The Case of the Little Bloody Slipper

Spindle City Mysteries #1

by Carlie St. George

It was half past eleven when I saw her. She was standing at the top of the staircase, with restless fingers and defiant eyes, wrapped in blue silk that clung to her hips.

Jimmy Prince is a private detective with a tendency to make bad decisions, take on hopeless cases, and ask too many questions. But no one is answering his inquiries about Ella, the mysterious dame who slipped into the Prince family gala, stayed for a dance, then disappeared at midnight leaving just a single bloody glass slipper behind. With the help of his trusty assistant Jack (a street-savvy teen runaway who is as tough as she is resourceful), Jimmy finally catches a break when one of Spindle City’s most powerful players, the Godmother, lets slip that Ella is part of a much larger conspiracy and not at all who she seems. With every new clue, Jimmy finds himself a step farther down a path that threatens to uncover some of the city’s best kept, and most deadly, secrets.

In Spindle City, all kinds of tales get told… for a price. Asking the wrong question is a guaranteed one-way ticket to the long and silent ever after.

Taking on this new case might just be Jimmy Prince’s biggest mistake yet.

Genres: Mystery, Fairy Tales, Short Stories, Fantasy, Crime, Novella, Urban Fantasy

80 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 3, 2015

Reviews

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽]

One of the best noir gumshoe detective/fairy tale mashups I've read - and it's a free online novella, here at The Book Smugglers website.

Jimmy Prince is a private detective, semi-estranged from his rich mother. At a fancy ball put on by his mother, he sees Ella:

It was half past eleven when I saw her. She was standing at the top of the staircase, with restless fingers and defiant eyes, wrapped in blue silk that clung to her hips. Her legs went on, and on, and on. I knocked back my drink and crossed the room.

He shares a dance and a few words with Ella, but then she takes off. Jack chats briefly with his mother and Sarah White (aka Snow), but as he slips out of the party soon after, he sees something suspicious:

Lying on the middle step was one of Ella’s glass shoes. It was still intact and lying on its side. It was also covered in blood.

So begins Jimmy's investigation into Ella's disappearance, helped along by his assistant Jack, a cute redheaded homeless girl; the Godmother, who's a menacing madam; and other familiar characters ... who won't seem quite so familiar in this story.

If you like both noir detective stories and fairy tales, or even just one of the two, you really need to give this a read. A second novella in this series, The Price You Pay Is Red, has also just been published on The Book Smugglers. I'm off to read it right now!

[Mir]

Private Eye Jimmy "you know smart’s not my style" Prince sees a smokin' hot dame at his mother's fundraiser and falls hard. When she disappears that night, leaving only a blood stained glass shoe behind, he decides to investigate. Unfortunately, he is a lousy detective...

Free here: http://thebooksmugglers.com/2015/11/t...

[TheBookSmugglers]

We are so excited about this one!!!

ETA: IT'S OUT, IT'S OUT IT'S FINALLY OUT

http://thebooksmugglers.com/2015/11/t...

[aspeccharactersoftheday]

https://aspeccharactersoftheday.tumbl...

[Maggie Gordon]

At first I thought tat Spindle City was so noir that it must be parody, but nope, this is a serious fairy tale noir with lots of darkness. What makes this particular work interesting is that St. George doesn't try to create a fairy tale world. There are fairy tale characters attached to certain tropes or imagery. But it's a homage rather than a strict retelling, and this works rather well in context. Spindle City is a dark and nasty place, plagued by a strange illness that one family holds the only medication that works. The economic split is harsh, and our main character straddles the two sides. He's the son of a well-to-do family, but he works as a private eye and refuses aid from his parents. He's attending one of their balls, for work of course, when he meets a beautiful woman named Ella, but she disappears and all he finds is her bloody, glass slipper. Turns out Cinderella in this universe is from an even crueller family... It's a great noir spin on the fairy tale, and a fun set up to a limited series.

[Julie]

I had such a great time reading this; it is short so it only took me a few of my breaks at work to finish it. The best part is that it's free to read here.

I saw this pop up in my Goodreads friend Sarah's books. She always has good taste, and she mentioned in her review that it's a fairy tale retelling (I'm a HUGE sucker for those) and it's a sort of noir setting. Seemed like two awesome things put together, and it was. I'm excited for the next one.

[Aislinn]

I remember buying this because it had lesbians. But since it didn't have lesbians, either I remembered wrong, or whoever recommended it was mistaken. However, I'm pretty sure the main character was a bisexual man, so it wasn't a total loss.

It was also a really fun fairy tale-inspired short mystery! I really liked the adaptation of Cinderella into this new noir world. I'm intrigued enough to read more set in this world. Good stuff.

[Jasmine]

So Noir it hurts. Also, I love Jack.

[Octavia Cade]

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!

[Ju Transcendancing]

The Case of the Bloody Little Slipper caught my eye when I wanted to read and support more short fiction publishing and in particular wanted to support Book Smugglers Publishing. Fairytales in a noir crime setting sounded interesting and so I gave it a try. The cover itself drew my interest looking very reminiscent of Cinderella, but also hinting toward the noir style of the story. From the first I was transported into the universe of Spindle City, because the language was so markedly difference. This took a little getting used to, and some guessing at times but it was worth it and I felt immersed in the life of Jimmy Prince trying to solve the mystery of Ella.

I love the idea of ‘Prince Charming’ actually being dysfunctional, not too pretty and although that idealistic moral standard is definitely present in Jimmy, it’s definitely sarcastic and a little tarnished. Jimmy was a great protagonist to explore Spindle City along with his sidekick Jack whose story I’m really intrigued by! Ella as the disenfranchised, disinherited orphan is beautifully retold, retaining the mystery of the original fairytale while also giving her greater depth without the singular romantic focus. This story was refreshing and I just let myself enjoy the mystery unfolding – I’m less about guessing where mysteries and crime solving stories are going, and more about enjoying the ride.

St George has created a solid foundation in The Case of the Bloody Little Slipper with the Spindle City universe and I enjoyed every moment and couldn’t wait to read more!

(Reposted from my review at The Conversationalist).

[Yolanda Sfetsos]

Today I finished proofreading one of my upcoming books and wanted to reward myself with an interesting short read. And this story definitely turned out to be a treat.

I mean, check this out:

It was half past eleven when I saw her. She was standing at the top of the staircase, with restless fingers and defiant eyes, wrapped in blue silk that clung to her hips.

How can you not be intrigued by this? :)

Jimmy Prince is a PI who lives in Spindle City and has a teenage assistant. When he meets an alluring woman called Ella at the Prince family gala, and then finds her bloody glass slipper, he gets caught up in a mystery that is bound to get him into deep trouble. Which seems to be something he's really good at.

Absolutely loved this story! It's such a clever noir mystery set in a city full of fairy tale characters. But they're not what you're used to. This is a place full of strong, murderous women and intriguing people. Not to mention the story! And the writing! Loved everything about it.

Can't wait to read more.

BTW, you can read it for free HERE!

[Mieneke]

I love a good noir detective and I have a weakness for fairytale retellings. In other words, Carlie St. George’s The Spindle City Mysteries hit the sweet spot just with their description alone. I was sold on the concept. But concept is one thing, execution another and I’m glad to say St. George didn’t disappoint. While written as three separate novellas and originally released in serial-form on the Book Smugglers, I read the stories in order almost as one long story. The three novellas certainly work as standalone stories, but I think they work even better when read as a whole. There is a really tight series arc that is told over the three stories and while I loved the separate cases Jimmy works during the series, the heart of the narrative was with that central series plot.

To read my full review of the series, please click though to my blog.

[coeur de samurai]

I'm gonna go with 3 stars because it's rather short but I could feel a lot of potential. The world is compulsive and so are the characters. The noir genre mixed with the retelling story gave some kind of wicked Sin City ambiance. However, I found it too messy. Perhaps it's the lack of development or the overuse of info-dump; too many people for so little words and a lot happen in such a short time. At times, the writing was a muddle and scenes would go too fast and not clear at all -- but the dialogues were fabulous and so was the use of old slang! Totally recommend this quick read though.

Btw, the short story is free to read right here: http://www.thebooksmugglers.com/2015/...

[Harper Miller]

I'm loving these short stories by Book Smugglers Publishing. They're the perfect type of quickie that leaves me fulfilled. And the diversity, yay! An Indian Cinderella? Yes please! I often find myself irritated with short stories because I don't feel that I'm given any sort of closure. You can leave a bit of a cliffhanger but not one that ends up with me pissed and frustrated. No pissy and unhappy Harper here!

The retelling of a classic fairy tale as a detective mystery is all kinds of awesome. How freaking creative. I've purchased the other stories in the series and I look forward to reading them. Also, I was entirely too happy with the way the Tremaine girls (the stepsisters) met their demise. Haha, I need help.

[Amanda Griggs]

A killer (pun intended) spin on fairy tales through a noir lens. Utterly delightful, and has some great hints at characters that I hope will get further fleshing out in the sequels. As it is, I'm hooked on the adventures of Jimmy Prince and Jack, and can't wait to learn more about their fantastical world.

[Sarah]

Another great publication from the Book Smugglers - this was a delightful read, particularly as I spent a large chunk of last year studying noir. This falls very clearly into that category and also hits my fairy tale retelling sweet spot. The vocabulary can be a bit to muddle through, but otherwise a really engaging read. Looking forward to reading the next one!

[Frida]

FAIRYTALE NOIR <3

[Izzy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRgkd...

[Peter Bradley]

My Amazon review -

http://www.amazon.com/review/R3J6FDFB...

[Amy]

This was excellent. So short, but so good. Admittedly, the slang was a bit excessive, at times making it hard for me to understand what was going on.

[Sheri]

Holy balls this was good. great. fantastic.
I love fairy tales and I never would have thought to rework them like this. St.George is super talented. Can't wait to read the rest of the series.

[Pers]

A fascinating mash-up of noir PI tale and fairytale elements.

Merged review:

I still love this tale: it's very inventive.

[Halfdime]

Fantastic story. Looking forward to more.