Mystery Writers of America Presents The Blue Religion: New Stories about Cops, Criminals, and the Chase

by Michael Connelly (Editor), James O. Born, Jon L. Breen

Taking us from smoggy Los Angeles to the woods of Idaho, from Hawaii at the turn of the twentieth century to the post-Civil War frontier, these riveting stories trace the perils and occasional triumphs of lawmen and -women who put themselves in harm's way to face down the bad guys. Some of them even walk the edge of becoming bad guys themselves.

In T. Jefferson Parker's "Skinhead Central," an ex-cop and his wife find unexpected menace in the idyllic setting they have chosen for their retirement. In Alafair Burke's "Winning," a female officer who is attacked in the line of duty must protect her own husband from his worst impulses. In Michael Connelly's "Father's Day," Harry Bosch faces one of his most emotionally trying cases, investigating a young boy's death.

These are hard-hitting, thrilling, and utterly unforgettable stories, from some of the best writers in the mystery world.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Crime, Fiction, Anthologies, Audiobook, Procedural

373 pages, Hardcover

First published April 14, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads' database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Michael Connelly decided to become a writer after discovering the books of Raymond Chandler while attending the University of Florida. Once he decided on this direction he chose a major in journalism and a minor in creative writing — a curriculum in which one of his teachers was novelist Harry Crews.

After graduating in 1980, Connelly worked at newspapers in Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, primarily specializing in the crime beat. In Fort Lauderdale he wrote about police and crime during the height of the murder and violence wave that rolled over South Florida during the so-called cocaine wars. In 1986, he and two other reporters spent several months interviewing survivors of a major airline crash. They wrote a magazine story on the crash and the survivors which was later short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing. The magazine story also moved Connelly into the upper levels of journalism, landing him a job as a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times, one of the largest papers in the country, and bringing him to the city of which his literary hero, Chandler, had written.

After three years on the crime beat in L.A., Connelly began writing his first novel to feature LAPD Detective Hieronymus Bosch. The novel, The Black Echo, based in part on a true crime that had occurred in Los Angeles, was published in 1992 and won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel by the Mystery Writers of America. Connelly has followed that up with over 30 more novels.

Over eighty million copies of Connelly’s books have sold worldwide and he has been translated into forty-five foreign languages. He has won the Edgar Award, Anthony Award, Macavity Award, Los Angeles Times Best Mystery/Thriller Award, Shamus Award, Dilys Award, Nero Award, Barry Award, Audie Award, Ridley Award, Maltese Falcon Award (Japan), .38 Caliber Award (France), Grand Prix Award (France), Premio Bancarella Award (Italy), and the Pepe Carvalho award (Spain) .

Michael was the President of the Mystery Writers of America organization in 2003 and 2004. In addition to his literary work, Michael is one of the producers and writers of the TV show, “Bosch,” which is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Michael lives with his family in Los Angeles and Tampa, Florida.

Reviews

[Paul Weiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

“When constabulary duty’s to be done … “

Until such time as Michael Connelly publishes a novel that might suggest that Harry Bosch has jumped the shark (and he certainly hasn’t done it yet in a thus far brilliant career), I’ll buy and read anything that has his name on it. This time he’s both a contributor to and the editor of an anthology of short stories about police and the people that they seek to hunt down and put away.

Nineteen vignettes from a collection of authors (aside from Connelly himself) that included such luminaries as T Jefferson Parker, Laurie R King, Peter Robinson and Alafair Burke was pretty much assured of being a winner and it didn’t disappoint. Admittedly, a couple of near misses went a little wide of the bull’s eye but not a single one of them could be called disappointing. Lest anyone be misled as to the nature of the stories because of Connelly’s reputation, potential readers should be cautioned that there isn’t a single entry in the collection that might be called a suspense or psychological thriller. Still ... be assured that every single one of them, despite their more laid back cerebral story-telling style, was enjoyable.

Definitely recommended.

Paul Weiss

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The description lists all the authors involved, so I won't bother to list them here. The stories ranged from 3 to 5 stars, an amazingly good collection & they focus more on the cops than the criminals. What is it like to be a policeman or woman? How do they think, what issues do they face both physically & mentally? Here are 18 answers that are really well done.

The description says, The magnificent and never-before-published Connelly story alone is worth the price of admission... I can't find a ToC to tell if there was another of his stories in this besides "Father's Day", but I doubt it & that story was published in Angle of Investigation (2011).

The stories were all well narrated & good besides. I've really enjoyed all of the "Mystery Writers of America Presents" books, but this one was even better than the others. Highly recommended.

[Labijose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Antología de relatos de los “Mystery Writers of America”, de los que ya he leído unos cuantos. Coordinados por el gran Michael Connelly. Por supuesto los hay muy buenos, y otros que no lo son tanto. Me quedo especialmente con los de Paul Guyot, Alafair Burke, Greg Rucka, Jack Fredrickson, Bev Vincent, Diana Hansen-Young y, por supuesto, el del propio Connelly.
Se pueden leer intercalados entre otras lecturas, y te garantizan unas horas de evasión. Me encantan este tipo de recopilaciones, y esta no me ha defraudado en absoluto.

[David Highton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of police short stories - some very good, others less so - but overall pretty good

[Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

The collection of police crime fiction includes Law & Order type police procedural such as Persia Walker’s “Such a Lucky, Pretty Girl” to capers such as Bev Vincent’s “Rule Number One.” But all the stories are about cops and criminals and the onus and responsibility of the badge. And there is even a provocative story by Diana Hansen-Young, “Oaths, Ohana, and Everything,” about the handing-over of Hawaii to the United States. A great collection for crime fiction fans.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strangely I feel like I have read most of these short stories before. I like the way they moved quickly from one to another. I am very impressed with Alafair Burke's offering as well as the master, Michael Connelly. Lee Child created a similar forum several years ago as well.

[Frankie Winchester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Guy cop Stories

The short stories in this volume all featured police officers. Almost all of them were presented in a positive light, serving their communities and filling the role of the good guys. The writing, plots, and character development were mostly high quality. Of course I liked some better than others and some not at all. The editor left the two best-known authors to the end, Alafair Burke and Michael Connelly.

[Peacejanz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have fallen in love with this series of books, presented by the Mystery Writers of America. This one was edited by Michael Connelly, a writer I have enjoyed for years. The others in this series contain short stories of mystery, usually about crooks. In this issue, Connelly specifically notes that not all cops are crooks, sometimes they are just our neighbors or friends. Most of the stories show good sides to the police and the problems they encounter or how they deal with them. I will not bother you with the stories I really liked but with authors such as Alafair Burke, T.Jefferson Parker, Leslie Glass and Connelly himself, what a joy to go back to my first love in reading, short stories. All the stories are good, some better than others and some by authors I do not know but will go find. If you like mysteries, I urge you to try some of these anthologies. You can get a great idea of new writers to find - they all write novels. The books all contain short blurbs about the authors. Happy 2025

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with any anthology, I liked some of these stories more than others, but there wasn't a single one here that I didn't enjoy. A couple of the stories will have me thinking about them for a while - "Skinhead Central" was terrific, and not the ending I anticipated. Male and female detectives, officers, retired cops, wannabe police officers - they're all here. The last story was a Harry Bosch short - I'm a huge Michael Connelly/Bosch fan and I loved this one.

[Larry Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Connelly brought me here, and The Blue Religion (Mystery Writers of America Presents the Blue Religion: New Stories about Cops, Criminals and the Chase, Michael Connelly editor) meets the test - delivering a wide ranging collection of “police procedurals”. As Connelly notes in his introduction - “an adage attributed to Joseph Wambaugh, the best story about the badge is not about how a cop works on a case. It is about how the case works on the cop.” It’s less about the procedures, than it is about the people and their actions, good & bad, that makes crime fiction, aka mysteries, so compelling, and for me addictive.

The stories and authors -listed in order of their appearance…

— Skinhead Central By T. Jefferson Parker
— Sack o’ Woe By John Harvey
— The Drought By James O. Born (My fav.)
— Divine Droplets By Paula L. Woods
— Serial Killer By Jon L. Breen
— A Certain Recollection By John Buentello
— A Change in His Heart By Jack Fredrickson
— The Herald By Leslie Glass
— Friday Night Luck By Edward D. Hoch
— The Fool By Laurie R. King ( most original IMO)
— Burying Mr. Henry By Polly Nelson (what you see, is what you get)
— Oaths, Ohana, and Everything By Diana Hansen-Young (excellent Historical Fiction)
— The Price of Love By Peter Robinson
— Contact and Cover By Greg Rucka
— Rule Number One By Bev Vincent (Stay safe out there)
— What a Wonderful World By Paul Guyot (another favorite)
— Winning By Alafair Burke
— Father’s Day By Michael Connelly

These stories run the gamut of good & bad, cops & perps, love & hate, right & wrong … the pursuit, aka the chase, takes us to fearful places, many procedures cast aside. But many good actions as well, intended to provide safe harbor, and respite, from the rages and transgressions of humankind. Serious stuff, a difficult job for those who choose to wear the blue.

[Betsy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not a big fan of short stories but I can usually find a reasonable number of decent ones in any collections. This particular collection was worse than most. There were, maybe, two or three decent stories. The rest were either indifferent or actually bad. Don't bother with this one.

[A.S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

An uneven collection of crime fiction.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Blue Religion is a collection of police procedural short stories. When I started reading, I knew four authors who contributed to the collection. Now, having finished reading, I've added several authors to my "to read" list.

T. Jefferson Parker was true to form with his "Skinhead Central". I found a sly smile on my face as I finished up his story.

Alafair Burke's short story "Winning" was outstanding. When I first started the story, I was a bit jolted by the plot. I wasn't expecting it. But, I loved how she made use of gender stereotyopes and blurred the lines by the conclusion of the story.

James O. Born contributed a story entitled "The Drought". I read one of Born's full novels and wasn't overly impressed, but this short story was probably one of my favorites in the book. I thought his main character, Ben, had a lot of dimension to him.

And finally, "Burying Mr. Henry" was my favorite story of the book. I had not heard of Polly Nelson before this short story, and she's actually only published a few other short stories - no novels. This was an O.Henry-caliber story. The characters were colorful, as was the setting. I truly hope Polly continues to write and publish; I'll look forward to reading more from her.

Novels consume the biggest percentage of my reading time, but it was an enjoyable experience to take a break and indulge in these short stories. Kind of a form of instant gratificaion almost.

[Mrs. Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories in MWA collections are almost always good, and among Michael Connelly’s selections in The Blue Religion are some very nice ones. His own “Father’s Day” is as unforgettable as it is sad. I also liked “What a Wonderful World” by someone I’ve never heard of (Paul Guyot), and wish I could find more of Jack Frederickson somewhere - “A Change in His Heart” is more serious than its amusing surface might imply. On the other hand, this is the second anthology I’ve come across lately which contains an entry by Diana Hansen-Young, and I hope it is the last. When I think that an 87th Precinct short could have appeared in its stead I’m forced to conclude that this disparity between my taste and theirs is probably the reason the MWA has never requested that I edit one of their anthologies. To show that I don’t nurse a grudge, I recommend The Blue Religion to short story readers in general, even those who are not mystery fans.

[Peter Metcalfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good compendium of Cops in action in different situations

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I normally really enjoy these compilations. This one was not my favorite. I believe it is because the stories follow too closely on a theme. Although there are many differences, the main characters basically have the same profession (policing) and thus, many of the same character traits. This made it seem a bit repetitive compared to the other volumes in this series. I did particularly like the story about the detective with Alzheimer's, the odd perspective of the one about the man feeding the birds and another which focused on the painful cases of incest and jealousy. I normally love the audio versions. However, this one, in one of the stories, featured a super bad, imho, Spanish accent. It sounded more Count Chocula quasi fake Transylvanian/Russian and really was annoying. If you have a choice, read one of the other books in this series, especially those that feature collaborations between different authors.

[Mike Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the audio version of this book. Pretty good collection of short stories. I’m usually not a huge fan of short stories, but this collection I did enjoy. The highlight for me was Michael Connelly’s Father’s Day as I have read all of Connelly’s works. Also liked the fact that since I was listening I could end after a story, and come back to a new one later. Didn’t need to remember the plot.

[Jake Pescador · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the stories here about perps and police officers, their predicaments and probes, private lives and thoughts, Greg Rucka's account of deadly misogyny in the ranks in 'Contact and Cover' stands out in this #metoo times. Edited by Connelly, not surprisingly the smoothest writer here with his 'Father's Day' piece, The Blue Religion should give genre fans a good way to kill time while under covid-19 lockdown.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent anthology that addresses the way a case impacts the police involved. Some of the stories by well-known authors such as Michael Connelly and Alafair Burke highlight how talented these writers are. Other stories are stronger in concept than execution, but every one of them is worth reading.

[Susanne (Pages of Crime) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most short story collections there is a real mixed bag here. I really enjoy Michael Connelly's writing and expected that the stories he would choose would also be to my taste and mostly that is the case. There were only one or two in the whole collection that I didn't read right through as I didn't enjoy them after the first couple of pages.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing really mind-blowing in these stories, but every story was uniformly good. I appreciated that not every story was the typical procedural, some were slice-of-life, some light and fluffy and some dark. Thematic anthologies can fall into the trap of being too similar, but there was enough variety here to keep it interesting.

[Zade · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very strong collection of stories, full of top-tier authors, none of whom were phoning it in. Just one great piece after another.

If I had to pick a favorite, it would be Laurie King's entry, but with Michael Connolly, T. Jefferson Parker, Greg Rucka, Peter Robinson, and so many others, it's really impossible to pick just one.

[Mitch Fountain · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to say, I've read everything Connelly wrote, then you have to read this. It's not that high a hill to climb. An anthology of what I assume are up-and-coming crime beat writers. There are some real gems in here that are actually better than the Bosch short that is included. Buy it at your used book store. Read it. Take it back.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read introduces authors you may not know

All the stories are good, different, and consistently interesting most by authors you may not have read before but will want to read more of in the future

[Sherry Wessman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting! Clever!

Michael Connelly has been one of my fav authors, forever. I found most of the stories, intriguing. I would have been quite content to read on, for most of them. Worth the read!

[annapi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of above-average stories! I will be looking up a lot of these authors whose novels I haven't yet tried. This was a cut above your usual anthology - I give it 3.5 stars, rounded up. I loved the Connelly story best, but maybe I'm biased.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book of short stories because of Michael Connelly, but he only wrote one of the nineteen stories. I didn't know the other authors. The stories were interesting, but they went on and on. I thought I would never finish this book.

[David Mc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aside from the very talented Michael Connelly, none of the other short stories rose much above a “C” level. Indeed, despite enjoying everything Connelly has written in the past….this anthology of short stories is definitely a stinker and not worth the time or effort to read.

[Reving · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://revingsblog.blogspot.com/2017...

[Bruce Gleba · Rating 2 out of 5]

First story was what I expected. The other short stories were not very good.