Nine Sons: Collected Mysteries
表題作を含むウェンディ・ホーンズビーの短編ミステリ集。犯罪の残酷さを抑制の効いた筆致で描き、日常の陰に潜む記憶と暴力を浮かび上がらせる。
作品情報
穏やかな語り口の奥に、消えない傷と犯罪の影が残る。
エドガー賞短編部門を受けた表題作を中心に、警察、家庭、街の記憶をめぐる物語を収める。派手な仕掛けよりも、事件が人に残す余韻を重視した作品集。
レビュー要約
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作品の背景と構成を丁寧に追う読者から支持されている。主題の重さに対し、叙述の落ち着きと人物の輪郭が読みどころとして受け止められている。
書籍情報
- 出版社
- Crippen & Landru Pub
- 発売日
- 2002-02-22
- 言語
- 英語
- サイズ
- 22.61 x 15.24 x 1.27 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9781885941664
- ISBN-10
- 1885941668
- カテゴリ
- 洋書/Mystery & Thrillers/Mystery/Anthologies
GREAT STORIES BY AN EDGAR WINNER Wendy Hornsby does not write cozies, or tales about cat sleuths, or sanitized murder. Her tales explore the depths of the human psyche, and her family-crimes are decidedly uncozy. In the title story, which won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar for Best Short Story, a heart-wrenching mystery surrounds a family living on the Northern Plains during the Depression. "Ghost Caper" is probably the purest example of noir fiction by a modern mystery writer and it is not for those of delicate constitution. "High Heels in the Headliner" is about a police groupie whose adoration turns deadly. Wendy Hornsby's collected mysteries contains ten stories and one essay. Two of the stories, including one about former LAPD officer Mike Flint, are written especially for this volume. Two of the other tales are co-written with Hornsby's daughter, Alyson. The book includes a new introduction by the author, and a checklist of Wendy Hornsby's mystery novels and stories. Cover painting by Native American artist, Barbara Mitchell.
レビュー
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A heart-wrenching story
The Edgar Allan Poe Award is presented by the Mystery Writers of America, for the most distinguished works in the mystery genre in the previous year.“Nine Sons” won an Edgar for the best short story in 1992, but I am wondering whether this work should be included in the mystery genre. It is true that a murder is committed in the story, but I am also wondering whether it should be called a murder. This murder is quite different from the ordinary murders depicted in ordinary mystery novels. I think that this book should be regarded just as a serious novel instead of a mystery novel. In fact, what strikes one most is not the twists and turns of the murder story but the circumstances in which a murder is committed or a murder must be committed. In fact, it can give one a very good picture of what the life of the people living on the Northern Plains was like during the Great Depression in America. Even though it is a very short story, both in the matter and in the manner, it is as admirable as “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck. I can think of no other mystery novel in which such a serious social issue is dealt with. It’s a heart-wrenching story, and I feel that it has rooted itself firmly in my memory. Evidently this book is of the sort to leave a strong impression behind it.
関連する文学賞
- エドガー賞 第47回（1992年） ・短編賞