Precinct Murder by Word Play. An Anthology of Short Stories by local writers.

      Precinct Murder. An Anthology of Short Stories by local writers.

"We both saw it happen. It was like time stood still out in the street. For a brief second, which seemed like an hour, everything fell silent. Nothing moved. everything was dead."

The Fall Guy by Warren Kent opens dramatically with a naked man falling from the 5th floor of a hotel in New York to his death, watched by two off-duty officers enjoying an appetising Mexican meal and looking forward to a relaxing weekend. Change of plan. Mayhem. Cars piled up. Children screaming: "Within moments, blood had mixed with water to form a red river traversing the tarmac." Atmospheric. Meet the two detectives: Steve Byrne and his partner, Jesse Andrews.

Homicide? The victim had checked into this particular hotel every Friday afternoon under the name of Jones and was joined by a woman which lead the detectives into assuming that he was conducting a clandestine affair without his wife's knowledge. Intriguingly, there was some evidence that the hotel was being used as a brothel by others.

Room 514 had been the victim's room. On searching, Byrne couldn't find a suicide note, although a credit card showed the name of Joe Chisoro. Further investigation determined that Joe had employed Paul Mason as his therapist to quit smoking. Why had Joe phoned his wife every Friday afternoon for the past 3 months BUT failed to contact her the afternoon just before he died? Did he jump? Was he pushed? What really happened? That's what Byrne and Andrews must solve.

"Blue had been our colour, blue furniture, blue walls, a blue car. He shouldn't have bought her a blue scarf."

A Hint of Blue by Maggie Chapman focuses on a desolate location frequented by drug addicts, hanging out in back alleys with bodies found frequently. Death was usually drug-related. A 17 year old discovered the body on the way to work. The victim was Alison Blake who had been strangled with a curtain cord whilst she was wearing a blue scarf. She was well-liked so it seemed odd that someone would want to kill her. Detectives Michael Cicerello and his partner, Katy O'Neil interview her boss Lavine, Rick, her ex and Dan her current boyfriend who she had been dating for just over a year. "The law of averages says that it was someone she knew." Who was it and what was the motive? Jealousy? "Anyone could have killed her, she was easy to pick up." Another prostitute perhaps?

Mistaken Identities by Gerald R Wright begins with another murder, but a brutal one this time. The victim is barely recognisable, his injuries are so severe: a fractured skull, his left eyeball had been driven back into the cavity below the brain, with many broken bones and ruptured internal organs. He is described as a life-sized rag doll. Detectives Tex Nelson and Rico Morales discover the man  to be ex-boxer Jackson Pike, known as Jacko. Did he double cross someone or was he perhaps playing around with someone's wife? Or is there more to it than this?

 Is there a  connection between Pike and a thug of an ex-con, Peter Richards, convicted 17 years previously but discharged 2 years ago. Vicious, extremely dangerous, racist.

"Was it accidental death, suicide or murder? The daughter or the wicked stepmother?

Courting Justice by K.J.Rollinson begins with a suspicious death. The victim is Ken Marshall who had been seriously ill with hepatitis C and his liver was failing. He had been scheduled to have a liver transplant but had refused the operation because he wanted to die. He died from asphyxia following an anaphylaxis shock after being given penicillin which created an allergic reaction. Could Marshall have taken his own life because he was depressed? The poor devil choked to death whilst his wife, Francesca Marshall, better known as the alluring black widow, oozing sex appeal, slept on. His daughter, Cheryl Coates demanded a blood test because she accused her step-mother of deliberately killing him. We do know that there was conflict over his will and anger on Cheryl's behalf that Francesca would inherit 50%. She had argued with her father before his death and asked for a loan of money which he had refused. We have a conviction, a denial but the outcome isn't convincing. 30 years seems like an unfair sentence with insufficient evidence.

And there's more. My only problem with the short story genre is that the crimes are too easy to solve and the stories lack tension and suspense and you don't need to be a detective to work that one out! But readable and worth a try.

Publisher: Word Play Publishing.   ISBN: 1493727728 and 14-93727729.

REVIEW it by Carol Naylor.

COPYRIGHT 2014. Permission must be obtained from the writer of this article review before any of it is reproduced.