REVIEWED BY BARRY GARDNER:


MAX ALLAN COLLINS & MICKEY SPILLANE, Editors – Murder Is My Business. Dutton, hardcover, 1994. Signet, paperback, 1995.

   I do wonder just a bit how large Spillane’s editorial contributions were. God, I’m cynical. Collins’ introduction sheds no light on the subject, though he assures us that he “chatted” with Spillane about it, and that “they” invited writers to submit. This is the first in a projected series of themed collections from Dutton, all with the Spillane imprimatur.

   I usually don’t do anthologies, but I liked the theme of this one — murder for hire — and it looked like it had a decent list of authors, though a few I hadn’t read before. There are 17 stories in all, 16 originals and a 1953 novella by Spillane written for but never published in Colliers, ranging in length from Edward Wellen’s 3-pager to Spillane’s 177.

   [A partial list of other authors: Paul Bishop, Lawrence Block, Collins, John Lutz, Stephen Mertz, Warren Murphy, Carolyn Wheat and Teri White.]

   I’m sure I’m not a good judge of shorter fiction, so take my opinions with a block or two of salt. I was not terribly impressed with the collection. There were a few good stories — Block’s tale of a melancholy killer, Carolyn Wheat’s offbeat story, John Lutz’s lighthearted tale of a retired cop, and Warren Murphy’s Trace story — a raft of so-so’s and a few that I thought were just really bad.

   One of these was by Daniel Helpingstine, and if you said “who he?”, well, so did I, but I won’t be trying to find out more. The Spillane novella was a blast from the past, with all the attendant faults and virtues. I don’t think it’s worth the money, and I like hired killer stories. Check it out of the library.

— Reprinted from Ah Sweet Mysteries #17, January 1995.