Life behind the badge is explored by 19 top crime authors in MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA PRESENTS THE BLUE RELIGION: NEW STORIES ABOUT COPS, CRIMINALS, AND THE CHASE. Writes editor Michael Connelly in his introduction, “It holds that the best story about the badge is not about how a cop works on a case. It is about how the case works on the cop.”
Take, for instance, the opening “Skinhead Central” by T. Jefferson Parker. In it, a retired cop and his wife attempt to adjust to an idyllic, lakeside life of retirement, but open up a can of worms when they agree to let a local boy – a skinhead, no less – help them move in.
The officer of John Harvey’s “Sack o’ Woe” is a member of the Public Protection Team, partly tasked with helping convicted sex offenders make a smooth transition back into normal life and not screw up again. His latest case raises lots of red flags; it’s tough, but also taking quite the toll on his own marriage.
Jon L. Breen offers a little comic relief with “Serial Killer,” in which two cops lecture a creative writing class, and deliver a joke connected to the title. It’s slight, but welcome given the misery-oriented stories bookending it. And one of those is John Buentello’s depressing yet clever “A Certain Recollection,” dealing with a former officer who can’t stop investigating crimes, because he has Alzheimer’s.
The title character of Persia Walker’s haunting “Such a Lucky, Pretty Girl” is a beautiful 15-year-old girl found murdered. The investigating officer uncovers some shocking truths about the supposedly innocent girl’s activities, and it forces her to examine events from her own buried past.
I’ve never read a bad short story from Edward D. Hoch, and “Friday Night Luck” continues that hot streak. In it, a wannabe police officer who keeps blowing his chances to be on the force takes it upon himself to solve a homicide he runs across at this day job as part of a crime-scene cleanup crew.
And while it’s nice to see Laurie R. King writing something set in the modern day rather than centuries past, she throws so many names and details at us in the first two pages alone that you can’t help but feel baffled and at a disadvantage from the start. Polly Nelson’s “Burying Mr. Henry” isn’t among the best stories, but it’s among the most novel, being set during the Civil War.
No, the award for the strongest piece goes to Peter Robinson, whose “The Price of Love” is utterly moving. His hero is 13-year-old Tommy, left to an unloving mother after his policeman father is killed during a robbery. Tommy finds a plastic toy badge on the beach and buys a plastic wallet for it, quietly playing detective as he tracks the new man in his mom’s life.
The three female officers of Greg Rucka’s “Contact and Cover” are sick and tired of a sexist male co-worker’s behavior, so they set out to do something about it. You’ll love seeing him get his comeuppance, even if the method is quite unbelievable. Ditto for “Rule Number One,” in which Bev Vincent’s cop finds himself with a super-sexy ridealong, who’ll end up doing more than asking questions.
THE BLUE RELIGION closes with a hat trick of three sobering tales. First, a cop becomes obsessed with finding the killer of a free-spirited female hot dog vendor who warms his heart, in Paul Guyot’s “What a Wonderful World.” Then, a woman officer who finds herself become a rape victim during a prostitution sting not only has to deal with her trauma, but that of her enraged husband, in “Winning,” by Alafair Burke.
Finally, Connelly has the last word with “Father’s Day,” featuring his series character of Det. Harry Bosch. Here, he’s presented with the heartbreaking case of a handicapped little boy who dies of a heatstroke in his parents’ car. Like many of the entries in THE BLUE RELIGION, it’s amazing how much Connelly accomplishes in such a small amount of pages, but these are stories that cut right to the punch and then strike like snake. Another excellent anthology from the MWA. –Rod Lott
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA PRESENTS DEATH DO US PART: NEW STORIES ABOUT LOVE, LUST, AND MURDER edited by Harlan Coben
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF MICHAEL CONNELLY:
• CRIME BEAT: A DECADE OF COVERING COPS & KILLERS by Michael Connelly
• ECHO PARK by Michael Connelly
• MURDER IN VEGAS: NEW CRIME TALES OF GAMBLING AND DESPERATION edited by Michael Connelly
• THE OVERLOOK by Michael Connelly
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF LAURIE R. KING:
• THE ART OF DETECTION by Laurie R. King
• LOCKED ROOMS by Laurie R. King
• TOUCHSTONE by Laurie R. King
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF T. JEFFERSON PARKER:
• L.A. OUTLAWS by T. Jefferson Parker
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF PETER ROBINSON:
• FRIEND OF THE DEVIL by Peter Robinson” target=”new”>PIECE OF MY HEART by Peter Robinson
• PIECE OF MY HEART by Peter Robinson” target=”new”>PIECE OF MY HEART by Peter Robinson
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF GREG RUCKA:
• 52: VOLUME ONE by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid and Keith Giffen
• 52: VOLUME TWO by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid and Keith Giffen
• 52: VOLUME THREE by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid and Keith Giffen
• 52: VOLUME FOUR by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid and Keith Giffen
• PATRIOT ACTS by Greg Rucka
• PRIVATE WARS by Greg Rucka
Related posts:
- Mystery Writers of America Presents Death Do Us Part: New Stories about Love, Lust, and Murder
- Patriot Acts
- Showcase Presents The House of Mystery: Volume 2
- Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine Presents Fifty Years of Crime and Suspense
- The Adventure of the Missing Detective and 19 of the Year’s Finest Crime and Mystery Stories
