Just as they did last year with THE WIDOW OF SLANE, editors Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg have handpicked a crop of notable novellas in WOLF WOMAN BAY AND NINE MORE OF THE FINEST CRIME AND MYSTERY NOVELLAS OF THE YEAR. By year, they mean 2005, generally, and half of them come from the pages of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.

It starts with Joyce Carol Oates’ “Honor Code,” in which a girl harbors a years-long crush on her older male cousin, who killed her mother’s good-for-nothing boyfriend as revenge for his abuse. As expected, the prose is strong, the characters are morally flawed and the outcome heartbreaking. It also sets the bar high for the rest of the collection.

Brendan DuBois’ simple yet clever “The Temptation of King David” – from the Biblically-themed anthology THOU SHALT NOT KILL – deals with a cop on a stakeout who’s more interested in coveting his partner’s hot wife via binoculars. Steve Hockensmith’s “Gustav Amlingmeyer, Holmes of the Range” marks the debut of his crime-solving cowboy brothers from his HOLMES ON THE RANGE series, and after reading those, it’s a kick to see where it all began. Turns out the boys had franchise potential from the very start.

The collection takes its name from Doug Allyn’s “Wolf Woman Bay,” an intricate tale of a troubled man’s return to a small town he once called home, even if it never wanted nor welcomed him – and his plans for revenge. It’s a little too long, but strong on character development. Clark Howard closes the book with “Arizona Heat,” about a journalist trying to save a woman from the death penalty for murdering her husband. The problem? The only one who can clear her is her boyfriend, also imprisoned for the same crime and about to be executed himself. It’s a nifty setup well-plotted.

Three novellas I had read before: Jeremiah Healy’s “Grieving Las Vegas,” from MURDER IN VEGAS, and Ed McBain’s “Merely Hate” and Sharyn McCrumb’s “The Resurrection Man,” both from TRANSGRESSIONS. All three are great, but McCrumb’s work in particular is a near-masterpiece. After two years, it still haunts me, and it’s the most rewarding piece of the bunch.

That leaves “Junior Partner in Crime” and “Diamond Dog” by Carole Nelson Douglas and Dick Lochte, respectively. Coming from CREATURE COZIES, they’re pet-oriented mysteries. No offense to Douglas or Lochte, but that’s an intolerable subgenre whose popularity and appeal I just can’t fathom, and I couldn’t get into either.

But, hey, eight outta 10 clearly ain’t bad. –Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF ED GORMAN:
• THE ADVENTURE OF THE MISSING DETECTIVE AND 19 OF THE YEAR’S FINEST CRIME AND MYSTERY STORIES edited by by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg
• BLACK RIVER FALLS by Ed Gorman
• DEAN KOONTZ’S FRANKENSTEIN: BOOK TWO – CITY OF NIGHT by Dean Koontz and Ed Gorman
• DIFFERENT KINDS OF DEAD AND OTHER TALES by Ed Gorman
• FOOLS RUSH IN by Ed Gorman
• GHOST TOWN by Ed Gorman
• GRAVES’ RETREAT by Ed Gorman
• GUNSLINGER AND NINE OTHER ACTION-PACKED STORIES OF THE WILD WEST by Ed Gorman
• INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS: A TRIBUTE edited by Kevin McCarthy and Ed Gorman
• OUT THERE IN THE DARKNESS: THE COLLECTED ED GORMAN – VOLUME ONE by Ed Gorman
• THE WIDOW OF SLANE AND SIX MORE OF THE BEST CRIME AND MYSTERY NOVELLAS OF THE YEAR edited by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg
• WOLF MOON by Ed Gorman

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF MARTIN H. GREENBERG:
• THE ADVENTURE OF THE MISSING DETECTIVE AND 19 OF THE YEAR’S FINEST CRIME AND MYSTERY STORIES edited by by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg
• THE BEST HORROR STORIES OF ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE edited by Frank D. McSherry, Martin H. Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh
• NIGHTMARES ON ELM STREET: FREDDY KRUEGER’S SEVEN SWEETEST DREAMS edited by Martin H. Greenberg
• THE WIDOW OF SLANE AND SIX MORE OF THE BEST CRIME AND MYSTERY NOVELLAS OF THE YEAR edited by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF STEVE HOCKENSMITH:
• HOLMES ON THE RANGE by Steve Hockensmith
• ON THE WRONG TRACK by Steve Hockensmith

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF ED MCBAIN:
• EVERY LITTLE CROOK & NANNY by Evan Hunter
• THE GUTTER AND THE GRAVE by Ed McBain
• LEARNING TO KILL: STORIES by Ed McBain
• LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE DEAF MAN by Ed McBain
• THE PUSHER by Ed McBain
• SHOTGUN by Ed McBain
• TRANSGRESSIONS edited by Ed McBain

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF SHARYN MCCRUMB:
• BIMBOS OF THE DEATH SUN by Sharyn McCrumb

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF JOYCE CAROL OATES:
• AMERICAN GOTHIC TALES edited by Joyce Carol Oates
• THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES: TALES OF MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE by Joyce Carol Oates
• THE MUSEUM OF DR. MOSES: TALES OF MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE by Joyce Carol Oates