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Library | Call Number | Status |
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Searching... Lyons Public Library | M O'SHAUGHNESSY | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Monmouth Public Library | Fic O'Shaughnessy, P. 2006 | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Silver Falls Library | FIC O'SHAUGHNESSY | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
The New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Nina Reilly thrillers brings her prodigious storytelling gifts to this first-ever collection of short crime fiction. From desperate housewives to hard-boiled PIs to an appearance by Nina Reilly herself, these chilling short mysteries--many appearing in print for the very first time--set the mood and ratchet up the suspense as only Perri O'Shaughnessy can.
Here are tales of love and betrayal, rage and revenge--nineteen sizzling stories that run the gamut from classic whodunits to winding thrillers to an unusual cozy that casts Gertrude Stein as an unlikely Miss Marple. And here Perri O'Shaughnessy has created some of her most sinister and compelling characters yet: a college student who devises an ingenious method for getting her sexy teacher's attention . . . a haunted ex--homicide cop who takes a long walk into his blood-shadowed past in a twisting tale of brutal murder and escalating violence . . . a model wife who surprises both herself and a bothersome furnace man when she is confronted with an unacceptable ultimatum . . . a lemon tree that plays a pivotal role in the tale of a woman who at long last asserts her independence. . . .
From a blood-soaked scheme that's born at a slot machine in Vegas to the violence that ensues when the fat lady stops singing, Sinister Shorts shows us life at its most menacing, murderous, and unbearably suspenseful. And it proves once again the unique and captivating genius of Perri O'Shaughnessy.
Author Notes
Perri O'Shaughnessy is the pen name for sisters Pamela and Mary O'Shaughnessy, who live in Hawaii and California. Pamela was a trial lawyer for sixteen years, and Mary is a former editor.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Sisters Pam and Mary O'Shaughnessy use the pen name Perri O'Shaughnessy for their Nina Reilly legal thrillers as well as for this uneven debut collection of 19 short suspense stories, only one of which involves Nina Reilly and is the only "fifty-fifty collaboration" between the pair. "The Long Walk" fittingly leads, since it was published before their first novel, Motion to Suppress (1995). There are two homages: a Gertrude Stein parody, "Gertrude Stein Solves a Mystery," which is less than successful, and "His Master's Hand," which nicely mimics the style of Dostoyevski's Notes from Underground. "Dead Money" crams a novel's worth of twists and deductions into a short story. In "Tiny Angels," an FBI agent nabs a kidnapper thanks to his wife's casual but perceptive observations. Paul van Wagoner, an investigator in the Nina Reilly novels, does brilliant work in "Success Without College." Series fans may enjoy the challenge presented in the sisters' introduction, trying to figure out which sister wrote which story. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
From the writing team of the O'Shaughnessy sisters (Unlucky in Law, 2004, etc.), a collection of stories more gloomy than sinister. Did you know that everyday life can be a drag? Here are 19 demonstrations of that fascinating truth. Spouses in particular are raked over the coals. Wives get after philandering husbands, husbands dispense with suffocating wives. In "To Still the Beating of Her Heart," the happy couple race each other to see who can reach homicide first. Luckily, the collection has its share of more accomplished work. "Juggernaut" features series heroine Nina Reilly in a deftly plotted tale of a musician whose insurance scam turns discordant. The longer "Dead Money" is a pitch-perfect character study of an embittered law officer's bout with temptation. "His Master's Hand" is in the grand tradition of campfire horror stories, as chilling as it is slick. Balancing these, however, are several that are obvious, pointless or head-scratchingly ambiguous. Wit, and the change of pace that refreshes, are in short supply. A couple more in the sunny vein of "Gertrude Stein Solves a Mystery" would have helped. Here, the authors riff charmingly on unlikely sleuths Stein and Alice B. Toklas in a style they refer to as "Steinese." Uninspired, with a kind of dreary familiarity. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
California sisters Mary and Pamela O'Shaughnessy, who write under the pseudonym Perri, have parlayed their respective talents as editor-writer and attorney into a popular series of legal thrillers starring Nina Reilly, who makes a brief appearance in one of the 19 stories in this stellar collection, which runs the gamut from psychological thriller to traditional detective yarn. The sisters explain in an introduction that, unlike their novels, which are fifty-fifty collaborations, all of the stories in this collection except one (Juggernaut ) are individual endeavors; who did what is also delineated in the introduction. Among the most memorable are Gertrude Stein Solves a Mystery, a laid-back, stylized mostly-true recounting of a strange incident in Stein's life, and The Furnace Man, tinged with the sort of shivery horror that Alfred Hitchcock exploited so well on television. Unreliable narrators, historical incidents, and horror grown out of ordinary life can be found aplenty in this entertaining collection, sure to please Perri's fans as well as devotees of the likes of the venerable Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. --Stephanie Zvirin Copyright 2006 Booklist
Library Journal Review
The sister-sister team (Pamela and Mary O'Shaughnessy) that gave us the Nina Reilly thrillers offers a first-ever collection of short suspense fiction, much of which has yet to see the light of day. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.