notanotherbookreview

Robin Hathaway was an original mystery writer. Her Doctor series was wryly funny and the Philly setting was used in very creative ways. Who knew in back of Jefferson Hospital there was an Indian burial ground?  Or that an herb garden in a hospital could have a nefarious purpose?  She was discovered in a St. Martin's contest, in her 60's, and had begun writing a decade before. Robin showed age is  irrelevant to writers and went on to develop another series. Here is a link to her obit. http://articles.philly.com/2013-02-21/news/37202639_1_mystery-author-mystery-writers-mystery-scene-magazine On a personal note, Robin was an inspiration to me. Through knowing her, I went on to finish writing I had lost confidence in,  respected my art work and became a better parent. Her message to me was have faith in yourself and move on.  I believe we are all in the process of becoming who we are. As people and our work, life seems to be about process. Success or failur...

The New York/Tri State Chapter of Sisters in Crime published this second Murder New York Style anthology, gathering 22 stories set in the five boroughs for FRESH SLICES. The flavor is delightfully unsavory--from Lina Zeldovich's tough action story, The Brighton Beach Mermaid, about a sex slave who uses her brains, Triss Stein's poignantly enigmatic The Greenmarket Violinist, Leigh Neely's shockingly satirical A Vampire in Brooklyn, to the gritty East Village saga The Understudy, where two lookalike good time girls, lost in addiction, trade places. My favorites were a study in contrasts, Tear Down by Anita Page and Susan Chalfin's Remember You Will Die. In Page's story, an octogenerian in a lower middle class neighborhood,relives the crisis of her youth and a horrific secret. I loved the cranky character and her irony-laced wisdom, a bit like Flannery O'Connor. In a similar way, I was surprised how the voice of Susan Chalfin's moneyed mogul had a touch of Roa...