Short Story Wednesday Review: The C Word: For Some Lockdown Has Been Murder --- Reviewed by Aubrey

I have not gotten an anthology finished and reviewed for today. Been too sick as the heat makes my various issues way worse. That meant that a repeat review had to run for this first Wednesday in July. A recent grocery story run where there were zero products for cold and flu, as well as the knowledge that several local folks I know now have Covid, again, it seemed like a good time to pull this one from the archives and run it again today. Thanks again to Aubrey Nye Hamilton who supplied it and continues to make our Mondays way better.

 

 

Up for discussion this week is a recently released charity anthology collected and published by Spellbound Books, the brainchild of Nikki East and Sumaira Wilson. All royalties will be donated to NHS Charities Together, a coalition of 240 NHS charities who support a wide range of health care institutions in the United Kingdom. See more here: https://www.nhscharitiestogether.co.uk/.

 

The C Word: For Some Lockdown Has Been Murder, released 7 January 2021 on Kindle, is an assortment of 26 short stories that appear to be limited only by the imaginations of the wide range of authors who wrote them. There are disappearances, there are zombies, there are stalkers, there are gang enforcers, there are book groups. There are a depressing number of stories about women with abusive husbands; Andy Hill’s story along those lines called Strength has a nice surprise at the end. There are families who have been driven to the breaking point by lockdown.

 

Supermarkets play a role in some; one of my favorites is by Nick Jackson called The Haunted Trolley. David Field’s offering, titled Out of Lockdown, is a positively brilliant tale of a creative way to enter witness protection. Derek Thompson’s The Understudy is about a young criminal who learns the ropes faster than his mentor realizes. Men who tell women they don’t know to smile will perhaps think twice if they read Trevor Wood’s entry called Smile Please.

 

I believe the names of contributors are largely unfamiliar to U.S. crime fiction readers, although a few are well-known.

·         Yvonne Bastian	·         Nick Jackson
·         Jane Carrick	·         Simon Maltan
·         Karen Clarke	·         Tracy Mearns
·         David Field	·         Vanessa Morgan
·         Paul Finch	·         Steve Mosby
·         Chloe Greene	·         Janine Pipe
·         Elly Griffiths	·         Nick Quantrill
·         Sophie Hannah	·         Rob Scragg
·         Matt Hickman	·         Derek Thompson
·         Sarah Hilary	·         Nick Triplow
·         Andy Hill	·         Mark Wilson
·         Laura Huntley	·         Claire Woolins
·         Linda Innes	·         Nick Jackson

 

This modestly priced compilation is a pleasant way to pass a few hours and to meet some new authors while lending support to a group whose resources have been severely taxed in the past year. Recommended!

 

 

·         ASIN: B08RRW8K6P

·         Publisher: SpellBound Books (January 7, 2021)

·         Publication date: January 7, 2021

·         Language: English

·         File size: 758 KB 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link:  https://amzn.to/4ltmTcb

 

Aubrey Hamilton ©2021, 2022, 2025

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.