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A review by nghia
The First Prehistoric Serial Killer and Other Stories by Teresa Solana
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.