Sinister Shorts

by Perri O'Shaughnessy

The New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Nina Reilly thrillers brings her prodigious storytelling gifts to this first-ever collection of short crime fiction. From desperate housewives to hard-boiled PIs to an appearance by Nina Reilly herself, these chilling short mysteries–many appearing in print for the very first time–set the mood and ratchet up the suspense as only Perri O’Shaughnessy can.

Here are tales of love and betrayal, rage and revenge–nineteen sizzling stories that run the gamut from classic whodunits to winding thrillers to an unusual cozy that casts Gertrude Stein as an unlikely Miss Marple. And here Perri O’Shaughnessy has created some of her most sinister and compelling characters yet: a college student who devises an ingenious method for getting her sexy teacher’s attention . . . a haunted ex—homicide cop who takes a long walk into his blood-shadowed past in a twisting tale of brutal murder and escalating violence . . . a model wife who surprises both herself and a bothersome furnace man when she is confronted with an unacceptable ultimatum . . . a lemon tree that plays a pivotal role in the tale of a woman who at long last asserts her independence. . . .

From a blood-soaked scheme that’s born at a slot machine in Vegas to the violence that ensues when the fat lady stops singing, Sinister Shorts shows us life at its most menacing, murderous, and unbearably suspenseful. And it proves once again the unique and captivating genius of Perri O’Shaughnessy.


From the Hardcover edition.

The Long Walk
Success Without College
Dead Money
O'Shay's Special Case
House Afire
His Master's Hand
Gertrude Stein Solves a Mystery
The Furnace Man
Trio
The Second Head
Chocolate Milkshake
The Young Lady
Juggernaut
The Couple Behind the Curtain
Sandstorm
Tiny Angels
To Still the Beating of Her Heart
Lemons
A Grandmother's Tale

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 31, 2006

About the author

Perri O’Shaughnessy is the pen-name for two people, Pamela and Mary O’Shaughnessy, sisters. The authors' pseudonym is an homage to Perry Mason, the man who never met a guilty client, and a melding of their two first names, Pamela and Mary. O’Shaughnessy is their paternal family name.

They are the authors of eleven bestselling Nina Reilly novels as well as a collection of short crime fiction, Sinister Shorts.

Reviews

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great collection of short stories! I love the Nina Reilly thrillers so it was fun to read shorts written individually by the sisters.

[Nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nina Reilly, the character who arguably made this sibling writing duo famous, makes an appearance in this collection of short stories, as does her sometimes-lover, Paul Van Wagoner. You get 19 short stories here, and they may help you decide whether to tackle the Nina Reilly series.

“The Long Walk” features a former California homicide cop who brought his girlfriend from Atlanta back to his old killing grounds to investigate who killed a member of a law firm. There’s big money in it for him if he can figure it out. I thought this was a good lead story for the book.

“Success Without College” features Paul Van Wagoner, Nina Reilly’s sometimes-boy toy, who works on a workman’s compensation case you’ll want to read about.

In “Dead Money,” a husband-and-wife teamwork at faking a death.

“O’Shay’s Special Case” a lawyer lies his reputation on the line, and if you read it, you can learn why.

“House Afire” looks at the impact of marital separations.

“His Master’s Hand” is a creepy story about the theft of the composer Mozart’s hand from the grave.

Gertrude Stein Solves a Mystery” didn’t do much for me at all. It’s probably my least favorite story in the collection.

In “The Furnace Man,” a seemingly drab housewife turns up the heat on a con man.

“Trio” is a creepy story that takes love triangles to a fascinating level.

“The Second Head” focuses on the psychosis of accident victims who are sure they need more than they’re getting from their physician. It’s a black Vietnam veteran who helps solve that one.

“Chocolate Milkshake” tosses a new and creepy light on yo-yo dieting—something all too many of us know a great deal more about than we want to dwell on.

“The Young Lady” is an excellent story that involves a horny high-school girl, an English teacher’s son, and an English teacher who learns a lot about the age-old literary concept of what goes around comes around. It’s worth your time.

“Juggernaut looks at faked car accidents and the money you can make from the insurance company—until someone dies who isn’t supposed to.

In “The Couple Behind the Curtain,” you get an up-close look at the nasty impact of adultery as it plays out in a hospital room.

“Sandstorm” is a fascinating look at what we used to call a nervous breakdown brought on by stress and other factors. I enjoyed it.

“Tiny Angels” is so worth reading. It’s the story of a guy who works as a human-trafficker detector. He’s the one who guesses whether that woman’s child is really hers. He learns he’s even better at that when his wife comes along.

“To Still the Beating of Her Heart” is a highly satisfactory story wherein the newly disabled wife accomplishes what her husband had intended to do. Ah, but their roles switch, and she’s alive to tell the entire story. Very much worth your time.

“Lemons” is an interesting story about removing artificial walls and barriers among neighbors.

“A Grandmother’s Tale” looks at mistaken identity. A young woman fears the man with whom she’s associating is a murderer, and she captures a real murderer in the process of investigating.

Only two of these stories were complete losses for me. I’m not a short-story fan generally, but these were satisfying on balance and worthy of my time.

[Alton Motobu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nineteen short stories by the author of the Nina Reilly novels; only three deserve 4 stars or better; most are weird, pointless, nonsensical, and/or bizarre with killers getting away with their crimes. The best ones feature Nina Reilly and Paul van Wagoner, and Dead Money is the best of all. The Long Walk-a killer stalks a hiking trail near UC-Berkeley campus [***]; Success Without College-Paul van Wagoner solves an assault case of a young man working in a convenience store to earn money for college [***]; Dead Money- insurance fraud leads to the murder of the scammer but the murderer gets away with it [*****]; O’Shay’s Special Case-a lawyer takes a worker disability case that seems weak but he somehow gets a big settlement which is not explained [**]; House Afire-a single mom raises her son to be successful but she becomes depressed and contemplates suicide only to snap out of it when he tells her he is engaged [*]; His Master’s Hand-an art collector digs up Mozart’s grave and steals his hand [*]; Gertrude Stein Solves a Mystery-Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas investigate the murder of a “not so mannish Englishwoman” [half*]; The Furnace Man-a salesman who refuses to take no for an answer meets a fitting end to his endeavors [*]; Trio-a love triangle ends in murder-suicide [*]; The Second Head-woman in hospital after car accident self-pities until husband shows her shrapnel sticking out of the back of his head [*]; Chocolate Milkshake-woman has a milkshake which triggers binge eating and she becomes morbidly obese with shocking conclusion [*]; The Young Lady-a high school teacher seduces his son’s girlfriend only to find out it was the other way around [**]; Juggernaut-man plans to defraud insurance company by staging car accident but the victim hires Nina Reilly to defend her and Nina uncovers to true story [****]; The Couple Behind the Curtain-woman finds out husband is having an affair so she kills the woman [*]; Sandstorm-overworked woman has nervous breakdown and kills her husband and children and presumably her boss [*]; Tiny Angels-a kidnapper of an infant is aboard a flight and a cop must determine which one of three moms with infants is the guilty one, he has no clue but his wife can tell instantly [***]; To Still the Beating of Her Heart-a jeweler wants to kill his invalid wife because he does not want to care for her, but she kills him first [***]; Lemons-a neurotic widow wants to give extra lemons from her lemon tree to her neighbors but does not know how, turns out she killed her husband 32 years ago [*] ; A Grandmother’s Tale-in Ireland a 40-year-old woman finally meets a nice man and they marry, but he goes out late at night and she suspects an affair; turns out he was making baby shoes for their expected child [****].

[Nancy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love Perri O'Shaughnessy's Nina Reilly novels, but just couldn't get through this. I stopped half way through the book, not enjoying any of the stories, which weren't "sinister" at all.
I generally don't enjoy short stories anyway, so maybe I should just stay away from them.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't wild about this author's style. Or rather the authors' styles. OK but not great.

[Rebecca Cecil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book by Perri O'Shaughnessy was very different than their others. This book is a book of short stories written by Pamela and Mary individually rather than together. The authors even encourage the readers to guess which of them wrote each short story. As for me I have no idea which one wrote which one.
While I enjoyed several of the stories the others not so much it was like they left you wondering were the rest of the story was. I do love their ability to shock us right up till the end. They are awesome authors. Nina Reilly the lawyer in many of their legal books show up in one of these short stories, and Paul van Wagoner even blows in through one of the short stories. It was neat seeing both characters in these short stories. I love both characters.
Thanks again ladies for all the great stories Success Without college a good story - About a working class family who can not afford for the son to go to College events happen and Pal van
Wagoner comes in. Loved Juggernaut - About a wife who is tired of her husband drinking and gambling their money away.her husband figures out a way to get some money so his wife is satisfied and still drink and gamble. The only thing is things do not always turn out the way we plan or do they ? One of my favorite story was - To Still the beating of her Heart - an accident changes their lives forever but he says he will always love her.
For the most part loved them except not the ones that just seem to end abruptly with no real ending.

[Tracy Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved almost all of these stories, and even the ones that weren't my favorites were still good enough to keep me reading through to the end. In most short story collections I find myself skipping a story or two that just don't "grab me" after the first few pages. I found myself not wanting to miss anything in this collection! The stories had some great twists, but were not hard to follow, with the exception of one "Gertrude Stein Solves A Mystery". This story was full of a lot of odd references and half the time I didn't know what the author was talking about. But even with all of that considered, I still enjoyed the premise of the story and the interesting twist of having a lesbian couple as the central characters. I loved Juggernaut, Sandstorm, Chocolate Milkshake, The Young Lady and The Couple Behind The Curtain. But after reading many of the stories in the collection, the endings became a teeny bit too predictable. Oh it was an intense and great ending for a story the first time or two I read it, but then it just didn't vary quite enough. This author(s) write such incredible, believable characters that I think they can be a little more clever and vary up their endings more. This was my first experience with a Perri O'Shaughnessy book,but I will be back for more.

[Nin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love, love story compilations/anthologies! I read this in November while visiting Dad's grave in the cemetery. It was rainy, the air cold, the sky a dull gray. And me, reading stories this sinister. I liked the plot of the nineteen short stories and enjoyed the twists. How the bad guys turn out to be good, how seemingly good guys have skeletons in their closets (or murderous tendencies). My faves in this collection are Dead Money, House Afire, The Furnace Man, Chocolate Milkshake, The Young Lady, The Couple Behind the Curtain, Sandstorm, To Still the Beating of Her Heart, and Lemons.

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not fair to use my ratings because I am not a fan of short stories. I picked this book up in the library because I've read all the other books she [they:] have written. Some of the stories were good and some weren't. I have books of short stories all over the house by some of my favorite authors [like Stephen King:] that have never been finished. Since this one has a due date, I can't leave it sitting to collect dust for the next 10 years.

[Cathie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good collection of stories with some good twists and closure at the end. I like short stories that have a good ending and not leave me hanging. There were several I really liked and noticed a lot of disgruntled wife stories... I liked trying to guess which sister wrote which story and could definitely tell the story they wrote together, "Juggernaut" which was probably my favorite of the whole bunch.

[Pamela Trawick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two sisters, Pamela & Mary, write under the name of Peri. These stories are written by both or by either one individually. They do not tell who wrote most of them. Interesting insight into their individual personalities (if we only knew who was whom). Their joint mysteries benefit from their shared writing technique.

[Beth Chamberlain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though I have all of Perri O'Shaunessey books to date, this one is not a Nina Reilly novel so I actually didn't like it as much...if you like short stories, read them anyway...they're still good...

[Kyra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great going to sleep book, weird enough to keep your attention and short enough to last just long enough to fall asleep

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of tightly plotted short stories, many involving revenge. A welcome change of pace from the Nina Reilly novels (though Nina and Paul both make brief appearances).

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome collection of short stories! Even if you've never read any Perri O'Shaughnessy before, I highly recommend this book. Lots of variety, but all with an edge.

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I'm just not into short stories. Could not get through this one but gave it my best effort.

[Russeller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting more mystery than this.

[Susan Welkie]

Great selection of short stories