Let’s hope it’s not a dark and stormy day from 1 to 3 p.m. Dec. 7 at Once Upon a Crime mystery bookstore, 604 W. 26th St., Minneapolis, when Twin Cities Chapter of Sisters in Crime launch their fourth anthology “It Was a Dark and Stormy Night Doncha Know.” The anthology’s co-editor Michael Mallory wlll mingle with visitors and fellow authors from noon to 2 p.m. as he launches his new mystery, “Tiger Claw.”
(Twin Cities chapter of Sisters in Crime)
Mallory partnered with Timya Owen and Barbara Merritt Deese to edit “It Was a Dark and Stormy Night, Dontcha Know” made up of 18 stories with lots of mayhem, a ghost and a few deaths. Further fun comes from little puzzles scattered throughout the book that readers have to discover.
The editors remind us that Minnesotans love to talk about the weather, so it was natural to send out a call for stories beginning with the famous (or infamous) opening lines by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Readers will enjoy directions the authors take their stories after those opening words. In addition, the award-winning and emerging writers were asked to include three of eight items in each story: a shovel, the name Sandi, an undertaker, a Minnesota Twins baseball cap, chattering teeth, whistling, smoke and a mousetrap. (Sandi is a tip-of-the-hat to Sandi McKay, a Sisters in Crime member and loyal supporter.)
The stories in this anthology are so varied it wouldn’t be fair to highlight only a few. But here’s part of the menu. a wannabe social media influencer covers a stolen ox with glitter; two dumb thieves try to pull loose a postal box with their car; a canoeist alone in the Boundary Waters has to escape menacing guys; a hunting knife driven into a cabin floor is a bloody message; a man keeps trying to protect the woman he’s loved; and the spirit of a dead man hovers over his bed watching a betrayal.
Contributing writers in the anthology (eBook, $5.99) are Carol Huss, Michael Allan Mallory, John Baird Rogers, Chris Norbury, John Gaspard, Susan Ellison, Greg Dahlager, Julie Fasciana, Steve Hoffmeyer, Sherry Roberts, A.J. Penn, Barbara Merritt Deese, C.N. Buchholz, Jeanne Mulcare, Daniel Kinney, Nancy Fowler, Thekla Fagerlie-Madsen and T.S. Owen A brief author bio is at the end of each story.
Previous Twin Cities Sisters in Crime anthologies are “Festival of Crime,” “Dark Side of the Loon,” and “Minnesota Not So Nice.”
‘Tiger Claw’
(BookLocker)
Michael Mallory (BookLocker)
Michael Mallory’s “Tiger Claw” (BookLocker, $17.95) could be considered a kung fu police procedural since part of the action centers on Henry Lau’s training in the Wing Chun school of martial arts, which depends on mental acuity, quickness, constant training and watchfulness about your opponent’s stance and attitude.
In “Tiger Claw” Mallory brings back Henry and his niece, Janet Lau, after their crime solving in “The Lost Dragon Murders” (2021). The partners are detectives in the police department of Gillette, Minn., a town near the Twin Cities. Henry’s martial arts fighting abilities could make him a killer if that’s what he wanted, but he took up the discipline only to help others after his college girlfriend was murdered when he was not there to protect her. Janet is the newbie with an analytical mind and a passion to prove herself in law enforcement.
Both partners are recovering from earlier injuries. Henry had broken bones, Janet a concussion that left her with momentary brain glitches.
The detectives are drawn into a mystery after the employee of a local knife-making company was killed using one of the company’s new knives, known as the Tiger Claw. When another employee is run over in a parking lot, Henry and Janet learn that two of the firm’s top executives are planning something. Post-It notes in the homes of the deceased seem to confirm that rumor. Were they planning killings? Why? And why was one of the victim’s hands resting on an old atlas as though pointing to South America?
Between ever more confusing information about the crimes, readers learn a lot about Wing Chun, which Henry teaches on weekends after studying in Hong Kong for a couple of years in his youth. He only wants to be left in peace, but there are bullies in the martial arts community who insist on challenging him, much to their regret. Here’s how he handled one of them:
“Henry clamped a hand over Lou’s fist to anchor it, swinging his free arm over and against the big man’s forearm while twisting his wrist. This cranked Lou’s arm and entire body, dropping him to his knees. Henry’s hand slid to Lou’s throat, whose face contorted in silent agony as claw-like fingers dug into his carotid artery.”
Although the martial arts scenes are interesting, they almost overtake the plot occasionally and we almost forget about the murders. Still, Henry and Janet are interesting characters as Henry lets Janet make her own decisions and Janet learns a lot about patience and detective work from her uncle. This is a mystery for readers who like intelligent protagonists who use their status in law enforcement to do the best they can for society.
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