Invitation to Murder

Edward Gorman;Richard Layman, Gary Brandner, William J. Nolan, Bill Pronzini( introduction), K. K. Rusch, William J. Reynolds, John Lutz, Nancy Pickard, Carolyn Hart, Billie Sue Mosiman, Teri White, Andrew Vachss, Jan Grape, Judith Kelman, Rex Miller, Barbara Paul, Loren D. Estleman

ISBN 10: 0913165654 / ISBN 13: 9780913165652

Published by Dark Harvest Books, Arlington Heights, Illinois, 1991

About this Item

First Printing. Deluxe first edition signed by all authors copy number 16. Signed by all authors on the front endpapers. Boards are straight and stiff. Binding is tight. Tips pointed and odor free throughout. Unread and unblemished. Dust jacket as new with no flaws. Now looks spectacular in its shiny mylar dust protector. No slipcase. Shipping box is suitable for wrapping with a non-price listed purchase order inside along with biodegradable packing.

Seller Inventory # 000986

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Invitation to Murder
• Publisher: Dark Harvest Books, Arlington Heights, Illinois
• Publication Date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0913165654
• ISBN 13: 9780913165652
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: As New
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

Eighteen mystery writers create original stories based on the same simple premise

Reviews

Inspired by a single premise--"a young woman is found dead on the apartment floor"--this collection of stories has a nice quota of top-notch tales ranging from procedurals to horror to science fiction. In Nancy Pickard's evocative "The Dead Past," a psychiatrist tries to help a young girl who is afraid of everything and everyone. The father in Andrew Vachss's "Anytime I Want" brutalizes his daughters, killing one and prompting his sons to take revenge. In the not-so-distant future of Barbara Paul's "Who What When Where Why," investigative reporting is too dangerous to be done in person, and a freelancer seeks to avenge the destruction of the beautiful simulacra who carries out investigations in her stead. In "Darke Street" by Gary Brandner, an elderly woman buys a brief span of gorgeous youth. The creative madman who narrates Rex Miller's "Still Life with Gold Frame" must write voluminously or die. Another sort of madman comes to grief with a cat in Teri White's "Merlin and the Hit Man." There is enough variety and change of pace here to maintain the interest of both the casual and addicted mystery reader.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Omnipresent anthologists Gorman and Greenberg suggested to 18 writers that each pound out a story that included one common element: a young woman found dead on an apartment floor. Despite Bill Pronzini's introduction, which claims there's not ``a poorly conceived or poorly written [story] in the bunch,'' there's a fair number of each, the exceptions being John Lutz's ``Open and Shut,'' a deliciously devious cui bono? tale, and Barbara Paul's bioengineering story of next-century murder. Also on hand: Pronzini's ``Nameless,'' attending to a matter for a boccie-court regular; a plant-the-evidence story from Carolyn G. Hart; an Andrew Vachss short-short; a silly shrink-saga from Nancy Pickard; Loren Estleman with a religious cult, a pig farmer, and a secret in the wine cellar; and William F. Nolan with a trip to the boneyard, sci- fi style. Other contributors include three newcomers, Jan Grape, Kristine K. Rusch, and Billie Sue Mosiman, who are, in turn, obvious, labored, and repetitive (also derivative). A simplistic premise, alas, encourages simplistic solutions. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.