Wolfsbane: Best New England Crime Stories 2023

by Christine Bagley (Editor), Susan Oleksiw (Editor), Leslie Wheeler (Editor)

Best New England Crime Stories 2023 once again brings together many of the best writers in the genre in our region. These 21 stories cover the full range of crime fiction, from the traditional amateur sleuth to the cop in the world of self-driving cars and AI bots running your home. The award-winning authors take us to the streets of Boston where drug dealers congregate, and yet show us the true character of some of those on the mean streets. A decent man goes undercover and learns a few lessons the hard way, and a lawyer faces his own hard reality. Every story brings new insight and fresh perspective to the world of crime, the criminals, and the victims caught among them.

Read the work of these award-winning Jason Allison, Christine Bagley, Brenda Buchanan, Christine H. Chen, Bruce Robert Coffin, Michael Ditchfield, Judith Green, Connie Johnson Hambley, Sean Harding, Eleanor Ingbretson, Zakariah Johnson, Paula Messina, Susan Oleksiw, Robin Hazard Ray, Ray Salemi, Lauren Sheridan, Bonnie Spring, Gabriela Stiteler, Frances Stratford, Leslie Wheeler, Carolyn Marie Wilkins

286 pages, Paperback

Published October 4, 2023

Reviews

[Jason Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bias Disclaimer: I've got a story in this collection. But even if I didn't, I'd realize the 2023 collection of New England's Best Crime Fiction features some excellent work. Among my favorites are Bonnar Spring's "Good Deed For the Day", Christine H. Chen's "Lost and Found"; Sean Harding's "The Snitch", and Bruce Robert Coffin's "One For the Road".

But every author brings their own take on the genre, and none fails to entertain.

[Norman Birnbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good collection. I especially liked Bonner Spring’s “A Good Deed for the Day,” Gabriella Stiteler’s “A Simple, Hard Truth,” Ray Salemi’s “Final Wishes,” and Sean Harding’s “The Snitch” (his first published story!). I liked others, too, but I’m typing this on my phone so I may have to add others at a later time. This anthology provides different types of mysteries and crimes and different locations around New England, as well as stories set in different periods, ranging from post-Civil War to the near future.