Scan barcode
beastreader's review against another edition
3.0
First off I did not read this whole anthology. I only got to read a sampler that had 4 stories that are featured in this collection. They are Three Little Words by Nancy Pickard, Chin Yong-Yun Makes A Shidduch by S.J. Rozan, Trapped by Ben H. Winters, and The Day After Victory by Brendan DuBois. I liked all of the stories but was not really feeling S.J. Rozan's story. However all of them did have the great feel of the theme of this anthology "Manhattan Mayhem". My favorite story was Three Little Words. For a short story the author really wrote with such passion and emotions. Instantly I shared a connection with the characters in this story. I was a little sad when the story ended. Than there is Trapped which I liked the concept of this story. A story within a story. A classic murder story with a twist. The Day After Victory is real. It touches on after the Japan War. Therefore I did like what I read and will have to check out this full anthology.
cosmetic_wave's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
meferguson75's review against another edition
3.0
I received an advanced reading copy with 4 of the short stories from Goodreads Giveaways. The 4 stories included Nancy Pickard's "Three Little Words," S.J. Rozan's "Chin Yong-Yun Makes a Shidduch," Ben H. Winter's "Trapped!" and Brendan DuBois's "The Day After Victory." I have read and enjoyed many of Nancy Pickard's titles before and this short was no exception. i can and will recommend anything of Ms. Pickard's. The other three authors were new to me and I especially enjoyed the voice of Lydia Chin's mother in S.J. Rozan's short story. I will be reading more of Ms. Rozan's work. Mr. Winter's short play and Mr. DuBois's short story showed the breadth of this anthology - which included plays, thrillers, historical noir, straight mysteris, cozies and more all set in different New York City boroughs. Definitely worth reading the entire anthology!
gmc16's review
Just too forgettable. It was a good theoretical choice to gift me but just wasn’t gripping or interesting enough.
farahdaley's review against another edition
3.0
I picked this up because I'm a sucker for NYC and I've decided to diversify my reading by going into more mystery.
As with many short story compilations, you'll find gems and those you might find a little tired.
Here are the stories I liked most out of this collection:
Trapped!
A little meta, with a lot of humour. I loved this one (maybe because I'm a bit of a theatre geek) and I'm interested to check out more of Ben H Winters' work!
Copycats
I generally gravitate towards period pieces and this one is about a group of young men who were fought in WWII together. War is a devastating experience that many in my generation will probably never be able to relate to. This story goes into the vastly different paths people take after such a prominent experience.
Chin Yong-Yun Makes a Shiddach
Speaking on the collection as a whole, I appreciate that the stories take us on a tour of the city, through different time periods as well. This one is set in Chinatown (as you probably guessed) about a Chinese housewife who is also somewhat an amateur sleuth. It's one of the more light-hearted stories and I warmed up very much to Chin Yong-Yun's character.
As with many short story compilations, you'll find gems and those you might find a little tired.
Here are the stories I liked most out of this collection:
Trapped!
A little meta, with a lot of humour. I loved this one (maybe because I'm a bit of a theatre geek) and I'm interested to check out more of Ben H Winters' work!
Copycats
I generally gravitate towards period pieces and this one is about a group of young men who were fought in WWII together. War is a devastating experience that many in my generation will probably never be able to relate to. This story goes into the vastly different paths people take after such a prominent experience.
Chin Yong-Yun Makes a Shiddach
Speaking on the collection as a whole, I appreciate that the stories take us on a tour of the city, through different time periods as well. This one is set in Chinatown (as you probably guessed) about a Chinese housewife who is also somewhat an amateur sleuth. It's one of the more light-hearted stories and I warmed up very much to Chin Yong-Yun's character.
cj_mo_2222's review against another edition
4.0
“Manhattan Mayhem” is a collection of all new short stories by some of the most popular of today’s mystery writers. The collection contains almost twenty short stories, each focusing on a different area of Manhattan, such as Jeffrey Deaver’s story set in Greenwich Village, a story by Julie Hyzy which takes place in Central Park, and a tale by Mary Higgins Clark with a Union Square setting. The book has nice touches to support the theme. There are small maps at the beginning of each story showing the street location of the book’s setting. There are also actual photographs of New York included to add to the atmosphere of the stories.
As with almost every short story collection I’ve ever read, my reactions to the stories range from love to dislike. However, there were only a couple in this collection that left me confused or unmoved. Most are excellent and the book includes a large number of stories by very popular authors such as Nancy Pickard and S. J. Rozan, whose stories were two of my favorites. Pickard’s story had several unexpected twists and I enjoyed Lydia Chin’s mother, who is frustrating in Rozan’s novels, take the lead. Chin Yong-Yun is a clever and entertaining detective in this story.
One of my favorite stories was the Chelsea-set story in this sampler by author Ben H. Winters. I wasn’t familiar with this author before this story, but I enjoyed his story about actors in a play, which was written in the format of a play. I love the humor in the story and laughed out loud several times. I also enjoyed the excellent stories by Jon L. Breen, Margaret Maron, and T. Jefferson Parker. I’ve read other things by these authors, but enjoyed the unique stories they contributed to this collection.
Overall, an enjoyable book that mystery fans and/or those who enjoy stories set in New York City will enjoy.
I received this book from NetGalley, through the courtesy of Quirk Books, in exchange for an honest review.
As with almost every short story collection I’ve ever read, my reactions to the stories range from love to dislike. However, there were only a couple in this collection that left me confused or unmoved. Most are excellent and the book includes a large number of stories by very popular authors such as Nancy Pickard and S. J. Rozan, whose stories were two of my favorites. Pickard’s story had several unexpected twists and I enjoyed Lydia Chin’s mother, who is frustrating in Rozan’s novels, take the lead. Chin Yong-Yun is a clever and entertaining detective in this story.
One of my favorite stories was the Chelsea-set story in this sampler by author Ben H. Winters. I wasn’t familiar with this author before this story, but I enjoyed his story about actors in a play, which was written in the format of a play. I love the humor in the story and laughed out loud several times. I also enjoyed the excellent stories by Jon L. Breen, Margaret Maron, and T. Jefferson Parker. I’ve read other things by these authors, but enjoyed the unique stories they contributed to this collection.
Overall, an enjoyable book that mystery fans and/or those who enjoy stories set in New York City will enjoy.
I received this book from NetGalley, through the courtesy of Quirk Books, in exchange for an honest review.
darkchocolate's review against another edition
3.0
In my opinion, there are some good stories and some not very good written or not suitable ones for this anthology. While some really kept my interest (such as "Three little worlds","Damage control", "Serial benefactor", "Trapped"), others were just the type "he said that,she said that, then done that and that and fin ("The five-dollar dress") or no mystery, just conversation and somebody turns out killed/arrested/agent on a job. That's why my average rate is 3 stars.
jnikolova's review against another edition
2.0
Read on the WondrousBooks blog.
When I requested this book on NetGalley, I was expecting something creepier, more complicated and also full of interesting little facts about New York. This book was none of these things. None.
I remember reading Mary Higgins Clark a few years ago, since my grandmother is a big fan and she borrowed many MHC books from the library. I'm not a die-hard fan of the mystery genre, but I do love me a good crime novel from time to time. That's why, of course, as usual, why not, I had high expectations about this anthology. For one, Ms Clark participates herself in it, for another, she was the editor so naturally I was sure she'd have chosen really good pieces for Manhattan Mayhem.
In reality, the book started off really well. In the first 5-6 stories there really was the element of creepiness and I liked the style and the flow as a whole. That was soon ruined by American writers' obsession with America's "glorious" past full of mafioso-wannabe's. I'll get back to that later. After too many bad stories, there was a spark of something with the story about the two step-sisters. And then we were brought back to the dull reality of this book.
As I mentioned above, too many of the stories are set in the past, too many of them have Italian mafia types, too many seem to lack a concrete idea and are, in my opinion, a rush order to fill a couple of pages. The authors felt that they needed to be part of this anthology, or they were asked to participate, and the result is obvious, a string of unimaginative and boring short stories which lack a lot in the mystery department, too much, considering that this is a mystery book.
In particular I knew the book had totally lost me with the Broadway Executioner which was dragged out and with an ultimately unsatisfactory ending which left me wondering whether I missed something. The total low was the short play, which was just so dull and lifeless. The last 5 stories were so boring, I barely had the willpower to finish them.
I think the biggest issue is that all of these people, the authors, decided that one can create a much better mystery in the past than in the present. I think the opposite is true, which the present is not a good arena for a few types of genres, mystery is not one of them. With our level of development, a much more complicated case can be presented and with a much more creative way to be solved. However, it is obvious that these authors were not really willing to put too much effort in a short story for an anthology. Their lack of initiative and interest is obvious by their sloppy plots. I haven't read anything by most of them, but I'm sure they put a lot more effort in their own stuff, because all of the stories in Manhattan Mayhem were made by a formula: a character with humble beginnings, a couple of sidekicks, you don't really get what's going on and by the time you do, the story is done and you are left with the feeling that all of the authors were in this for an easy buck. All of the stories that don't fit in this category, are somewhat worth reading, though not groundbreaking, just a little bit more bearable than the rest.
When I requested this book on NetGalley, I was expecting something creepier, more complicated and also full of interesting little facts about New York. This book was none of these things. None.
I remember reading Mary Higgins Clark a few years ago, since my grandmother is a big fan and she borrowed many MHC books from the library. I'm not a die-hard fan of the mystery genre, but I do love me a good crime novel from time to time. That's why, of course, as usual, why not, I had high expectations about this anthology. For one, Ms Clark participates herself in it, for another, she was the editor so naturally I was sure she'd have chosen really good pieces for Manhattan Mayhem.
In reality, the book started off really well. In the first 5-6 stories there really was the element of creepiness and I liked the style and the flow as a whole. That was soon ruined by American writers' obsession with America's "glorious" past full of mafioso-wannabe's. I'll get back to that later. After too many bad stories, there was a spark of something with the story about the two step-sisters. And then we were brought back to the dull reality of this book.
As I mentioned above, too many of the stories are set in the past, too many of them have Italian mafia types, too many seem to lack a concrete idea and are, in my opinion, a rush order to fill a couple of pages. The authors felt that they needed to be part of this anthology, or they were asked to participate, and the result is obvious, a string of unimaginative and boring short stories which lack a lot in the mystery department, too much, considering that this is a mystery book.
In particular I knew the book had totally lost me with the Broadway Executioner which was dragged out and with an ultimately unsatisfactory ending which left me wondering whether I missed something. The total low was the short play, which was just so dull and lifeless. The last 5 stories were so boring, I barely had the willpower to finish them.
I think the biggest issue is that all of these people, the authors, decided that one can create a much better mystery in the past than in the present. I think the opposite is true, which the present is not a good arena for a few types of genres, mystery is not one of them. With our level of development, a much more complicated case can be presented and with a much more creative way to be solved. However, it is obvious that these authors were not really willing to put too much effort in a short story for an anthology. Their lack of initiative and interest is obvious by their sloppy plots. I haven't read anything by most of them, but I'm sure they put a lot more effort in their own stuff, because all of the stories in Manhattan Mayhem were made by a formula: a character with humble beginnings, a couple of sidekicks, you don't really get what's going on and by the time you do, the story is done and you are left with the feeling that all of the authors were in this for an easy buck. All of the stories that don't fit in this category, are somewhat worth reading, though not groundbreaking, just a little bit more bearable than the rest.
catladyreba's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this collection, it is fantastic. Often, when I read short story collections, I am disappointed in several of the offerings; however, I was pleasantly surprised with the strength of this compiliation. It definitely made me want to read more works from several of the featured authors.
melissasbookshelf's review against another edition
2.0
As a Mary Higgins Clark fan, I decided to read this mainly because I didn't read the fine print and realize it was a collection of short stories by numerous mystery writers and not another of her novels. My bad. I gave it 2 1/2 stars. There were several stories I liked, but some not so much. Most are fun and entertaining, but because they were so short, they just didn't have the same impact that a full length mystery has with the twists and turns and character development. My favorites were: The Five Dollar Dress, Three Little Words, Damage Control, Red-Headed Stepchild, Chin Yong-Yun Makes a Shiddach, and The Baker of Bleecker St. If anything, I liked being introduced to some new mystery writers and might pick up some of their books.