Death on a Cold Night

by Jess Faraday (Editor)

EIGHT CHILLING WINTER MYSTERIES…from the new publisher Elm Books (http://elm-books.com & find us on Twitter @ElmBooks). The eight stories in this volume have been hand-picked to provide a taste of the many different kinds of stories that can be described as ‘mystery,’ as well as to form a harmonious and complimentary collection. Stories range from the cozy, represented by Cris de Borja’s A Theft of Teapots, to the ripped-from-the-headlines crime stories exemplified by Lee Mullins’ Burnt December.
Sleuths also come in many forms: a precocious child, like the narrator of Death Benefits by Emily Baird; an unemployed person marking time on public transport, like the protagonist of Mark Hague’s In the Public Eye; Kirk VanDyke’s mountain cabin caretaker in The Afternoon of the Storm; or a quick-thinking assistant movie producer, like the main character of Wendy Worthington’s story, Snow in Winter.
Also included are two excellent examples of supernatural mystery fiction for your reading pleasure, whether your tastes run to vampires (Christalea McMullin’s Club Pandemonium) or toward Native American legends come to life (Leonhard August’s Storm of Mystery.)

Available in Epub, Mobi and paperback at http://elm-books.com

Genres: Short Stories, Mystery, Fiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2012

About the author

Jess Faraday is the author of the award-winning Ira Adler historical mysteries, the standalone steampunk adventure The Left Hand of Justice and a number of historical adventures in short story and novella form.

Her novella, The Strange Case of the Big Sur Benefactor, won a Rainbow Award for Lesbian Historical. Fool's Gold won a Rainbow Award for Best Gay Historical, and was a runner-up for Best Gay Novel. Turnbull House was a runner-up for Best Gay Historical, and The Affair of the Porcelain Dog was both a Lambda Awards finalist, and won Honorable Mention for Best Novel of the Year from Speak Its Name.

She has edited several award-winning short story collections for Elm Books, including Death and a Cup of Tea (one of Foreword Review's top Indie mysteries of 2015), Undeath and the Detective (Finalist for a Silver Falchion Award for Best Multi-Author Anthology), and Fae Love, which won an Aspen Gold Reader's Choice Award.

You can read more about Jess and her books at http://www.jessfaraday.com

Reviews

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edited by my friend, and featuring stories by two other friends, this little volume provides all kinds of my personal crack: short fiction, mysteries, and a friend connection!

Here are eight short stories, each with a mystery at its core, and no two alike. One or two had me thinking I knew the solution, only to pull the rug at the last. The tension in a couple of others had me clenching my teeth - and some important muscles - most of the way through. All of them were great reads, and all of them bear re-reading!

[Leila Monaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am biased, I am the publisher of this book, but I do love it. I am really proud of these eight new authors, all presenting a different take on what a mystery is. The collection is diverse--half of the works are about people of color, settings range from Philadelphia to Los Angeles to a futuristic Arizona, all stories reflect a slightly different genre of mystery from cozy to detective to occult. We at Elm Books would love to hear what you think of this book and what you would like to see in the future. See us at http://elm-books.com. Free samples of all the stories are also available on our website.

[Leila Monaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am biased, I am the publisher of this book, but I do love it. I am really proud of these eight new authors, all presenting a different take on what a mystery is. The collection is diverse--half of the works are about people of color, settings range from Philadelphia to Los Angeles to a futuristic Arizona, all stories reflect a slightly different genre of mystery from cozy to detective to occult. We at Elm Books would love to hear what you think of this book and what you would like to see in the future. See us at http://elm-books.com. Free samples of all the stories are also available on our website.

[Len Goeller · Rating 5 out of 5]

New authors with new points of view. If you like variety and want to exercise your imagination, this is a good read. Try it.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun collection of mystery short stories, perfect for when you have little snatches of time and want to read something but can't handle a whole novel. I especially liked the story by Emily Baird.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay collection of short mystery stories. The first story was only a couple pages and more the beginning of a story. There was one that was reminiscent of an Alfred Hitchcock story where it ends right where the murderer knows the amateur "detective" knows and they know the murderer knows. I really liked the cozy mystery "A Theft of Teapots." One story with a coroner's assistant was rather gritty (although I liked the fact that he had a prosthetic arm). I liked the last one with a kid figuring out the murder's plan before he could fully carry it out.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death on a Cold Night is a collection of eight short mystery stories, edited by Jess Faraday, with the shared themes of winter. The stories chosen are: the very short but satisfying, Hollywood-set Snow in Winter by Wendy Worthington; the quick and enjoyable thriller about what a man witnesses from his train, In the Public Eye by Mark Hague; the lengthier and creepy whodunit and missing person mystery, Burnt December by Lee Mullins; the cosy small-town A Theft of Teapots by Cris de Borja; the simultaneously techno- and supernatural-thriller set in the Sonoran desert, Storm of Mystery by Leonhard August; the marvellous, Rear Window-esque Death Benefits by Emily Baird; the mountain-set, snow drift-filled The Afternoon of the Storm by Kirk VanDyke; and the gothic vampire tale, Club Pandemonium by Christalea McMullin.

Jess Faraday’s selection of tales is certainly diverse and I’m sure there is something for every mystery lover in Death on a Cold Night. All the stories are well written and fulfil their brief of winter mysteries. Snow in Winter is a master class in simplicity and is very enjoyable despite its brevity. Burnt December is intriguing and unsettling, with a great plot and excellent, three-dimensional characters. A Theft of Teapots is ideal for cosy-lovers and has a neat twist. Storm of Mystery is unique and is quite informative. The Afternoon of the Storm is atmospheric and enigmatic. Club Pandemonium is thrilling and surprising. My particular favourites were the very Hitchcockian tales, In the Public Eye and Death Benefits. Both were brilliantly written, genuinely thrilling and quite thought-provoking. I would like to read more, particularly from Mark Hague, Emily Baird, Wendy Worthington and Lee Mullins. For Readers' Favorite.

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short story collections are often hit or miss. Readers are drawn to check out fresh stories from authors they admire or want to try out. As a result, some stories seem to captivate while others tend to turn a reader off. All of this can be said about Death on a Cold Night, a collection of eight winter mysteries edited by Jess Farady.

Each story has something a little different. In theory, that makes Death on a Cold Night a book that any reader would enjoy. In actuality, the theory holds mostly true. I did find a few of the stories enjoyable; while others I didn't care for much or didn't finish all the way through. My favorite of the stories was cozy in nature, which is my favorite kind of mystery story. Others didn't capture or keep my interest as easily. But that is really the best part of a book of collected stories: the chance to discover new authors and possibly introduce a reader to a type of story she hadn't enjoyed before.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Henery Press in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.