More Whatdunits

by Mike Resnick (Editor)

Resnick has once again created numerous science fiction mystery scenarios and set the ever-fertile imaginations of his fellow writers to solving them. The result is a unique collection of 19 all-original stories set in various locations around the universe, some with humans as the villains, some with aliens as the key players.

Genres: Mystery, Anthologies, Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories

336 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 1993

About the author

Michael "Mike" Diamond Resnick, better known by his published name Mike Resnick, was a popular and prolific American science fiction author. He is, according to Locus, the all-time leading award winner, living or dead, for short science fiction. He was the winner of five Hugos, a Nebula, and other major awards in the United States, France, Spain, Japan, Croatia and Poland. and has been short-listed for major awards in England, Italy and Australia. He was the author of 68 novels, over 250 stories, and 2 screenplays, and was the editor of 41 anthologies. His work has been translated into 25 languages. He was the Guest of Honor at the 2012 Worldcon and can be found online as @ResnickMike on Twitter or at www.mikeresnick.com.

Reviews

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection contains nineteen stories of varying length, all dealing with crime and punishment, with alien race, landscape or situations involved. I found a few truly memorable works here. They were~
1. Stanley Schmidt's 'Worthsayer';
2. Jane Yolen's 'For Love of Juoun'— wittiest story of the book;
3. Beth Meacham's 'Ashes to Ashes'— the best, and most dystopian story of the collection.
There were several other wordy or too-short pieces.
In my opinion, the book was absolutely killed by its trashy production reminiscent of dime pulps. Had the publishers taken these works seriously, they should have given it a proper shape and lay-out. Story-wise it’s much better than it looks or reads.

[Ensiform · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second volume of mystery stories begun by Mike Resnick and solved by various writers - editors this time. The stories therein:

"Worthsayer", Stanley Schmidt. Very well written, with a truly unexpected twist solution (an original explanation of precognition).

"For Love of Juoun", Jane Yolen. Enjoyable, with a different slant on the subject than most of the other stories.

"DragNeuroNet", John Gregory Betancourt. A tight, traditional investigative story, except the detective is a robot, one of the first. Ingenious and clever.

"Bauble", David Gerrold. A 'bittersweet mood piece', just what was asked for, and well-crafted.

"Ashes To Ashes", Beth Meacham. Another intricate detective procedural. Good.

"The Lady Louisiana Toy", Barry N. Malzberg. Written in a flowing, hermetic style, with a dreamy, detached tone, this story stands out from all the others. I liked it, but couldn't quite understand it.

"Alien Influences", Kristine Kathryn Rusch. This story shared the same problem as the one above; it too is dreamy and detached. I liked this one better.

"The Pragmatists Take a Bow", Thomas A. Easton. Good, but the ending left me unsatisfied.

"Sincerity", Patrick Nielsen Hayden. Too rushed to be enjoyable and not all that clever: The Manchurian Candidate in six pages.

"Dark Odds", Josepha Sherman. My favorite story because the hero, though clever, is never in control of the situation.

"Things Not Seen", Martha Soukup. Very clever, very intricate, and satisfactorily played out.

"Windows of the Soul", Susan Casper. Built in a necessarily contrived manner around Resnick's odd problem, but good character interplay makes up for it.

"The Whole Truth", Susan Shwartz. Another story that adds a little too much to the plot asked for, so it ends like the first chapter of a serial rather than a story. Good otherwise.

"Way Out", Jody Lynn Nye & Bill Fawcett. A clever, appealing story about the existence of UFOs and the detective hired to verify it.

"The Killer Wore Spandex", Brian M. Thomsen. Very enjoyable.

"Catachresis", Ginjer Buchanan. Her name is spelled 'Ginjer' and her story is a forced kind of zany surrealism that is neither funny nor informative nor appealing.

"Flight of Reason", Tappan King. A good story with a satisfactory ending.

"She Was Blonde, She Was Dead---And Only Jimmilich Opstromommo Could Find Out Why!!!", Janet Kagan. Fun, doesn't take itself seriously, but justifies the whole plot. Great.

"The Ugly Earthling Murder Case", George Alec Effinger. A standard procedural with a minor twist ending. Also enjoyable.

[Cat. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is kind of an unusual concept, in that the editor sends out story set-ups to selected authors who then write the story to go with the set-up. Here's an example:

A riff on The Demolished Man. A human private eye is hired to retrieve an art object that has been stolen by an alien, and--if possible, though it isn't his primary objective--to bring the alien to justice. The catch: the alien, and everyone who works for it, belongs to a race of telepaths.

The story that goes with this set-up is Kristine Kathryn Rusch, whom I've never really heard of, but Jane Yolen and John Gregory Betancourt are familiar names who contributed a story.

Most of the themes are traditional science fiction: space ships, aliens, etc. Kind of fun, a throwback, and entertaining.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a companion volume to Resnick's earlier anthology, Whatdunits, in which he created a series of science-fictional murder scenarios and assigned a group of authors to write the stories that solve the crime. The additional gimmick in this book is that the authors are also editors in their own right. It's an enjoyable collection of stories.

[Cait · Rating 5 out of 5]

REALLY fun stories. Skipped a few near the end that read as too sexist for me but the majority of these were clever and a joy to read.