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Sob Sisters
Madison, Wisconsin, 1972—When Detective Hank Kaplan calls Valentina Wilson to a crime scene, she wonders why. She soon finds more questions than answers in a secret room belonging to a wealthy female philanthropist, whose brutal murder the police hastily cover up. Val’s search for the truth will take her from the rape hotline she runs to the shocking realization that the woman’s murder anchors a long line of horrific events stretching back decades.
Chosen as one of the best mystery short stories of 2013 by the readers of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, “Sob Sisters” continues the powerful story of Valentina Wilson, a character who first appeared in Nelscott’s award-winning Smokey Dalton series.
“[A] good piece of short literature.”
—Eerie Worlds
“Nelscott recalls the era with vivid accuracy.”
—St. Petersburg Times
Kris Nelscott is an open pen name used by USA Today bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
The first Smokey Dalton novel, A Dangerous Road, won the Herodotus Award for Best Historical Mystery and was short-listed for the Edgar Award for Best Novel; the second, Smoke-Filled Rooms, was a PNBA Book Award finalist; and the third, Thin Walls, was one of the Chicago Tribune’s best mysteries of the year. Kirkus chose Days of Rage as one of the top ten mysteries of the year and it was also nominated for a Shamus award for The Best Private Eye Hardcover Novel of the Year.
Entertainment Weekly says her equals are Walter Mosley and Raymond Chandler. Booklist calls the Smokey Dalton books “a high-class crime series” and Salon says “Kris Nelscott can lay claim to the strongest series of detective novels now being written by an American author.”
For more information about Kris Nelscott, or author Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s other works, please go to KrisNelscott.com or KristineKathrynRusch.com.
Chosen as one of the best mystery short stories of 2013 by the readers of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, “Sob Sisters” continues the powerful story of Valentina Wilson, a character who first appeared in Nelscott’s award-winning Smokey Dalton series.
“[A] good piece of short literature.”
—Eerie Worlds
“Nelscott recalls the era with vivid accuracy.”
—St. Petersburg Times
Kris Nelscott is an open pen name used by USA Today bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
The first Smokey Dalton novel, A Dangerous Road, won the Herodotus Award for Best Historical Mystery and was short-listed for the Edgar Award for Best Novel; the second, Smoke-Filled Rooms, was a PNBA Book Award finalist; and the third, Thin Walls, was one of the Chicago Tribune’s best mysteries of the year. Kirkus chose Days of Rage as one of the top ten mysteries of the year and it was also nominated for a Shamus award for The Best Private Eye Hardcover Novel of the Year.
Entertainment Weekly says her equals are Walter Mosley and Raymond Chandler. Booklist calls the Smokey Dalton books “a high-class crime series” and Salon says “Kris Nelscott can lay claim to the strongest series of detective novels now being written by an American author.”
For more information about Kris Nelscott, or author Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s other works, please go to KrisNelscott.com or KristineKathrynRusch.com.
- GenresMysteryShort Stories
ebook
First published November 1, 2013
About the author
Kris Nelscott
41 books39 followersKristine Kathryn Rusch is an award-winning mystery, romance, science fiction, and fantasy writer. She has written many novels under various names, including Kristine Grayson for romance, and Kris Nelscott for mystery. Her novels have made the bestseller lists--even in London--and have been published in 14 countries and 13 different languages.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 10, 2021
A complete short story that I found more emotional than most novels I have read. Now I must read everything Smokey Dalton.
January 17, 2026
Set in 1972, we follow the case of protagonist Val Wilson as she helps a detective named Kaplan investigate the murder of a society woman philanthropist. There is a powerful short story here told under a Kristine Kathryn Rusch pseudonym originally published in a 2013 Ellery Queen Magazine issue with a well-established cast. It came as no surprise to me that Val had already appeared in a series novel written under the Kris Nelscott name.
I enjoyed the writing of this time. It's authentic to the period and feels like the author lived it, just as I did. She even gets right how an African American with a short Afro of the era would be perceived and has her character act in a way consistent with her situation. It's subtle and understated, but there. That's the story's strongest aspect--it's deep characterizations and period correctness on all details, including the knowledge of shorthand.
The story's only weakness is that to make it short enough to appear in the magazine, key portions of it had to be narrated when they should have been told dramatically. Perhaps the author felt the material not strong enough to sustain fuller treatment. Maybe she had other projects going at the time she felt she had to work on instead. In any event, I think she was mistaken and that this short story would have worked even better as a novel.
I found the story, incidentally, in The Lady Sleuths MEGAPACK ®: 20 Modern and Classic Tales of Female Detectives. It's the lead-off, a fine introduction to the megapack.
I enjoyed the writing of this time. It's authentic to the period and feels like the author lived it, just as I did. She even gets right how an African American with a short Afro of the era would be perceived and has her character act in a way consistent with her situation. It's subtle and understated, but there. That's the story's strongest aspect--it's deep characterizations and period correctness on all details, including the knowledge of shorthand.
The story's only weakness is that to make it short enough to appear in the magazine, key portions of it had to be narrated when they should have been told dramatically. Perhaps the author felt the material not strong enough to sustain fuller treatment. Maybe she had other projects going at the time she felt she had to work on instead. In any event, I think she was mistaken and that this short story would have worked even better as a novel.
I found the story, incidentally, in The Lady Sleuths MEGAPACK ®: 20 Modern and Classic Tales of Female Detectives. It's the lead-off, a fine introduction to the megapack.
January 8, 2021
Kris Nelscott is the pseudonym used by Kristine Kathryn Rusch for her mystery genre writing. On her blog she offers free fiction Mondays when for a week you can read for free a previously published story. I highly recommend following these as the stories have all been worth reading, but they do come from all the different genres Ms Rusch writes in. This is historical fiction which rings true to my memories of the time. The character of Val first appeared in Nelscott's novel Stone Cribs
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I found this a powerful story and I recommend it.
.I found this a powerful story and I recommend it.
April 23, 2018
The usual awesomeness from Kris Nelscott. How does anyone resist her writing?
February 19, 2015
It's just a short story but it served as a nice introduction to a new (for me) author that I want to read more from. It's a story about the head of a womens hot line and a police investigating the murder of a wealthy but secrative old lady.
I do find it a pity that the author didn't follow through with this, it seems more like a draft to a much longer novel.
I do find it a pity that the author didn't follow through with this, it seems more like a draft to a much longer novel.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews