Thin Ice: Crime Stories by New England Writers

by Mark Ammons (Editor), Katherine Fast (Editor), Barbara Ross (Editor)

Contains the Edgar nominated story, "A Good, Safe Place" by Judith Green, the Agatha nominated story, "Size Matters" by Sheila Connolly and the Derringer nominated story, "The Book Signing" by Kathy Chencharick.Whether it's hardboiled hilarity or gritty noir, suspense or sibling subterfuge, capers or cons, or even an especially abnormal pair of paranormal shoes, anything can happen when you venture onto Thin Ice.In this eighth annual anthology from Level Best Books, New England's most acclaimed award-winning crime and mystery writers, along with several exciting new voices, weave twenty-five original tales from the region's dark side.

288 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 2010

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short story collections are a grab-bag, and they tend only to be as strong as their weakest story. Fortunately, this collection has twenty-five solid tales with something to fit every reader's taste from hard-boiled to loopy comedy. There are a couple of vaguely supernatural stories, and a few by authors seeing their name in print for the first time. The latter has been a constant goal of the series, and it's a noble one that bears particularly tasty fruit this year.
Much-published Bev Vincent's Al Blanchard Award-winning story, "The Bank Job," leads off the collection and sets the standard well. The stories offer a mix of strong plotting, intriguing characters, and surprising twists. Some border on the literary, too, but all are solid writing, even the debut pieces. Connelly's first short story is both funny and grim, and shows that her skill with the shorter form is equal to that of her novels. Mary E. Stibal's dark irony gives her quirky story unexpected bite.
One of the interesting sidelights of the collection is that some stories treat similar themes, such as love, loss, or revenge, but from completely different perspectives. The differences are often both surprising and delightful.
This is the eighth book in the annual series to showcase New England authors, with new editors, who have carried on the tradition in stellar fashion, and maybe even raised the bar a little higher.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE SHORT STORIES! These gems were a great read-it's always amazing to me how writers can squeeze so much atmosphere, story and character development into short stories. Loved Tag You're Dead (of course that one was written by a good friend of mine and I'm so happy for her)-The Book Signing was incredibly brilliant and creepy-The Bank Job started this collection off beautifully and all the stories worked extremely well together. I'm going to have to get back issues of this series because they are just too good to miss!

[Matt Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mix of just about everything, this collection of crime/mystery stories ranges from traditional mystery to experimental styles. As a native New Englander, this collection took my back to familiar territory. Overall, I loved a lot of these stories, and those I was not too fond of I am sure will appeal to others. Worth picking up.

[K.B. Inglee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful compilation of New England short stories. Did you ever read a story in which a pair of shoes is the detective? Seems odd but it works. KB Inglee