Amazon Editorial Review

All-new from the top names in mystery and fantasy— including a never-beforepublished Sookie Stackhouse story from Charlaine Harris!

This follow-up to Powers of Detection showcases bestselling and award-winning names from Simon Green to Laurie King to Sharon Shinn—with original stories featuring otherworldly investigators trailing uncanny criminals across fantastical realms. From video game characters seeking civil rights and a cave dragon loan shark pondering an investment, to Santa Claus’s Australian vacation and an enemy of Sam Spade’s out for revenge—plus visits to the Nightside and Sookie Stackhouse’s hometown— these stories will take readers around the world on a magical mystery tour.

Bought at the Friends of the Library book sale

Mixed bag of short stories with a supernatural/paranormal cast that are tasked with solving a mystery
It took me a while to get through these as I picked up, read a bit, then stopped several times before completing the entire anthology. I really prefer longer stories - novella size is okay for a series that I'm familiar with, but I like longer novels so that i can get immersed in the world. Short stories just aren't as satisfying for me.

That said, here are the stories and a few words about each:

"Lucky" by Charlaine Harris -- a Sookie Stackhouse short story; I think I had read this before in the Sookie short story collection. The story itself is okay.

"Bogieman" by Carole Nelson Douglas - this was a clever story involving old film characters.

"Looks are Deceiving" by Micheal A. Stackpole - blah. Did not care for this one.

"The House of Seven Spirits" by Sharon Shinn - I liked this one. Author moves into a house haunted by ghosts from several time periods and must solve a mystery involving some of them before any of them can move on.

"Glamour" by Mike Doogan - this was okay but the dialect was hard to read/follow and I thought it detracted from the story.

"Spellbound" by Donna Andrews - better and the characters were interesting, especially Gwynn.

"The Duh Vice" by Michael Armstrong - interesting premise that the story is built on.

"Weight of the World" by John Straley - kind of a strange mystery story involving Santa and the elves relaxing in New Zealand after the Christmas rush. Meh.

"Illumination" by Laura Anne Gilman - liked the premise but the story was a snooze.

"The House" by Laurie R. King - this was creepy good. One of my favorites in the collection.

"Appetite for Murder" by Simon R. Green - I liked it although the story was a little gory. There's a great twist at the end (although I had considered it several times during the story, it was well done).

"A Woman's Work" by Dana Stabenow - the only story that is DNF. I tried to get into it for 10 or so pages and basically said to hell with it. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Adding to the Mystery/Thriller VBB

Sending in a box of books as a RABCK - need to move these on.

Looking forward to reading this! In the box of books from bkind2books. Thank you so much for sharing!

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