From School Library Journal
YA?Prime-cut short stories from some of the best contemporary mystery writers, including Bill Pronzini, Marcia Muller, Wendy Hornsby, J.A. Jance, and Dana Stabenow. The Western settings range from the bleak, rugged land of the Dakotas to ice-locked Alaska; from the misty coast of California to the flat Texas landscape. Heroes and heroines include a runaway wife determined to seek justice for her father's death; a detective in search of two elusive young boys; and Midnight Louie, a cat who saves a young girl's life. This stunning collection, selected and introduced by Hillerman, offers readers some wonderful choices in fiction. Each story is strikingly different in tempo, plot, and setting, yet each is part of and contributes to the diversified world of the mysterious West.?Pam Spencer, Chapel Square Media Center, Fairfax County, VACopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Morris (American literature, Pennsylvania State Univ., Erie) conducted 15 interviews between 1988 and 1992 of authors writing primarily of the American West. The interviewees are all "postmodernist" and "postregionalist" in their perspectives, sharing an ambiguous and ambivalent attitude toward place and the mythos that represents it. Some of these writers still look to the past but reinterpret it, such as Ron Hansen, Molly Gloss, and Ivan Doig; others, like William Kittredge, seek to demythologize it. Among the writers interviewed are several female voices (Gloss, Gretel Ehrlich, and Mary Clearman Blew), who offer a new vision of the roles played by women in shaping the American West. All of them yield valuable insights into what direction the new Western literary tradition seems to be headed. Novelist Hillerman's volume, in contrast, is far less weighty. It contains 20 short stories, primarily mystery and detective fiction, such as Marcia Muller's "Forbidden Things" and Karen Kijewski's "Tule Fog," interspersed with an occasional fantastical tale. The fictional landscapes here range from the desolation, silence, and danger of Death Valley, and the small, dying towns of southern Colorado to the sophisticated originality and zaniness of Berkekey, California. Across these pages march university protesters, ranch hands, and Yurok Indians. Together, they give life to a multifaceted landscape that is currently undergoing redefinition, as Morris's volume of interviews amply demonstrates. There is no overlap between the writers in these two works. For this reason, owning both works would give a novice reader of Western literature a useful variety. For public library collections.Marie L. Lally, Alabama Sch. of Mathematics & Science, MobileCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
This aptly titled collection of mystery/suspense short stories features a western theme, offering western-born and bred authors, western settings, and the mystery and beauty of the wild, wonderful West, from Baja and Berkeley to Austin and Anchorage. Assisted by respected anthologist Martin Greenberg, Hillerman, perhaps the best-known "western" author, has chosen a fine assortment of mystery writers from the highly recognizable (Marcia Muller, Karen Kijewski, Stuart Kaminsky, and Bill Pronzini) to some who are just as talented but lesser known (Dana Stabenow, M. D. Lake, Linda Grant). The stories, each with a short introduction by Hillerman, offer something for everyone: humor, suspense, action, and murder. It's difficult to pick favorites from among the 20 top-notch selections, but Dunlap's "Postage Due" and Lake's "With Flowers in Her Hair" are particularly outstanding. With Hillerman's name on the cover, this anthology is sure to attract attention, and the excellent quality and fine variety of stories are sure to make it a popular choice with nearly any reader who picks it up. Emily Melton
Book Description
Edited by Tony Hillerman, the Southwest's foremost suspense writer, this first-ever collection of mystery stories set in the West contains 20 original entries by such luminary mystery writers as Marcia Muller, Susan Dunlap, and Robert Campbell.
From the Publisher
Edited by Tony Hillerman, the Southwest's foremost suspense writer, this first-ever collection of mystery stories set in the West contains 20 original entries by such luminary mystery writers as Marcia Muller, Susan Dunlap, and Robert Campbell.
About the Author
Tony Hillerman is past president of Mystery Writers of America and has received their Edgar and Grand Master Awards. His other honors include the Center for the American Indian's Ambassador Award, the Silver Spur Award for the best novel set in the West, the Navajo Tribe's Special Friend Award, the National Media Award from the American Anthropological Association, the Public Service Award from the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Nero Wolfe Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oklahoma Center for the Book, an honorary life membership in the Western Literature Association, and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policiére. In addition to his election to Phi Beta Kappa, Tony Hillerman has been named Doctor of Humane Letters at Arizona State University and at Oregon's Portland State University. He lives with his wife, Marie, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The Mysterious West ANNOTATION
Esteemed and award-winning novelist Tony Hillerman calls upon today's brightest stars of contemporary suspense to create a unique collection of original stories set in the American West. This anthology features the work of J.A. Jance, Bill Crider, Lia Matera, Stuart M. Kaminsky, and many more.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Personally chosen by acclaimed writer Tony Hillerman, the foremost chronicler of the modern west, here is a dazzling collection of extraordinary mystery tales. Included in this chilling anthology are twenty stories of suspense and deceit, all written especially for this collection. Explore the haunted and dark side of the land with some of the brightest stars in contemporary suspense. The list of renowned contributors reads like a who's who in modern mystery fiction, and includes: J.A. Jance, John Lutz, Stuart M. Kaminsky, Lia Matera, Bill Pronzini, and many more.
In settings that range from a torpid Arizona trailer park, to the freezing and isolated Alaska bush, from a narrow-minded Texas cowtown to California's lost coast, from the high-voltage glitz of Las Vegas to the repossessed farmlands of Iowa, this unique anthology hisses, rattles, and stings with a vengeance.
FROM THE CRITICS
Carol Harper - Mystery Readers Journal
Twenty short stories by established novelists, many using their regular series characters, while others depart from the exptected. The common theme is a setting in the west, ranging from he frozen wilds of Minnesota and Alaska to the farm prairies of Iowa, from the fog-bound shores of Oregon and Northern California to the arid lands of the desert southwest and west Texas. While not in the traditional guise of a western, with spurs jingling and horses galloping, these are western stories told by authors, some of whom also write in the western genre.
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