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matt357's review against another edition
4.0
This is 2 short story collections in 1 book.
The first one is a really fun, silly set of wierd murders. A caveman detective (all the alibis are "I was asleep"), a vampire whos taking care of a rival (who's just a human banker) ect. These are fantastically inventive and great fun.
The second one is a series of connected stories around crime. These aren't all about criminals, but trying to spot the links is a bit of fun in a series of decent narratives, which have their own darkly comic moments too.
The first one is a really fun, silly set of wierd murders. A caveman detective (all the alibis are "I was asleep"), a vampire whos taking care of a rival (who's just a human banker) ect. These are fantastically inventive and great fun.
The second one is a series of connected stories around crime. These aren't all about criminals, but trying to spot the links is a bit of fun in a series of decent narratives, which have their own darkly comic moments too.
jesscoast's review against another edition
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I really enjoyed these bite sized, quirky, amusing horror stories. They each scratched the surface of the complex lives, emotions, intentions and absurd justifications of people on all sides of crime, death, and murder. The playful character portraits (including some supernatural cameos) lend a comic relief among the otherwise noir subject matter. The writing and translation were smooth and digestible, and created a fun and lighthearted world to immerse in, while anticipating what unfortunate fate the unsuspecting poor victim was about to face next. I appreciated the deconstruction of good/bad; traditional/modern; light/dark binaries and provides little unexpected twists throughout.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Murder
mochitofu's review
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
bookwrm526's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
tennilles's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
glenn_toto's review against another edition
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
nghia's review against another edition
4.0
This collection of modern noir-infused short stories, all set in the author's native Spain, was great. The only problem: this is really two separate collections and the first one was stronger than the second.
The first collection of short stories, "Blood, Guts, and Love", all take some kind of noirish trope but add in wit and turn up the gonzo to 11. The world's first serial killer among cavemen; a family of ghosts that decides to thwart a home-invasion-robbery-murder plot because they don't want to be stuck with that dreadfully boring family for all of eternity; a vampire who doesn't realize the townspeople's complaints about "bloodsucking vampires" is about a local banker and not a competitor muscling in on his turf.
The only weak story is "The Son in Law". It's perfectly fine, actually, but I've seen the same basic premise done in [b:Out|25365|Out|Natsuo Kirino|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386749063l/25365._SY75_.jpg|849266] (unassuming housewife needs to dispose of a body) and [b:An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good|40104741|An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good|Helene Tursten|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1526077553l/40104741._SX50_.jpg|62169561] (no one suspects the elderly lady could be a murderer) and a story like that relies a lot on the novelty.
This first collection is fantastic, five-star stuff.
The second collection of short stories, "Connections", is good but not great. These are (slightly) more run-of-the-mill crime scenarios, though still told with wit and a bit of a twist. They are all (very loosely) connected to another. But the connections are so loose I'm not sure they actually add much.
There are still a couple of gems. "I Detest Mozart" is the story of a woman who hates going to the opera so much she commits several murders to try to get out of it.
"Mansion with Sea Views" gives us a fairly sympathetic builder who discovers a corpse while remodeling a childhood friend's house; we find he has a shocking secret of his own that is mentioned almost casually, causing to question just how sympathetic we actually thought he was.
"Barcelona, Mon Amour" is about a translator whose specialises in mob-deals. When three mobs -- Catalan, Russian, and French -- need to do a large drug deal, she's called in to translate. (It doesn't go well.)
But even the best of these later stories felt like they were a notch below the first in their creativity and verve.
The first collection of short stories, "Blood, Guts, and Love", all take some kind of noirish trope but add in wit and turn up the gonzo to 11. The world's first serial killer among cavemen; a family of ghosts that decides to thwart a home-invasion-robbery-murder plot because they don't want to be stuck with that dreadfully boring family for all of eternity; a vampire who doesn't realize the townspeople's complaints about "bloodsucking vampires" is about a local banker and not a competitor muscling in on his turf.
I can’t complain. Today I’ve solved three murders and in one fell swoop invented prophecies, gods and oneiromancy.
The only weak story is "The Son in Law". It's perfectly fine, actually, but I've seen the same basic premise done in [b:Out|25365|Out|Natsuo Kirino|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386749063l/25365._SY75_.jpg|849266] (unassuming housewife needs to dispose of a body) and [b:An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good|40104741|An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good|Helene Tursten|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1526077553l/40104741._SX50_.jpg|62169561] (no one suspects the elderly lady could be a murderer) and a story like that relies a lot on the novelty.
This first collection is fantastic, five-star stuff.
The second collection of short stories, "Connections", is good but not great. These are (slightly) more run-of-the-mill crime scenarios, though still told with wit and a bit of a twist. They are all (very loosely) connected to another. But the connections are so loose I'm not sure they actually add much.
There are still a couple of gems. "I Detest Mozart" is the story of a woman who hates going to the opera so much she commits several murders to try to get out of it.
"Mansion with Sea Views" gives us a fairly sympathetic builder who discovers a corpse while remodeling a childhood friend's house; we find he has a shocking secret of his own that is mentioned almost casually, causing to question just how sympathetic we actually thought he was.
"Barcelona, Mon Amour" is about a translator whose specialises in mob-deals. When three mobs -- Catalan, Russian, and French -- need to do a large drug deal, she's called in to translate. (It doesn't go well.)
But even the best of these later stories felt like they were a notch below the first in their creativity and verve.
jeremyhornik's review against another edition
3.0
Daffy tales of murder and villainy with a satiric, absurdist bent. I liked the story of the woman who killed her relatives one by one so she wouldn’t have to go to the opera anymore.
amckiereads's review against another edition
4.0
This book was so much fun! I didn’t love the first, title, story, but the rest were incredible. These short stories, many of them interconnected, explore the dark side of Barcelona, and places the crime and grit and dark fully into the upper and middle class. Amusing and creepy. And just so much fun.