A novella and collection of short stories by Scotland's favourite novelist. Two men sit petrified on Christmas Eve at the thought of spending it in supernatural company; a young family makes a tense Cross-channel trip in fear of some unspecified threat; an old man contemplates jumping to his death at the thought of being evicted from the house in which he has lived all his life. In this book, Doris Davidson looks back over an immensely successful writing career in a collection of twenty short stories, which also includes her eagerly awaited latest work, the novella "Duplicity". Covering a wide range of themes and moods, these stories are a wonderful tribute to the skill and imagination of one of Scotland's best-loved authors.
I must say... a lot of the stories were cliché. Some of them had interesting concepts, but weren't worked out well enough, and a lot of it was repetitive. There was also a novel in there, "Duplicity", which was better, but again very repetitive.
not sure why i picked up this book from my local library as i'm not a great fan of short stories. The first half of the book comprises short stories which were all previously submitted to magazines but either not published or turned down by the publishers. OK but pretty lame - style of stuff published in the sort of womens magazines i only read accidentally in the doctors or dentists waiting room. The second half of the book was a longer story, much better, and i was enjoying it until the ending - twee sentimental 'Mills & Boon' rubbish, not what i enjoy reading, spoilt what had the potential for a good read.