A review by octavia_cade
The Case of the Little Bloody Slipper by Carlie St. George
3.0
A re-imagining of Cinderella, told from the point of view of the prince. In this case, the prince is a gumshoe detective - this is a fairy tale/noir mash-up - who finds the bloody slipper of his dance partner and goes investigating. In perfect honesty, the whole gumshoe mystery sub-genre doesn't really appeal to me. Maybe it's the language, maybe it's the style, but it's not my thing. Here, though, it's not that bad - although that may be partly because this is a short story. I think I'd have more trouble sticking with this if it were a novel, for instance. No blame to St. George, though - I think she does a great job mixing together two very different genres, and it's hardly her fault that I came into the story not caring for one of them.
I will say, though, that I'm interested in reading the other short stories in the series. Basically because the most interesting parts of this story, for me, were the setting and background. Spindle City is subject to a spreading disease known as Pins and Needles, and the profit-driven pharmaceutical companies are in a long covert war with drug runners who want a more egalitarian approach to medicine. Underlying this conflict is a 20 year old piece of history, wherein the (impoverished) infected were sometimes burned alive to keep the contagion from spreading. This is awful, really deeply awful (and creepy), so naturally I was riveted. More of that, please!
I will say, though, that I'm interested in reading the other short stories in the series. Basically because the most interesting parts of this story, for me, were the setting and background. Spindle City is subject to a spreading disease known as Pins and Needles, and the profit-driven pharmaceutical companies are in a long covert war with drug runners who want a more egalitarian approach to medicine. Underlying this conflict is a 20 year old piece of history, wherein the (impoverished) infected were sometimes burned alive to keep the contagion from spreading. This is awful, really deeply awful (and creepy), so naturally I was riveted. More of that, please!