Sisters are doin’ it for themselves in TWO OF THE DEADLIEST: NEW TALES OF LUST, GREED, AND MURDER FROM OUTSTANDING WOMEN OF MYSTERY, a 23-tale collection centered around a pair of the seven deadliest sins. And if there’s anyone who knows about greed, it’s the ladies — am I right, fellas?
I kid, so save your hate mail.
Elizabeth George edits her second anthology, which spurs from the idea that the most devious of crimes are born out of those two base desires. To prove as much, she’s recruited some of the crime genre’s greatest XX-chromosed authors, including Carolyn Hart, Marcia Muller, Dana Stabenow and S.J. Rozan, as well as a handful of promising newcomers.
Results are solid, but not knocked out of the park. Two stories, in particular, are worth singling out as TWO OF THE DEADLIEST’s most imaginative. One is “E-Male,” in which a man who helps run an ex’s pornographic website suspects she is dead, and has to figure out how to alert the authorities without having suspicion fall on him. It’s clever, and on a subject that’s not well-worn.
The other is Laura Lippman’s “Cougar.” If you’re expecting an outright sexcapade, you’re going to be disappointed. Instead, you’ll be treated to be a sad, even heartbreaking story of a middle-aged woman who seems incapable of helping her troubled, drug-dealing son out of a situation that can end no way other than bad. The emotions feel genuine. —Rod Lott
