Perfect Crime

by Jack Erickson

A San Francisco wife plots to murder her philandering husband by being in two places at one time.
She commits the Perfect Crime and starts an exciting new life with a sexy new boyfriend, living off the life insurance policy of her murdered husband.
Until her doorbell rings one night . . . .

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Short Stories, Ebooks, Mystery Thriller, Thriller

21 pages, ebook

First published December 15, 2009

About the author

My interest in fiction, especially mysteries, started when I was about ten years old and read my first Hardy Boys books, "Secret of the Old Clock," I think the title was. I saved up from mowing lawns and running errands to buy every title I could. They were only $1.00 each, but when you're only making 25 cents an hour, it takes time to save those nickels and dimes.

And then I discovered shelves of exciting books at my hometown Andrew Carnegie Memorial library just two blocks away from our middle class home in the Midwest. By that time I was reading "The Saturday Evening Post," "Collier's," "Life," "Look," "Time," "Argosy," "True," "Photoplay," that my parents subscribed to and others I can't remember. Needless to say, I skimmed through them all, and devoured short stories by John O'Hara, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Herman Wouk, and Earl Stanley Gardner.

I believe my early interest in reading was a major factor in liking school. Writing term papers was no big deal, and we all know how important that is at university. I enjoyed the many choices available with a liberal arts education and sampled liberally from science, history, languages, art history, literature, and political science.

Those wide ranging interests are probably a factor in the careers I chose, including Russian specialist in U.S. government, legislative aide and speechwriter in U.S. Senate, free-lance writer, former publisher (Red Brick Press) and author of several craft brewing books in the early days of the industry. My most recent career was in financial services from which I recently retired to travel and write.

I've been writing fiction, mostly mysteries and romantic suspense, and have several projects that will be published in the next few months.

I'm always fascinated how people become readers and writers. I'd love to hear your stories how writing chose you.

Reviews

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was an alright book, downloaded free. Not amazing but not horrible by any means... Would have liked it to be a little longer and have a little more meat behind it.

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The night fog was moving across the headlands like a jungle cat stalking prey. Nothing escapes the fog's relentless Prowl across the barren landscape, dark and moody as a Scottish moor".

Perfect Crime by Jack Erickson



There is nothing like a moody, Noirish short story of "the perfect crime", while locked away in one's home while a pandemic rages outside.

So, folks, this is a good one! Cheryl thinks she has committed the perfect crime after she catches her husband with another woman. She is enraged, rightfully so, although her solution is..well..a wee bit drastic to put it mildly!

She decides to kill her cheatin hubby. So it is established, early on, Cheryl is a wack job. But, as much of a nutter as she maybe, she is also smart. And cold. And plans everything to a tee. Will she get away with it?

Part crime story, part ode to the state of California, this little jewel can be read in a half hour's time and is dark as night..like Cheryl. I adored the moody writing and the details involved in building atmosphere. It is perfect for someone craving a mystery that can be read quickly..like in one sitting.

Only complaint..this story is almost to good to be so short..I felt it could have been at least a Novella..it is just so well written and really eerie. I wish it had been a bit longer.

Four stars and highly recommended to mystery fans.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't hate this story & I think there's hope for this author. He could be a good one, so I'm going to take the time to point out what bothered me.

This was told from the first person point of view. I usually like those, but this was a guy telling the story as a girl & it just didn't ring true all the time, although it wasn't horrible - just a little off. Can't say why, though. I think this might have been better if the sexes of the characters was switched.

The setup & situation was pretty good, the motives very understandable, but the device was clunky & this is supposed to be a 'perfect' crime. That sets the bar high & the author had all the right ingredients. Unfortunately, he failed to put them together properly.

I crept back to the patio and disconnected the line from the propane tank to the grill with a pocket wrench. I slipped the round end of the paper tube onto the nozzle of the propane tank and repositioned the line just above the nozzle so it would look like it had been dislodged by an explosion.

A 'pocket wrench'? I have a quite a few wrenches, nothing I'd call a 'pocket wrench'. Using a wrench means there's no way it's going to look like an explosion repositioned anything, though. On top of that, the character thinks that taping some cardboard & paper together to make a tube to run some gas into a cracked window requires an engineering degree from 'Cal'. (Cal Tech?) Seriously? I know illiterate drunks that could deal with it as handily.

Worse, this elaborate scheme, which requires precise timing & a very long drive, relies on a 20 lb. propane gas grill tank having enough gas in it to flood a house in the winter. If it had been just the floor, that would have been weak. However the gas took a detour into the attic for some reason.
... Being heavier than air, gas would fill the laundry room and work up into the open space, filling the attic. It would creep under the door into the hallway and flow all over the house, laying a carpet of combustible fuel. The gas would seep under the bedroom door,...
That's a lot of gas to expect from something she never bothered to check. She just heard it hiss & walked away. My wife did that with a roast the other night & we ate very late after the gas ran out & I had to swap bottles.

On top of that, it's a hell of a thing to hinge all this on when the old farm house has natural gas piped in, an egotistical, owner who drops in occasionally & complains about the cost of repairs. There was a recent earthquake & an inspector was scheduled to come out later in the week. With all that, a better mechanism than a possibly empty propane tank & a big crack in a window could have been worked out. Why bother telling me all that if you're not going to use it?

She speeds down a highway at night when a ticket is the last thing she can afford.
Speeding down I-5 was critical for carrying out my time-sensitive plan; if I was five minutes late, my alibi could blow up...
And it's a 700+ mile drive round trip. I count on good roads, weather, & no construction zones, but a 600 mile trip that usually takes us 10 hours (plus or minus 30 minutes depending on how we catch the continual construction) took us 12 hours this spring due to some bad weather.

The climax was rather underwhelming as well. I could have swallowed the rather large coincidence a twin sister of the murdered woman is an absent detective who suddenly shows up solving the case after several months if the evidence had been a bit stronger. The evidence is security camera footage showing our killer getting gas in a car she rented. That's not conclusive as even the cops say it 'resembles' her. No, the so called 'clincher' is the rental agent positively IDs her from a photo (Not even a photo array!) a few months later. Any decent lawyer would have her out in a New York minute & be suing for false arrest.

Worse, our killer planned all this out meticulously. She rents a second car with a fake name & signature, uses cash (requiring $1000 cash deposit) & yet doesn't use the disguise she prepared until after she rents the car? That's just hard to swallow for a 'perfect' crime.

I wanted to look up a point but found I can't read it on Calibre due to DRM. This was a free story with over 800 reviews. While the author has a dozen or so others out there, most don't even have a handful of reviews. I'd think he'd want to make his writing more accessible, not less. With this mediocre showing AND DRM, I probably won't be bothering with another by this author.

[Devi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Check out the complete review at Perfect Crime > Review

A perfect crime in the minimum possible words. It is said that "there is no such thing as a perfect crime". A woman tries to prove that saying wrong and the story is all about her attempt to do the impossible.

It has always amazed me how authors manage to pack a super suspense thriller in just a few words, just some pages. This is one such book. The suspense is powerful and because the story is short, it is super paced. However there is no compromise done on any of the required details. Beautiful story written

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cheryl was a businesswomen who hatched a perfect plan to plot the murder of her cheating husband and his mistress. She always had growing suspicion that Lyle was having multiple affairs and when she finally caught him red handed rather than confronting his sorry face she decided to put a full stop to the matter.

But Cheryl forgot that no matter how many cunning steps you take to cover up the crime, there is no such thing as "perfect crime." The perpetrator will most definitely leave make mistakes, leaving clues and evidence behind. She did however expertly planned ever tiny detail to utmost perfection. Everything roght from her calculation about the distance, exact time frames and the number of witnesses she needed in order for her albi to check out was meticulously done. All these factors will be enough to cement her plan more efficiently or so she thought. But with the arrival of a new investigator her perfect crime starts to show flaws and now she fears that indeed her plan was not perfect at all.

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a short story murder/mystery. It was well written in places, but had gaping holes in other parts. The plot line itself was rather predictable, and never really seemed to make it out of second gear. It was written in the style of the first person, but there was nothing to endear the main character to the reader. The same could be said for the other characters too.
Maybe I was hoping for too much from this book, but what can you fit in to just over 20 pages. If various items of repetition had been removed, perhaps some of the holes could have been filled. I'm not sure if proof reading had been carried out, as I am certain that with revision this tale could have been so much better.

[Godzilla · Rating 1 out of 5]

For a short story I thought it lacked any real sense of tension or pace until the last couple of pages, and even then the denouement left me startling unmoved.

I'm enjoying the access to free books the kindle gives, but am starting to realise that some reviewers are far too liberal with their stars!

The main character in here was promising, a feisty, go-getting woman, but the story didn't exploit that to it's advantage. I'd love to have seen the character develop further and the perilous situation prolonged.

I'd read more by Jack Erickson, but hope for more depth.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty good short story about one crazy woman intent on the "Perfect Crime". Using her intelligence in engineering she planned out her crime in detail. This is an author I will be on the lookout for!

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read. It had a rather abrupt ending. It did not get into any sort of character development. The author was very descriptive regarding scenery.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a page turner! This short story is about a woman who suspects her husband is cheating on her. When she catches him with the other woman she sets the house on fire and makes it look like a freak accident. She thinks she has covered all her tracks but she slips up and forgets one thing. I love mysteries, but I've never been a fan of short stories. I figured reading a mystery in a format that I am not pleased with opened my eyes that short stories can be intriguing. I read this in one day and it was a nail biter!

The aspect of craft that I noticed in this book was conflict. This is mentioned in the Fletcher text. Although he only states conflict between person to person and person to nature, I think this book shows a conflict between person and law. Because the main character is trying to evade the law, she runs into a problem after they realize her mistake. I would use this book to teach, to an older class, how to use conflict properly. If I could change one thing, I would change how fast the conflict ended. I realize that this was a shorty story, but I think they ended it way too soon. I would have like it to be stretched a little farther.

[Thom Swennes · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Heaven has no rage, like love to hatred, Hell hath no fury, like a woman scorned”; this quote by William Congreve sums up this story perfectly. When a wife discovers her husband’s infidelity, she makes a plan to take both her betrayer and his lover out. He engineering mind works out the details and set the timetable for the perfect crime. The author presents a highly readable, unusually explicit and certainly believable crime in a nutshell. One can only surmise that the only nicks can only be spotted by another, equally tenacious woman. This is my introduction to the works of Jack Erickson and if this is any indication of his writing abilities, he has found a new fan in me. If I were to voice one criticism, it would be that this story was too short to do it the justice it deserves. The space to build the individual characters would have improved the work as a whole but he succeeded in making a complete story in the space of a chapter. I would readily recommend this book to anyone that enjoys, murder, intrigue and revenge served as a main course. Revenge isn’t better served cold but piping hot and full of emotion.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well executed short story. You can always tell the writing skills of a an author by how well they can tell a complete story in such a short number of pages. This one was excellent. The writing was really engaging adding a number of interesting descriptions that really drew you into the theme of the story. I enjoyed it a lot. The ending was a bit of a startle. Meaning every thing seems to be swimming along perfectly then BAM! a new character introduced in the final pages and everything falls apart. Lost a star on the abrupt twist of the ending, because I hate getting a tragic ending after investing in a character. I definitely be reading more by this author. his prose was excellent.

[Nilesh Karkhanis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very short crime thriller book. Could have preferred bit more length. It seems as perfect crime as the title suggests at first but as you progress through this short story you notice that it's not a perfect crime as there were some loopholes which you can think while reading. A quickie for those who love crime thrillers though it lacks thrill.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a little bit too short. The story builds up and then you get an almost abrupt ending. Would have been more interesting if it was expanded upon and if the ending didn't leave something to be desired.

[✿Claire✿ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't get this book, it spent far too much time gloating over the fact that she'd achieved the 'perfect crime', suddenly ground to a conclusion and then threw in a completely unnecessary twist that really needed far more explanation at the end.

[Nicole Newell · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an ok read

At the beginning, I felt like it was everywhere kind of hard to follow. As the story develops it got easier to understand and made more sense. Once I finished reading it I thought it was pretty good.

[Gatorman · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a lame short story with a boring, unoriginal ending. The only redeeming quality was that it was short.

[Nandini Vishwanath · Rating 1 out of 5]

Have to admit, bought it on Kindle because it's free. We'll take it from there.

okay, DON'T read. Waste. of time.

[Wanda Rotramel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not to interesting

Not my type of book.did not hold my interest would lose track of charactes I would of liked more action.

[Martin 4 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was offered this ‘book’ free. Good thing. I’d never pay for it. Twilight zone type ending tho started out with stades of Hitchcock. Didn’t work for me. 40 minutes. Wasted time.

[Zina Losey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erickson is an excellent writer! Great suspense! Wanted it to be longer because it was so good. That was the first story. The other two weren’t as good (in my book), but I would definitely read Erickson again.

[Juso · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Perfect Crime" by Jack Erickson is a great mystery book! The book starts off slowly with Cheryl, the main character describing the scenery of her drive towards a secluded area. Once there, the book quickly picks up with Cheryl attempting to catch her husband, Lyle, in an act to cheat on her with another woman. When she does notice that Lyle is cheating on her, she quickly uses propane gas to set the house on fire and fleas the scene. After 12 hours have passed, which included her driving to the home, setting it on fire, and making it back home, Cheryl is convinced that she is safe and will never be convicted of murder. Afterwards, Cheryl discusses when she started to believe that Lyle was cheating on her and reasoning why she would not rather take him to court. She then continues to talk about how the plan to kill her husband came about and what all she did to carry out the plan. After receiving $300,000 off her husband’s death, purchasing a new bungalow in Napa Valley, buy a new car, and finding a new man, she believes that she has escaped. However, one day the detectives come to her home and tell her that they have figured out that she was responsible for her husband’s death and ends up getting arrested.

An aspect of writing that was present throughout this book is setting. According to Fletcher, setting can help to create the mood in your story. The author did a great job of developing a setting, especially during the first part of the book. For example, it states, “Nothing escapes the fog’s relentless prowl across the barren landscape, dark and moody as a Scottish moor.” Here, the author captures the mood and makes it feel very dark and mysterious. After reading this, I started to feel like something scary and frightening was about to happen. Another aspect of writing that was apparent in this book is conflict. Fletcher states that the best way to create heat or excitement in a story is by having conflict. The author did a good job of developing conflict in this story because there was a problem with Cheryl and Lyle, a person against person conflict. In the book it states, “His wandering eye never stopped roaming at dinner parties, the theater, or shopping.” Here, the author shows the conflict that exists between the two characters. I could definitely use these quotes from the books to gives students examples of how to develop setting or create conflict (Although I would use a different example for the conflict example since these are elementary-aged students). I could use these examples during a mini-lesson to show how the students can use vivid images to create a setting or show how words can be used to show anger towards another character to create conflict.

[Dwayne Fry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this story while at work today. It's a quick read. It was nicely paced and kept me wondering what was going to happen next.

However, there were some flaws. The first page or two read a bit like a travelogue. We know the main character is in San Francisco and we're told and told what San Francisco looks like instead of being shown what it is like. This is something that a writer needs to learn. It's the difference between writing and typing (to paraphrase Truman Capote). Show us, don't tell us, what San Francisco is like.

I did not understand why it took so long (about five months, I think) for the police to catch the killer. I will explain beneath a spoiler cut as I don't want to give away too much of the story.

The "perfect crime" was pulled off, for a while, because the narrator went into a movie theater to watch a show just hours before her husband and his lover are killed many miles away. She assumes that because she was in the movie, the police will not think that she could be the killer. A lot of her plan seems to hinge on the notion that the police will not suspect that she could have driven 750 miles in 13 hours. One could do it if one drives about sixty miles an hour or better. I've been in California and have seen how fast they drive there. I could not believe the police took five months to test and see if one can drive from Burbank to Marin County and back in 13 hours.

The killer was caught partially due to a photo taken by a security camera at a gas station. I guess she was not aware those existed. I guess the police didn't know about them either, since it took (again) five months to think about it. As soon as she pulled in for gas I figured that would be her undoing. She should have had some gas cans hidden along her route. So much for the crime being "perfect".

While I'm still in the spoiler section, I would like to add that the twist at the end with the police woman being the twin sister of one of the killer's victims didn't work for me. Why didn't the killer recognize the cop? Why didn't she realize she looked just like the woman she killed? She only figured it out because they both have the same last name - and a very common one at that. All that aside... so what? The cop and the victim are twins? Why does this matter?


I gave this three stars even though I thought about giving it less. I gave it three because I wanted to like it. I don't even know why, I just did. If the author could clean up the flaws in the plan for the "perfect crime" somehow and maybe have the police do some real detective work the story would be better. Also, I really wanted to get to know the killer and her husband better and understand why she resorted to murder.

[Adriene Cook]

I just finished the book called, Perfect Crime by Jack Erickson. He was born in Williston, North Dakota, The United States, and April 14. Love of fiction books when he was a kid reading the Hardy Boys books. He mostly writes short mystery story’s that aren’t really known.

The story starts off with the wife; Mrs. Hardin on the way to kill her husband who she discovers is really cheating on her. She tells the details of what she went through to find out how her husband planed out how he was going to cheat on her. She then goes into extreme detail about how she planned on how she would kill her husband in a way that she wouldn’t be blamed. She kills her husband and the girl he was with and gets away with it clean. Until five years later she is living happy off her husband’s insurance money when an agent shows up at her door and tells her how she had proof that she killed her husband because she made minor mistake. The wife is then shocked that the agent is the twin sister of the girl her husband was cheating with and the wife goes to jail.

In writing the book; Erickson made the realization that nothing can be perfect. The wife took so long in trying to be perfect because she thought no one could be as smart as her. In the end someone smarter came along and pointed out her mistakes, and got her caught. The story also points out the fact that everything has a consequence. The wife wanted to be happy but it came with a price.

While I had trouble with how short the book was I didn’t have a problem understanding the points of the story. The author used exquisite context to piece the story together, but it was just too short. If the author added more stories or more detail it would’ve been better but he ended it too quickly. It was a wonderful story but could’ve been better; if there was detail about the after math of the wife being caught I would’ve loved this book.
I don’t recommend this book it was a complete waste of my time. Although the author is great at telling a story he is not good at giving enough detail to make the story great. If you do read this book don’t hope for a long and exciting story line. Look for a straight to the point story with minimum detail.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Perfect Crime is the second short story I have read by Jack Erickson (the first being The Stalker) and I was not disappointed. The author has a remarkable gift for taking a small narrative and turning it into an exciting page turner. While the story is only about 20 pages in length, the author portrays the essence of the characters and engages the reader in a stimulating account of murder, turmoil, and mystery.

The Perfect Crime, written in first person by the main character, delves into what happens to a woman scorned and how she chose to handle her angst against a philandering husband. I was very impressed with The Perfect Crime. It takes a lot of talent to take a small chronicle and expand on the story so the reader is not left with many questions. The reader does not get a lot of information on the background of the characters. However, I have to say that the lack of extraneous information made the story more enjoyable. The author captured the emotions of the characters perfectly, and I could experience Mrs. Harding’s point of view through the author’s writing. I was impressed by the final and surprising twist.

Mr. Erickson has a talent for taking what could be a long, drawn out novel into a succinct and intriguing mystery that needs no further explanation. I recommend this novella and am looking forward to reading more from the author.

[Njkinny (Njkinny's Blog) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It was time to leave. I had committed the perfect crime."

This is what Mrs. Cheryl Harding thinks when she plans and murders her cheating husband, Lyle. She is confident that she has left no loop holes and her alibi is air tight.

But is it possible to commit a Perfect Crime?
Has Cheryl, with all her calculations and meticulous plans, managed such a fete?
Will the police be able to connect her to her husband's murder or will she go free and enjoy her life as per her plans?

A shot story from Jack Erickson. Perfect Crime is the story of a wife's revenge from her husband who is cheating on her with another woman. The story has vivid descriptions of the events and places and is able to create a mental picture of complete chain of events. Although it started a bit slow, the story picked up pace eventually and was able to capture my attention and keep me eager to learn more.

A great plot and very well written. I give Perfect Crime a 4 out of 5 and recommend that you read this short yet very well written story. It has all the makings of a full length novel. Great work from Jack Erickson. His other works are now on my "To-Read" list. :)

This review is also available on my blog http://njkinny.blogspot.in

[Monique · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was this short story a suspense thriller or a mystery I dont know and never really figured out as I sped through it on my Kindle (been a minute since I read on it and I always smile when I reach to turn a page) I kept wondering what in the world was going on...Okay so after a really slow flowery scenic beginning you learn that you are being narrated by a woman intent on catching her adulterous husband with his latest conquest at a friend's rented beach house. It goes on to describe her reasons and thought behind committing what in essence if performed flawlessly would go down as the perfect crime with her escaping after murdering them both rich and free. I cant lie it was a great plan to convincingly commit simple arson through a household fire and return to her planned alibi..I was into this read and was actually shocked when it ended and how everything was revealed..can you ever plan anything to the perfection, will there always be witnesses and evidence to link you somewhere? Makes you double think crime--damn LOL--so I did like the read and felt despite the beginning it was concise and suspenseful..

[Julie Haigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect short book.

This was one of my first introductions to kindle. I had a new phone and had the kindle app on it. Having always been an avid book lover, (that's the Hardback and Paperback variety), I was convinced I wouldn't be getting a kindle anytime soon-but this completely changed my mind! This is a great little book, and all for free! It was free a couple of years ago when I got it, and it still is. Now, don't let that put you off, the fact that it's free, because it is a good read that I would have willingly paid for. I don't usually bother with short stories but this was quite engaging for such a quick read. The story involves a woman who finds out her husband has been cheating and ends up murdering him. The book details how she covers her tracks to elude police capture. Well worth a read. And I did get a kindle...Kindle Fire HD and I LOVE IT!!!!!! Now it's 99% reading on kindle and 1% reading 'real' books!

[Utkarsh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Author was descriptive in telling the scenes. I liked the writing style and it has some potential.

But the story had nothing to it. Plot is predictable and for committing "perfect crime", protagonist not even bothered to change her appearance (that's just silly). Author tells me that she has engineering degree(intelligent character) and am guessing its related to software, since she was working for software launch. But, how her degree in Computer Science or IT helped her to create tube for propane tank(blah blah) ? First of all, its unrelated considering the degree ( She is skilled in making softwares not cardboard tubes) and second of all, you don't need engineering degree for that. Author need to work on the plot a little bit more.

It could have been better.

[Troy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a Kindle Free Download short story and I really liked it. Decent plot with excellent description throughout and a believable ending. It really had the makings of a fine full length novel should the author have decided to go in that direction. It was good enough that I'd be willing to read a full length mystery feature by Jack Erickson should he publish one in the future.