willac's review against another edition
4.0
"Weird Detectives" is an anthology of short paranormal mystery stories. As in most anthologies, some of the stories were great, while there were a few that I wasn't interested in. Also, many of the stories were reprints that have appeared in other anthologies, so if you're buying the book for a particular author's story, check and be sure you haven't already read it.
The standouts for me were:
The Key, by Ilsa J. Bick. A story about a detective trying to figure out who killed a little boy found by a jogger in the park. I loved this one. Full of Jewish mysticism, Kabbalah, demons and angels. I would love to read a whole novel about Jason Saunders, the detective. The story caused me to look for more by Ms. Black, which, for me, is one of the more important reasons for reading an anthology--to discover new authors.
Love Hurts, by Jim Butcher. A story set in Harry Dresden's (The Dresden Files) world. I've read most of The Dresden Files books, so am familiar with the world and the characters. I had read this story before, but it was worth reading again. Harry and Karrin Murphy investigate a case involving three couples, each of whom apparently killed themselves in a suicide pact. And Harry and Murphy almost get caught up in it themselves.
Protective Coloration, by Elizabeth Bear. Three college girls discover that their professor, Dr. Matthew Szczegielniak ("Dr. S.") has another life as a mage.
Star of David, by Patricia Briggs. Stella Christiansen runs an agency that places foster children. When one of those foster children is accused of wrecking his foster parents' home, Stella thinks there must be something else involved. To find out what, she enlists the help of her estranged father, a werewolf.
Signatures of the Dead, by Faith Hunter. Set in the world of Jane Yellowrock, a Cherokee skin walker, this story has Jane and her friend Molly Everhart Trueblood investigating the killing of a family, apparently by vampires. Also involved in the investigation are Molly's husband Evan and a sheriff's detective.
Imposters, by Sarah Monette. Two detectives with the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation look into a rash of suicides.
Deal Breaker, by Justin Gustainis. A story about a man who sold his soul to the Devil for a decade of good luck. The decade is coming to a close, and he comes to investigator Quincy Morris to find a way to get out of the deal.
Death by Dahlia, by Charlaine Harris. Another reprint, this time set in the Sookie Stackhouse "Southern Vampire" universe. A great story about what happens when vampires investigate one of their own. Sookie doesn't appear, but Dahlia has appeared in several of the Sookie books.
Like Part of the Family, by Jonathan Maberry. PI Sam Hunter is hired by a woman who claims that her husband has threatened to kill her. Hunter turns out to be more than he appeared at first glance.
See Me, by Tanya Huff. Tony Foster--the young wizard who first appeared in Huff's "Blood" series, and now in his own series, "Smoke"--and his boyfriend Lee get involved with a prostitute who has been at the scene of two deaths. Tony is one of the directors of a vampire detective television show, and Lee plays the detective on the show. Despite the fact that neither of them are detectives, the wizard and the actor contrive to solve the mystery.
I received this book from NetGalley in return for a review; I was not paid for this review, nor required to post a positive review.
The standouts for me were:
The Key, by Ilsa J. Bick. A story about a detective trying to figure out who killed a little boy found by a jogger in the park. I loved this one. Full of Jewish mysticism, Kabbalah, demons and angels. I would love to read a whole novel about Jason Saunders, the detective. The story caused me to look for more by Ms. Black, which, for me, is one of the more important reasons for reading an anthology--to discover new authors.
Love Hurts, by Jim Butcher. A story set in Harry Dresden's (The Dresden Files) world. I've read most of The Dresden Files books, so am familiar with the world and the characters. I had read this story before, but it was worth reading again. Harry and Karrin Murphy investigate a case involving three couples, each of whom apparently killed themselves in a suicide pact. And Harry and Murphy almost get caught up in it themselves.
Protective Coloration, by Elizabeth Bear. Three college girls discover that their professor, Dr. Matthew Szczegielniak ("Dr. S.") has another life as a mage.
Star of David, by Patricia Briggs. Stella Christiansen runs an agency that places foster children. When one of those foster children is accused of wrecking his foster parents' home, Stella thinks there must be something else involved. To find out what, she enlists the help of her estranged father, a werewolf.
Signatures of the Dead, by Faith Hunter. Set in the world of Jane Yellowrock, a Cherokee skin walker, this story has Jane and her friend Molly Everhart Trueblood investigating the killing of a family, apparently by vampires. Also involved in the investigation are Molly's husband Evan and a sheriff's detective.
Imposters, by Sarah Monette. Two detectives with the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation look into a rash of suicides.
Deal Breaker, by Justin Gustainis. A story about a man who sold his soul to the Devil for a decade of good luck. The decade is coming to a close, and he comes to investigator Quincy Morris to find a way to get out of the deal.
Death by Dahlia, by Charlaine Harris. Another reprint, this time set in the Sookie Stackhouse "Southern Vampire" universe. A great story about what happens when vampires investigate one of their own. Sookie doesn't appear, but Dahlia has appeared in several of the Sookie books.
Like Part of the Family, by Jonathan Maberry. PI Sam Hunter is hired by a woman who claims that her husband has threatened to kill her. Hunter turns out to be more than he appeared at first glance.
See Me, by Tanya Huff. Tony Foster--the young wizard who first appeared in Huff's "Blood" series, and now in his own series, "Smoke"--and his boyfriend Lee get involved with a prostitute who has been at the scene of two deaths. Tony is one of the directors of a vampire detective television show, and Lee plays the detective on the show. Despite the fact that neither of them are detectives, the wizard and the actor contrive to solve the mystery.
I received this book from NetGalley in return for a review; I was not paid for this review, nor required to post a positive review.
book_realm_revisions's review against another edition
4.0
A delightful collection of odd cases and twisted endings
royanandadeep's review against another edition
4.0
Very well-designed collection. Some stories are a little meh, some are ordinary, but most of them are really good and worth the time. The Caitlin Kiernan one particularly is great, the Neil Gaiman one is so-so. Sarah Monette one is also pretty good. Suspense and magic all around. Some are a little too obscure for my taste.
lkeipp's review against another edition
4.0
Lots of good stories; will inspire you to go find other works by those authors.
oligneisti's review against another edition
3.0
Las þessa í von um að finna skemmtilega höfunda. Það tókst. Sarah Monette.
colej67's review against another edition
3.0
Most of the stories are just ok. The main value of this book is exposure to authors that seem worth checking out, because their writing was interesting but not quite fulfilling.
szava's review against another edition
3.0
well the quality was up and down with these stories.
loved the stories of: (listing the authors) Gaiman, Bear, Vaughn, Morette, Gustainis, Hunter, Maberry and Huff.
would read sg else from them prbbly: Blick, Denton, Elrod, Harries and Kierman
will prbbly avoid: Green, Butcher, Carl, Lansdale, Bowes, Briggs, Cameron, Meikle, Parks and Clark
loved the stories of: (listing the authors) Gaiman, Bear, Vaughn, Morette, Gustainis, Hunter, Maberry and Huff.
would read sg else from them prbbly: Blick, Denton, Elrod, Harries and Kierman
will prbbly avoid: Green, Butcher, Carl, Lansdale, Bowes, Briggs, Cameron, Meikle, Parks and Clark
jmshirtz's review against another edition
3.0
This review is only for the story Star of David by [a:Patricia Briggs|40563|Patricia Briggs|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1228867484p2/40563.jpg]. I've always liked strong female characters and, though I don't like the family estrangement part of it, Stella was pretty badass when it came to fighting the vampire.
mariakazantzi's review against another edition
2.0
One one hand, this book accomplishes the purpose of each anthology- by reading it I discovered some authors that I didn't know before or I hadn't read any work by them and I got a glimpse of their style and their writing.
On the other hand, there were several stories that I didn't like at all and thus I finished the book with great difficulty..And since I learned that the stories in this collection can be found in other collections too, I suggest you read this book only if you want to read specifically stories about paranormal detectives and you cannot be pleased by reading one or two stories about them included in an anthology with more general theme.
On the other hand, there were several stories that I didn't like at all and thus I finished the book with great difficulty..And since I learned that the stories in this collection can be found in other collections too, I suggest you read this book only if you want to read specifically stories about paranormal detectives and you cannot be pleased by reading one or two stories about them included in an anthology with more general theme.
soubhi's review against another edition
5.0
I got this book free. I don't read a lot of short stories, but I did want to read Neil Gaimen's story before passing the book along to someone else.
The Case of Death and Honey was great! I love that NG chose to write a Sherlock Holmes story!
The Case of Death and Honey was great! I love that NG chose to write a Sherlock Holmes story!