Deadly Housewives

by Christine Matthews (Editor/Contributor)

A heart-stopping mystery anthology from fourteen of today’s best-loved and bestselling female mystery and suspense writers.

In the expert hands of fourteen unsurpassed storytellers, being a housewife takes on a whole new meaning. Get ready for a lethal mix of meddling mothers-in-law, creepy neighbors, cheating husbands, fickle female friends, careers left behind, out-of-control kids, steamy sex, and much, much more in this thrilling collection of stories. Go behind the lace curtains and PTA smiles to explore the often mind-numbing reality of being a housewife. You’ll laugh, you’ll scream, you’ll recognize yourself or your best friend in each of these deadly situations.

Join Nevada Barr, Barbara Collins, Carole Nelson Douglas, Eileen Dreyer, Vicki Hendricks, Suzann Ledbetter, Elisabeth Massie, Christine Matthews, Denise Mina, Marcia Muller, Sara Paretsky, Nancy Pickard, S. J. Rozan, and Julie Smith on a riotous ride through the dark but often hilarious corners of the housewife psyche.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Audiobook, Crime, Chick Lit

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

(from MacMillan Publishers)

While separately Bob Randisi and Christine Matthews have also managed to forge a second career each as a writing duo. They have written short stories and edited anthologies together, as well as penning the first Gil & Claire novel Murder is the Deal of the Day. The Masks of Auntie Laveau is their second collaborative novel.

(from Fantastic Fiction online)

As a short story writer, Christine Matthews works have appeared in many collections including Deadly Allies II, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Lethal Ladies, For Crime Out Loud I and II, and Till Death Do Us Part.

Her novels include Murder is the Deal of the Day, The Masks of Auntie Laveau which the Los Angeles Times called a blueprint for how to write a thriller -, and Same Time, Next Murder. All three were co-authored with her husband, Robert J. Randisi. Recently she served as editor of and contributor to Deadly Housewives, published by Avon/Morrow in April 2006.

Under her real name, Marthayn Pelegrimas, she has written over forty short stories in the dark fantasy, science fiction, and horror genres, appearing in such anthologies as Borderlands 3, Best of the Midwest, Hot Blood IX, and Hot Blood X. Her story, The Living Donor was nominated by the Horror Writers of America for Best Short Story of the Year.

Reviews

[DJ =^^= · Rating 1 out of 5]

COULD NOT GET PASSED THE FREQUENT CUSSING OF 'GD F***ING SOB' IN THE FIRST 13 MINUTES SO THIS BOOK GETS 1 STAR. DESRVES LESS THAN 1 STAR JUST FOR THAT. A REAL AUTHOR DOES NOT NEED TO CUSS OR USE THAT KIND OF SLANG TO GET A POINT ACROSS!!!!!

[Fiona Forthe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately most of these stories were pretty disappointing, even from some of my favorite mystery novelists. Maybe they just really need the long form! Too many stories about dumb women doing dumb things and getting punished for it. There were a few good ones, though.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short entertaining mysteries. Just what I needed on a sick day.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of my favorite authors under one cover! Even the introduction by Christine Matthews had me chuckling. I laughed myself silly with Eileen Dreyer's Vanquishing the Infidel. I was delighted by Suzann Ledbetter's How to Murder Your Mother-in-Law. If anyone in the whole book deserved to be killed... This was a very enjoyable anthology of deadly women.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the stories in this book. It was interesting to read the short stories of some of the authors whose novels I already read. I will also be looking up other work of some of the authors that I was unfamiliar with before reading this book.

[LInda L · Rating 3 out of 5]

A contribution by Barr -- not great, but OK.

[L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars, but only because I didn't care for one of the stories.
I don't have a list of the stories names but the one about the sculptress was the best! Here is a woman who's thinking of ways to murder her husband, can't resist writing them down only to then blend them into sauces and feed them to her husband. Does she kill him? In a way she does yet never lays a hand on him. It was the most ingenious way to commit murder!
One was about a woman who dislikes her new neighbor because she has lots of pets. This one leaves you guessing until the very last page.
Another one was about a mother who defends her child. I expected more from this one and was disappointed with the ending. These stories were supposed to be about deadly housewives but this one, some of us have seen enacted with our own eyes. Nothing unusual about this one, just long and drawn out.
The mother-in-law story was good, well thought out and certainly a well deserved ending to a horrible person.
The one I didn't care for, it didn't make any sense. I couldn't tell what the story was supposed to be about. What point was it trying to make?
There are one or two more but these are the most memorable. They are funny, horrifying, and the one about the mother defending her child brought back memories of how mothers used to be. Absolutely loved the sculptress one!

[Mystic Miraflores · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed most of the stories in this book. The only real disappointment was Sara Paretsky's story "Acid Test". I relished a story set in Hyde Park near my alma mater, the University of Chicago. But I guessed the murderer early on, so that was no fun. The stories I really liked were: "Lawn and Order"; "How to Murder Your Mother-in-Law"; "Trailer Trashed"; "Joy Ride"; "Next Door Collector"; "He Said, She Said"; and "House of Deliverance"

[Kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always like to grab a short story collection when I am feeling stuck for what to read. The girls thought this was a funny title. I agreed it would be fun to leave laying around. Plus I always like a good mind stretch. Unfortunately I didn't land any new author favorite from this reading. Fortunately it was entertaining and kept me reading

[Sully Augustine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4 stars out of 5 - I listened to a playaway during my evening walks over the past few days. A couple of the stories were engrossing and stand out excellent - the others at least good. It held my interest well, and even caused me to extend my walks a couple of evenings.

[Shannon Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid anthology of crime/mystery/suspense stories. Fun collection of dirty deeds by housewives.

[Monica Willyard Moen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology was a lot of fun to read. The stories are very different from each other, and they are all interesting in their own way.

[Nichole · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you want to be bored to death and fall asleep this book will do it.

[Amanda Lizette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed these short stories! Very twisty

[Victoria Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted each story to be it's own book!!! Each author really knows how to tell a story to pull you in.

[Peggy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short story. Not very good in my opinion

[Kitty · Rating 1 out of 5]

😐🙄.

[Eunice Coorlas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of short stories involving dangerous, crazy and unhappy housewives. Not impressed and most of the stories have me a “so what” feeling.

[Kim Freitas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good, some not so good

[Dave Mackler · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring, unexciting, not worth my time

[Jeri Hierlihy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't care for this book. Most of the stories were not enjoyable reads. I had to force myself to finish it. I would not recommend it.

[K~Terror · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Britta Barnes · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was strange and was a ton of different stories that made me brain do circles.

[Michelle Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up on a whim at the library the other day, and i have to say that I was surprised.

it is a collection of short stories, of housewives who find themselves in situtations that they fell can only be solved by murder. Each story is pretty short and they are funny as well as well-written.

My favorite was the mother-in-law who was forced to move into the garage apartment and the daughter-in-law intentional poisoned her cat, so the mother-in-law got back at her, and the neighborhood by allowing the kids to play in the streets.

It was just a great read, and I found myself having trouble putting it down, although none of the stories connected, when i finished one I found myself wanting to read the next and the next. They were great and it was enjoyable. If you like to watch crime hows on tv, you'll love this book.

[Dixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest, I was not expecting much from this collection of short stories. I was in the mood for a new audiobook and Deadly Housewives was available right away through overdrive. So, I gave it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself hooked on some of the stories. My favorites included "Lawn and Order," "The Next-Door Collector," "Acid Test," "He Said...She Said" and "How to Murder Your Mother-in-Law."

There was a problem with the sound on the version that I checked out. Some parts were so quiet that I had to turn the volume up very loud, only to have the next story blast out too loud. I also favored one narrator's style over the other.

If I could, I would probably give this one 3.5 stars.

[Em · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm usually all kinds of happy with a mystery anthology. I get to check out new authors & revisit some familiar ones. There's enough there to know if I'll want to check out more from an author or if I need to take a break from them for awhile... Maybe forever.

Overall, this collection left me mostly indifferent--there were a couple stories I enjoyed, but mostly it was merely so-so. Works well if you'll be waiting for a few minutes, even an hour or so--more than a couple stories in one sitting, the stories blend together & you end up irritated that these murderous women seem only capable of complex thoughts when it comes to crime planning and execution.

It was fine, just not the experience I was hoping for.

[Mati · Rating 5 out of 5]

What did I learn from this book? Several rules for housewives.

1. For every problem there is a solution...even if lethal
2. Cheating husband is challenge for cleaning carpet, after having nice discussion with him.
3. Having snake is not bad idea,if not available ask neighbor
4. Mothers in law are no problem, unless you are annoying daughter in law.
5. Always clean up after you made mess
6. Best to throw away garbage is 4 hours after midnight

The best compilation of detective stories about housewives and murders.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fourteen short stories that demonstrate exactly why you should not aggravate or anger a “housewife”. Each story tackles an annoying problem … a cheating spouse … an irritating neighbour … a problem at work … a meddling mother-in-law or out of control teenagers and gives a somewhat lethal solution to that problem. As with any compilation of short stories, some were more enjoyable than others but overall it was a fun and (ahem) educational (?) read.

[Sarah Yasin · Rating 1 out of 5]

In print this might be a good book, but the audio version is very poorly done - the readers voices are monotonous, the pace is too fast for story-telling, and it seems the readers didn't even practice first.

Transitions are also striking: you can tell when a reader had to pause for a sip of water because mid-sentence her voice becomes clear and loud where only a nanosecond before it was soft and husky.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG is something wrong with me? I'm the only one to rate this 5 stars when everyone else rated it 3 or less. Ok, totally predictable, but this fun read completes the wacky sentence that runs through everyone's head, some, more than others: "Why I oughtta ..."

Didn't love one of the two narrators (accent, cadence, inflection), but the stories did rise above nicely. Liked that this was an anthology with multiple contributors - not indicated in this title - but it gave great variety.