Crime Hits Home: A Collection of Stories from Crime Fiction's Top Authors

by S.J. Rozan (editor)

*An Anthony Award 2023 Finalist*

The newest anthology from Mystery Writers of America explores the theme of home and the crimes that endanger it, with stories by Ellen Hart, Naomi Hirahara, Walter Mosley, Sara Paretsky and more.

Everyone comes from someplace. Everyone has somewhere they feel safe. Some people have found their home and are content where they are. Others feel trapped and yearn to go somewhere else. Many are somewhere else and yearn to go back. But evenin these safest of places, sometimes…crime hits home. What happens then?

In this volume, MWA brings together some of today’s biggest crime writers—and some of our most exciting new talents—to consider this question. Each writer has defined home as they see a place, a group, a feeling. The crime can come from without or within. What happens when crime hits home?

Featuring stories

Naomi Hirahara
David Bart
Sara Paretsky
Susan Breen
Gary Phillips
Neil S. Plakcy
Renee James
Connie Johnson Hambley
Gabino Iglesias
A.P. Jamison
Walter Mosley
Tori Eldridge
Ellen Hart
G. Miki Hayden
Jonathan Santlofer
Jonathan Stone
Ovidia Yu
Bonnie Hearn Hill
Steve Liskow
S.J. Rozan



 

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

387 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 19, 2022

About the author

SJ Rozan, a native New Yorker, is the author of the Bill Smith and Lydia Chin detective series as well as several stand-alone novels. She has won the the Edgar, Nero, Macavity, Shamus and Anthony awards for Best Novel and the Edgar award for Best Short Story. She is a former Mystery Writers of America National Board member, a current Sisters in Crime National Board member, and President of the Private Eye Writers of America. In January 2003 she was an invited speaker at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In February 2005 she will be Guest of Honor at the Left Coast Crime convention in El Paso, Texas. A former architect in a practice that focussed on police stations, firehouses, and zoos, SJ Rozan was born and raised in the Bronx. She currently lives in Greenwich Village, New York. (from the author's website)"
S.J. Rozan has a B.A. from Oberlin College and M.Arch from SUNY/Buffalo

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is home? And how does one define it?

Each writer provides their own take, in their own way. Of course, it is interesting when mystery and/or crime enters into the story.

What will you discover as you read each story?

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crime Hits Home is a collection of short stories by twenty different writers. The authors, the characters, and the subject matter of the stories are very diverse. The common theme of the stories is what happens when “crime hits home.” Some of the contributing authors are very well known, such as Naomi Hirahara, Sara Paretsky, and S.J. Rozan, and I’ve been reading their books for many years. Other authors were new to me, but may be familiar to others. An anthology of stories by different authors is almost always going to have stories that readers enjoy more than others, but it’s a great way to see additional works by authors you like as well as learn about authors new to you.

I wasn’t surprised that some of my favorite stories in the book are by authors I was already familiar with. Sara Paretsky contributes an unusual story about a college student that has a couple unexpected twists. The story by the editor of the collection, S.J. Rozan,, is short but powerful and features a smart, brave young woman who has experienced the unthinkable. I also enjoyed the story by Susan Breen about a woman who is a “scam baiter”, trapping men who con women out of money. Two of my other favorites are by authors I was unfamiliar with. David Bart’s “The World’s Oldest Living Detective” is an entertaining and touching story about a retired detective who is now living in a retirement home. Another favorite is The Happy Birthday Song By Bonnie Hearn Hill about a young girl who must make a decision that will affect the rest of her life.

In addition to the stories and authors I’ve mentioned, there are few other stories I enjoyed. Some of the others were either two grim and depressing for my taste or I just couldn't connect with. Even though the stories were hit or miss for me, the few standouts that I mentioned made the book a worthwhile read for me, and I would rate the book 3.5 stars. There is usually something for everyone in a collection like this, so those that weren’t to my liking may resonate with other readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin/Hanover Square Press for providing an advance copy of this book. The book was provided to me at no cost, but my review is voluntary and unbiased. This review will also appear on the Smitten Review Site and Blog.

[Steven Levine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 2021 entry in the series of mystery anthologies issued by the Mystery Writers of America. There are twenty stories, all supposed to relate to the idea of "home." All of the stories are original to this anthology.

Recent collections in this series all have a loose theme connecting the stories. In this volume, as I said, that is intended to be related to the idea of home. Many of the stories do have that as an important aspect; in others, the relationship to the theme is tenuous at best. This does not mean that the stories in which the concept of "home" is not a prominent part of the story may not be fine stories; it does make me wonder why such stories are included in this book though.

S. J. Rozan, herself a very fine mystery writer, edited this anthology (and also has a story included). Rozan has a brief introduction, setting forth the theme. I don't agree with some of her commentary:

Everyone feels safe, feels at home, someplace... Safe at home - that feeling you get when you're in your living room, your team's stadium, at your family's Sunday dinner. Your local café, or bar, or church, synagogue, temple, mosque. Walking down the streets of your city, your village.

I think that one might be lucky enough to have that feeling of safety, of belonging. However, I think that many people do not; for example, the child Lilith/Princess in the story "The Happy Birthday Song" might be one person who would not agree that "everyone" can share that feeling.

Most of the stories here are at least acceptable, some much more than that. However, I think that a couple of these are poor. "Currents" by Connie Johnson Hambley is about a professional assassin living in seclusion on a small island, who has unexpected visitors. I think that the major "surprise" is not surprising and the premise is quite far-fetched.

"Haunted Home on the Range" by A. P. Jamison is about brilliant eleven year old Augusta DeWitt, known as Gus, and her dog Marshmallow, a team of private investigators. Gus is hired by a ghost to find a missing diamond and to discover who murdered the now-specter. This time the premise and the solution both seem just silly to me. Also, I am annoyed and puzzled by the final sentence of the story, which I simply don't understand.

Walter Mosley is the author of the longest, and certainly the strangest, story in the anthology, "Not Exit ." Tom Exit is a learning-disabled young Black man, sent to prison for yelling at police officers because they were searching a woman in a manner Exit thought was inappropriate. Because he continued to react badly in some situations, his sentence kept getting extended. A fellow inmate told Exit that if he ever got out of prison, he should go to a certain location in Detroit. This was a place where they accepted folks with special gifts; if the people did not have such gifts, they were killed. Exit did have such a gift; he remembered every word that he ever heard. Exit escapes, and with help from a friend, he goes to Detroit. He seeks to become part of Miller's Mine, a (literally) underground community. At that point, this odd story becomes increasingly more odd, more dreamlike. Mosley takes what is largely fantasy and spins it into something that feels real and urgent.

"Jack in the Box" by Steve Liskov is another story of a somewhat addled man trying to cope with a frequently confusing world. He is, he believes, a war veteran - he is just not sure which war it was. He is homeless, living in a large shipping container near a dumpster behind a mini-mall, sharing it with some friends and some not-always-friendly voices. A crime takes place.

"What They Knew" by Gabino Iglesias is a complex tale with interlocking parts. A rich man has a wife he wishes to be rid off; he finds a poor man, in desperate need of money to help raise his children. The rich man's wife is smart, greedy, and unfaithful. Their lives mesh.

In Tori Eldridge's "Missing on Kaua'i," Makalani, a woman brought up in Hawaii, returns to her family home after ten years away. The family situation has become very complicated and two of the family members have just gone missing. Makalani becomes instrumental in solving many of their problems. A nice story, with, in my opinion, rather too much of the dialogue being in Hawaiian.

The introduction to the book states, "Protagonists range from children to elders..." One of the older protagonists is the narrator of "The World's Oldest Living Detective" by David Bart. Once a police officer, for thirty years a private investigator, Ethan Brock now resides in a retirement home in Albuquerque. Four mysteries come together at one time, one having occurred in the past, one relating to a hostile fellow resident, one involving a new orderly, and one of concern to the whole community - their cat is missing.

Four of the stories are about children, all of whom face crises. In "Grand Garden" by Naomi Hirahara, the narrator, a grammar school student of Japanese ancestry in Pasadena, lives in a Japanese-style house with an elaborate garden, which people pay to tour. He does not want any of his White schoolmates to know about his unusual living situation, but one finds out and tries to take advantage of the situation. This leads to tragedy. This story is one of those in which the concept of "home" is very important.

S. J. Rozan, editor of ths anthology, is also the author of the shortest story in the book, "Playing for Keeps." Hilda is an eleven year old Jewish girl living in Ohio, where she and her younger brother have moved following their liberation from captivity by the Nazis in World War II. Her brother has had an encounter with a bully regarding a game of marbles. Hilda offers to play against the bully, playing "for keeps," where the winner takes permanent possession of the loser's marbles.

Another young girl is involved in competition in "Live Pawns" by Ovidia Yu. A girl of Chinese ancestry brought up in New York becomes a expert in chess at a young age. Her frequent opponent is a young White male, whose parents are both appalling; his mother is a flat-out loony racist. This borders on being a horror tale. Many people suffer in this story - in fact, very few do not.

"The Happy Birthday Song" by Bonnie Hearn Hill has elements of an updated version of Oliver Twist. The narrator is a young girl called "Princess" by the people with whom she lives; she wants to go by the name "Lilith." She and her compatriots, all children except for two adults, make their living by shoplifting. One of the children is no longer with the group; Lilith does not know if she had been murdered by one of the adults. I have no idea how realistic this plot might be. I am quite sceptical of the risky plan to steal a bottle of tequila valued at $6000. Do they think some criminal fencing stolen goods would actually buy this for
anything like that price?

In "Flip Top" by Gary Phillips, a man is determined to regain possession of an old flip phone that he believes has information on it that would tie him to a crime. He does not want the people who currently have the phone to know why he wants it, so he tries increasingly desperate tactics to recover the phone. The message here seems to be that we are all crooked.

The narrator of "Stalking Adolf" by Renee James is a trans woman living with her teenage daughter, who continues to resent that the person who had been her father is now female. The narrator is convinced that she is being stalked by a large, thuggish man who she suspects might harm her or her daughter. Perhaps, she considers, she should strike first.

In "Private Dancer," Jonathan Santlofer tells a cynical tale of a rich man having an extramarital affair. Everyone in this story is out for his or her own gratification - money, power, sex. The only one who seems like a nice person is the rich man's betrayed, trusting wife - who, perhaps, has plans of her own.

And speaking of naively trusting - the couple who are the main characters in Jonathan Stone's "The Relentless Flow of the Amazon" have clearly never learned that one should indeed check the dentition of any gift horses one might receive. When the COVID pandemic is raging, they begin to get packages that seem to be from Amazon containing things they had not ordered. The first package holds two guns; the next one has ammunition. Each subsequent delivery contains stranger - and less legal - material.

Some people live by exploiting trusting folks. In "Banana Island" by Susan Breen, the central character is a woman who tries to help the would-be victims of con artists. She has been dealing for some time by telephone with a man who talks lonely women into giving him money. She wants to put an end to his nefarious activities. But crimes of a more urgent nature impact the protagonist's life.

The narrator of "Calling Mr. Smith" by Ellen Hart casually tells an old acquaintance whom she runs into in a bar that if her monstrous mother were to "simply disappear... the sun would finally come out and life would be a whole lot better." It is possible that the former acquaintance took this somewhat too literally.

The three remaining stories all share some qualities; they all have rural settings, they all definitely include the element of "home," and, perhaps most importantly, they are all quite good.

In "Forever Unconquered" by G. Miki Hayden, a Seminole man living with family members at the Big Cypress reservation in Florida is forced at gunpoint to guide two men to a spot in the swamp. To ensure his cooperation, his sister is also taken hostage and brought along. The man needs to keep himself and his sister alive until he can come up with a way for them to escape. This includes a nice surprise in the final paragraph.

Neil S. Plakcy tells of a man going home to "Oyster Creek" on Chesapeake Bay in Maryland after being told by his father that his mother had died in a hit-and-run traffic killing, presumably accidental. The not-very-interested police have not found out anything about the death. The narrator is gay, which at first seems to be just an unimportant detail, but sexual orientation matters more as the story develops.

"Little House in the Big Woods" is the title of a book by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It is also the name of a story by Sara Paretsky in this anthology. The central character starts out as a college student who is devoted to a female social activist minister. The student and a young man come across a falling-down small house in the country, which they restore. She and the young man, also a follower of that minister, become lovers. The young man is drifting away from his respect for the minister and this causes a rift between him and the girl. The girl takes part in a mission to Nicaragua for the minister, but she quickly finds out that her knowledge of spoken Spanish is inadequate. She returns home. Shortly afterward, the minister and the young man both disappear, and there are no clues to where they had gone, until some thirty years later.

There are revelations about each of the three main characters. This is a fine story, tricky and moving in equal parts.

I like most of the stories in this book, although I do not think that many of them are truly wonderful. I think Paretsky's story is the best. I also especially like "Grand Garden" by Naomi Hirahara, "Oyster Creek" by Neil S. Plakcy, "Forever Unconquered" by G. Miki Hayden, and "The Happy Birthday Song" by Bonnie Hearn Hill, flawed though it is. Walter Mosley's strange tale "Not Exit," as much science fiction or fantasy as mystery, continues to linger in my mind as well.

[Elizabeth Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

The concept of home is explored in this edition of the Mystery Writers' of America short stories anthology, Crime Hits Home. Home can be a physical place where one lives and keeps their possessions; maybe it's more about where someone spent their youth; for others, home has little to do with a physical structure and is more about how a feeling of warmth, comfort, and familiarity can be created.

I think this was my first time reading any of these authors unless I caught them in other anthologies. I'll also admit there was only one story that I couldn't finish because there was something about the writing style that felt clunky and difficult for me to read. The stories are diverse in character ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. I chose to highlight a few of them.

Grand Garden by Naomi Hirahara is the first story. Of course you don't need to read an anthology in any particular order, but I went through it in sequence. Grand Garden exposed me to characters in a time, place, and culture unfamiliar to me. There's a frustrating and sad quality to reading about this character's life as a Japanese-American child dealing with disrespectful White classmates. While a sacred katana, a family treasure, is central to this story, what you don't get is exploitative martial arts action movie scenes. It's about children who oppress their peers and no semblance of courtesy in them at all. Grand Garden asks, what wouldn't a child do to protect their family's personal space even if it appears humble or poor?

Banana Island by Susan Breen is a great take on the confidence game known as the Nigerian scam. Marly and Danjuma are characters connected through their jobs, yet there's an undeniable tether between them that even Marly can't explain. Danjuma is a con man. Marly's job is to stop him before he takes another woman's money. Author Susan Breen challenges the boundaries of a physical home when Marly is attacked in the one place she should be safest.

Haunted Home on the Range by A.P. Jamison presents something completely unique to this collection: a young detective named Augusta "Gus" DeWitt. This story is not only about solving a mystery, but also what it's like for a person to go through life wanting to break through gender roles. Through deductive reasoning and an ability to see and interact with ghosts, Gus solves a murder.

Forever Unconquered by G. Miki Hayden takes readers to the Florida Everglades, specifically into a geographic area still owned by Seminoles. By utilizing this setting, the author informs us about how indigenous families may interact with outsiders; it also creates dramatic conflict between U.S. law enforcement, criminals, and the Native Americans over jurisdiction. Billie is an ex-Ranger with a bad leg who will do whatever is necessary by the Seminole law to protect their land and families. Billie faces smugglers who threaten to kill his sister if he doesn't take them to an unsafe location. It's Billie's comfort zone. Even knowing that these criminals don't stand a chance, the story through Billie's perspective is tense.

Other stories that I found incredibly unique and compelling were Live Pawns by Ovidia Yu, The Happy Birthday Song by Bonnie Hearn Hill, and Jack in the Box by Steve Liskow. They were wonderful vignettes into the lives of characters so different from the average homogenous hero in our entertainment offerings.

[Monica Willyard Moen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is difficult for me to rate because it has some sparkling gyms and some real stinkers in the same collection. One thing that is glaringly obvious is the liberal political tone of the collection overall, and the over the top focus on transgender and social justice themes without any stories that balance these things from other viewpoints. For that reason, I decided I could not give it anything higher in a rating. When I read fiction, I want to escape and relax, not to be further pummeled by more politics.

I particularly enjoyed four stories;
Little House in the Big Woods by Sara Paretsky

Missing on Kaua'i by Tori Eldridge

Private Dancer by Jonathan Santlofer

Playing for Keeps by S.J. Rozan

[Judy Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I use collections of short stories such as this one in hopes of finding an author who gets my attention so engaged that I want to read more of their work. This collection didn't work out that way so that was a disappointment. The theme of crime in or around the home was well employed by each of the authors. I read the book back in November 2021 and found I couldn't remember the stories when I started writing my review. I read the entire book a second time hoping my interest would be more focused this time around, but it was just not to be. If one of your favorite authors has a story included in this volume, you may want to read the whole thing to get to that specific one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Hanover Square Press for an e-galley of this collection of short stories.

[AMAO · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crime Hits Home--A Collection of Stories from Crime Fiction's Top Authors
Mystery Writers of America Series Series, Book 3
Published April 19th 2022

~Quite a few great stories in this edition.

The newest anthology from Mystery Writers of America explores the theme of home and the crimes that endanger it, with stories by Ellen Hart, Naomi Hirahara, Walter Mosley, Sara Paretsky and more.
Everyone comes from someplace. Everyone has somewhere they feel safe. Some people have found their home and are content where they are. Others feel trapped and yearn to go somewhere else. Many are somewhere else and yearn to go back. But evenin these safest of places, sometimes...crime hits home. What happens then?
In this volume, MWA brings together some of today's biggest crime writers—and some of our most exciting new talents—to consider this question. Each writer has defined home as they see fit: a place, a group, a feeling. The crime can come from without or within. What happens when crime hits home?
Featuring stories from:
Naomi Hirahara
David Bart
Sara Paretsky
Susan Breen
Gary Phillips
Neil S. Plakcy
Renee James
Connie Johnson Hambley
Gabino Iglesias
A.P. Jamison
Walter Mosley
Tori Eldridge
Ellen Hart
G. Miki Hayden
Jonathan Santlofer
Jonathan Stone
Ovidia Yu
Bonnie Hearn Hill
Steve Liskow
S.J. Rozan

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of 20 short stories, all dealing with crimes occurring in the home. My fav was Currents, about an eco assassin living on a remote Pacific island and watching for eco crimes. A woman washes up on his shore and sets off a series of events. Very clever story.

I also liked The Relentless Flow of the Amazon (about a couple living locked down during pandemic and ordering everything from Amazon--and they get more than they ordered) and The Oldest Living Detective (about an elderly detective living in care home and still solving mysteries)

Most of the stories in the collection were ok but totally unremarkable, but a few were downright dreadful. Still, short stories don't require much time commitment to read, so even if most in this collection were blah, it was ok to cull through them to find the gems

[Mary Davidsaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A collection of stories from crime fiction's top authors." Paretsky, Mosley, and 18 others all exploring the meaning of "home" in its many permutations.

[Armand Rosamilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of crime stories. Like any anthology, there are those that are amazing and those that (when comparted to the stories as a whole) aren't nearly as good, but luckily with this book they were all good enough to finish. Found a couple of new authors to read more stories from, which is also a definite win for me.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Crime Hits Home.

I'm wary of anthologies since I usually only like one or two short stories but I'm a fan of mysteries and thrillers, so I'm trying to keep an open mind about short story collections.

I liked the theme that each story was woven around the home and what happens when your sense of safety and security is torn apart.

Imagine my shock and surprise (in a good way) when I discovered I enjoyed most of these stories!

Except for a couple which I didn't like, I enjoyed and appreciated the diversity and different perspectives of the main characters in each story, men and women, rich and poor, assassins and young people, people down on their luck, those struggling to make a decent life for themselves and their families, people of color and members of the queer community.

Some of the stories were amusing, surprising, with a good twist here and there and likable characters despite how short the stories were.

I look forward to the next anthology.

[Shoshana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love mysteries, and one of the forms in which I like them is the short story. There is something wonderful in a well-written short; a whole world encapsulated in just a few pages, with a mystery described and solved. It follows that a good anthology of mystery short stories is a pleasure, and this one is very good, indeed.

One of the sure things about anthologies is that the reader will prefer some stories to others. I especially liked the stories by Sara Paretsky, Walter Mosley, and S J Rozan herself. A couple of stories didn't particularly appeal to me, but that is normal.

All in all, this is an excellent anthology. It helps that Rozan is an author of note, she knows how to pick 'em.

[Kelly Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are more than a few gems of short stories in #CrimeHitsHome, an ARC of which I received from #NetGalley. The concept of crime hitting close to home is unique and has a lot of potential.
Among the tales that I would give five stars are: the well-written The World's Oldest Living Detective by David Bart; the excellent Banana Island by Susan Breen; the compelling Stalking Adolf by Renee James; the intriguing Currents by Connie Johnson Hambley; the heart-wrenching What They Knew by Gabino Iglesias; the original and timely Live Pawns by Ovidia Yu; and the intriguing The Happy Birthday Song by Bonnie Hearn Hill.
I must admit, however, that twice I almost didn't continue with the book. The first time was after the first story, which I still cannot fathom why it was placed first in the lineup. The first story should be one that makes you want to keep reading, not one that was a chore to read. The second time was after a series of stories that barely held my attention, but the next story was Yu's, which restored my faith and made me continue reading.
Overall, aside from the six 5-star stories, I would rate the remaining as follows: one 1-star, one 2-star, five 3-star, and seven 4-star.
As with most compellations, this one is hit and miss, but the excellent offerings scattered among the others make it up for the others.

[Grace Koshida · Rating 4 out of 5]

The newest MWA (Mystery Writers of America) anthology contains 20 stories that focus on home and what happens when crime invades these safe spaces. The stories range in tone from humourous to poignant to grim. In Naomi Hirahara's "Grand Garden", a young Nisei boy's family home in a hidden garden in Pasadena is invaded by a bullying white classmate and his brothers with tragic results for both families. By contrast, in David Bart's "The World's Oldest Living Detective", retired Albuquerque homicide detective/PI Ethan Brock is urged to using his sleuthing skills to find the retirement home's missing cat Ripley. And in Walter Mosley’s “Not Exit,” developmentally disabled Tom Exit has been locked up on Riker's Island for intervening when a woman was being mistreated by the police. His brutal journey through the penal system is highlighted.

Highly recommended.

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/Hanover Square Press with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and provided this review.

[David Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Home sweet home' is not-so-sweet home in this collection, which features 20 tales centred around the characters' homes. The concept of 'Home' is interpreted more loosely in some of the stories than others but the common theme is that your pleasant, familiar home can hide secrets. There were several stories I couldn't finish but most were pretty good. My favourites were Flip Top, about a piece of old tech in a family's possession that's not so old it doesn't contain something explosive; and a tale about a couple who get some nasty surprises during the Covid-19 lockdown when opening a never-ending flow of boxes from Amazon. It really is hard to think that in the recent past, everything and everyone was locked down and masks were mandatory but the story evokes those times well, in addition to its sinister twist. And a special mention to the tale of an elderly ex-detective in a care home whose faculties are still sharp enough to enable him to solve the case of a missing much-loved resident of the home.

[Denice Langley · Rating 5 out of 5]

When asked for a recommendation for a different author or genre, I always recommend an anthology. These collections contain stories by many of todays best known authors as well as authors who could easily become favorites. The stories are short, skillfully written and usually revolve around a central theme. In fewer pages than a chapter in a full length novel, these authors must flex their writing skills to include the "hook" with all of the accompanying twists and a satisfactory ending to bring the reader back for more. In CRIME HITS HOME, these 20 authors have each given their own definition to the word HOME and displayed how a person reacts to an attack on that home. As in any library, some stories are better than others, some will make you think, some will make you flinch, but they all will give you a taste of what you'd find in the author's back library. So treat yourself, enjoy an anthology or two.....starting with this one.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it comes to anthologies, I want to read one that I can't wait to keep reading, and Crime Hits Home did just that. There was a strong mix of authors centered around a central theme (crime hitting "home" in a myriad of forms), and the creative license that each author took with the theme made their individual short stories unique and set apart; however, the collection as a whole also still seemed connected and no one short story seemed out of place or unnecessary to the anthology's larger goal.

It was a quick read for me that captured my interest, so I will likely seek out additional Mystery Writers of America anthologies to read in the future.

[Desi Kennedy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I absolutely love short stories. They have been a favorite of mine for many years. This collection was a bit too dark for me. I read all of them and some I sort of liked but overall I felt lost and unsatisfied. I think this would be good if you like stories that are violent and maybe a bit ambiguous. If you are like me and need to know everyone is okay, this is not the short story collection for you. Just keep moving along.....

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

CRIME HITS HOME: A COLLECTION OF STORIES FROM CRIME FICTION'S TOP AUTHORS
S. J. Rozan

This collection of short stores was a sprinkling of good and not-so-good. OR perhaps I should say enjoyable and not so enjoyable, which is, of course, a personal opinion. So I likes several very much, and others not so much.

4 stars overall

Happy Reading!

[Sharon Gallup · Rating 3 out of 5]

i like books that have short stories . they fit in to bedtime reading. that is why I picked up this book. but i was disappointed with the crime stories that were picked for this book. Each story is written by a different authors . I found that most of the stories were hard to keep my attention as they didn't really seem like crimes of todays standards.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is pretty good. A wide variety of stories and authors and styles. Crime is not a favorite genre, but most of these were entertaining. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

[Anette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m giving this collection of crime short stories 5* because some of the contributions are highly engaging with unexpected twists. My favorites are “The Happy Birthday Song” by Bonnie Hearn Hill and “Banana Island” by Susan Breen.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't recognize any of the authors, so that's a change from previous Mystery Writers of America publications. A couple stories were outstanding. A few were barely readable. While the rest were just so so.

[Cherie Waggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I generally like anthologies because it gives a reader a chance to experience various writers and styles of writing. In the vein, the book is worth reading. Entertainment wise...well, if a reader likes to be depressed...these stories are very dark and way too depressing for my taste anyway.

[Vermillion · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was once again offended by the grouping of racial minorities with gays and lesbians. I loathe the “intersectionality” aspect of this book. I decided it wasn’t worth finishing after I came across yet one more ‘evil white people’ story.

[Norman Birnbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this collection even though I didn't like some of the stories. Short crime stories often show a lot of inventiveness, and that's in evidence here. The stories feature different types of crimes, different kinds of heroes and villains, and gave me things to think about.

[Lbtreco · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was mostly good. I plan on reading some of the authors I was introduced to. There were a couple stories that were so ridiculously and obnoxiously political that I just skipped them. Who needs that?? But overall the quality of the stories were really good and some excellent.

[HTP Books]

Categories
Mystery & Detective Short Stories, Thriller, Mystery & Detective, Anthologies
Miniseries
Mystery Writers of America Series (Book #3)

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Collections where different author gets together and put short stories, novella and full novels into one collection. It gives readers a chance to test out different authors stories, writing styles and the best of all find a new author!

Not every story or author will readers li

ke but it is a blend of different styles and stories that some times connects to the main title Crime Hits Home.

This anthologies are short stories have everything readers love from mystery and crime. While not all the stories are a hit the cast of author has kept to the theme. Some stories are rushed while others have master the ability to give readers a lot in a short amount of words.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy of Crime Hits Home: A Collection of Stories from Crime Fiction's Top Authors by S.J. Rozan
3 1\2 stars

[Lakshmi Menon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful collection of short stories