King is quoted on the cover saying that Ardai is "a master of short stories." The King quote is appropriate because ,like King, Ardai tends to feature regular working stiffs and small timers who get mixed up in a mess.
I enjoyed his portrait of Times Square, "Don't Be Cruel", in the early 2000s, just as it was changing from the sleazy porn neighborhood to a middle-class tourist attraction. The 1992 story, "The Case" captures a PI at the very beginning of the personal computer age. He goes to a library to use the computer to track down a suspect.
Some of the ironic twists and coincidences are predictable, particularly once you learn to expect them, but this is a good solid story collection.
July 13, 2024
TLDR: a good many of the stories built on themes of suicide/ ending in suicide which became quite tedious as it almost became a default and was overused. I skipped a few stories including the one about superheroes and Elvis (both seemed a bit silly but I can imagine some enjoying them for their contrast from more serious crime fiction themes).
Four of the stories, which received 5/5 stars, were remarkable. These stories (including ‘Home Front’ which has won the Edgar Award, and ‘Nobody Wins’ nominated for the Shamus award) were fast-paced with elaborate and unexpected plot twists. I attribute my favourites of this book as being the ones with settings and themes I tend to most enjoy in crime fiction (eg. WW2 era, wealthy family conspiracies and drama).
Ardai successfully infuses a sense of foreboding in each of these stories. Credit where credit is due, all of the stories had a unique premise for a crime short story with their settings and characters.
Overall, a good anthology of his stories and an engaging read. Skip the stories you’re not into; there’ll be something in this for anybody.
Four of the stories, which received 5/5 stars, were remarkable. These stories (including ‘Home Front’ which has won the Edgar Award, and ‘Nobody Wins’ nominated for the Shamus award) were fast-paced with elaborate and unexpected plot twists. I attribute my favourites of this book as being the ones with settings and themes I tend to most enjoy in crime fiction (eg. WW2 era, wealthy family conspiracies and drama).
Ardai successfully infuses a sense of foreboding in each of these stories. Credit where credit is due, all of the stories had a unique premise for a crime short story with their settings and characters.
Overall, a good anthology of his stories and an engaging read. Skip the stories you’re not into; there’ll be something in this for anybody.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2024
For the 20th anniversary of the Hard Case Crime imprint its founder, Charles Ardai, has given us a sizable collection of twenty of his own short stories. I am a devotee of the Hard Case line, and I greatly enjoyed the novels Ardai published under his pseudonym, Richard Aleas. That said, I find that the only short stories I'm drawn to these days tend to be horror, or "literary" fiction.
First, I'll note that there was only one klinker in the lot. No, I'll not name it. There were a couple that really knocked me on my ass, the award winning "Home Front" and the one that takes place in a Ming dynasty set Buddhist monastery. The other 17 are all solid if sometimes over reliant on a twist particularly one that results in a terminal climax. I'm perhaps over sensitive to that as it is something I do too often in my own writing. Mr. Ardai also seems to have a fascination with suicide in its many forms, this is the case in his novels as well. I mention this not as a criticism, only an observation.
recommended. I can't imagine many crime fiction lovers being disappointed and I know a great many will enjoy it even more than I did.
First, I'll note that there was only one klinker in the lot. No, I'll not name it. There were a couple that really knocked me on my ass, the award winning "Home Front" and the one that takes place in a Ming dynasty set Buddhist monastery. The other 17 are all solid if sometimes over reliant on a twist particularly one that results in a terminal climax. I'm perhaps over sensitive to that as it is something I do too often in my own writing. Mr. Ardai also seems to have a fascination with suicide in its many forms, this is the case in his novels as well. I mention this not as a criticism, only an observation.
recommended. I can't imagine many crime fiction lovers being disappointed and I know a great many will enjoy it even more than I did.
January 12, 2025
I have been reading Hard Case Crime books since they began. Very few I have not read. Ardai states in introduction that it is hard to write short stories that are all high quality. He's right. The first story, The Home Front, is a 5. The last story, The Investigation of Things, is a 1. Overall I give the book a 4. I read every story and enjoyed almost all of them. Did not finish The Investigation.
If you are into actual, well-written mysteries and crime books, you can't go wrong with Hard Case Crime. BEWARE though: Max Allan Collins has re-released all his Quarry books with New titles. I hate it when authors and publishing companies do that.
One interesting thing about Hard Case Crime books is that the woman on the cover seldom, if ever, matches the woman in the story.
I have an insert (from the 50th/51st book?) that shows all the covers of the first 50 books. Very interesting in a pulp fiction manner.
Worked in drug store in 60's and we had a rack of paper back books. These are a reminder of those books.
If you are into actual, well-written mysteries and crime books, you can't go wrong with Hard Case Crime. BEWARE though: Max Allan Collins has re-released all his Quarry books with New titles. I hate it when authors and publishing companies do that.
One interesting thing about Hard Case Crime books is that the woman on the cover seldom, if ever, matches the woman in the story.
I have an insert (from the 50th/51st book?) that shows all the covers of the first 50 books. Very interesting in a pulp fiction manner.
Worked in drug store in 60's and we had a rack of paper back books. These are a reminder of those books.
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