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toniclark's review against another edition
4.0
Great fun. My guilty pleasure. I'm not much into the mystery genre, but these are so well written. I had some favorites. What are yours?
smawj's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent and essential compendium of 14 female mystery writers and their excellent works. Highly recommended.
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
5.0
This is a collection of stories edited by Sarah Weinman and written by the first female mystery authors writing for the pulp magazines from the early 1940s to the mid-1970s. Usually anthologies are a mixed bag, where a successful collection holds a few memorable gems and not to many lackluster entries. Here, every story has been carefully chosen and is the best of a very good author's output. Some of the authors included are Shirley Jackson, Patricia Highsmith, Vera Caspary and Dorothy B. Hughes. But Weinman also included authors who have been forgotten and the quality of these stories is also excellent. There's no question that, even back in the heyday of Dashiell Hammett and Ross MacDonald, these women authors could more than hold their own. I enjoyed finding new authors to hunt down and being reminded of old favorites. If you like noir, I highly recommend this collection.
mwgerard's review against another edition
5.0
My review:
https://mwgerard.com/review-troubled-daughters-twisted-wives/
https://mwgerard.com/review-troubled-daughters-twisted-wives/
gjmaupin's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
fishingbooksproceed's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
novelesque_life's review against another edition
4.0
4 STARS
(I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review).
Sarah Weinman collects romantic suspense short stories written by women in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
This collection of short stories caught my attention when I saw that Patricia Highsmith was included. This collection does not disappoint a true romantic suspense reader. Weinman includes brief writing history of each writer and why they were selected by her.
(I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review).
Sarah Weinman collects romantic suspense short stories written by women in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
This collection of short stories caught my attention when I saw that Patricia Highsmith was included. This collection does not disappoint a true romantic suspense reader. Weinman includes brief writing history of each writer and why they were selected by her.
simlish's review against another edition
4.0
Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives is a short story anthology around the theme of women's suspense writing, from the beginning of the genre. It's absolutely one of the best short story anthologies I've read. Most anthologies have trouble with widely variable quality between the short stories, and I come into them expecting that. This one, even the ones that didn't quite work for me were pretty good -- they failed on a level of "I didn't like the twist" rather than general weakness or failure of suspense. The ones that were really good were really damn good.
My favorite was probably "The Splintered Monday," about an older woman after the death of her sister. She's suspicious because everyone in the family is being too nice to her, and though she is no detective, she starts asking questions.
Also up there -- "Sugar and Spice," about the murder of an actor and the two cousins that had vied for his love, "Louisa, Please Come Home," a new-to-me Shirley Jackson about a runaway that decides to return home and finds her parents no longer recognize her, "The Heroine," the first published short story by Patricia Highsmith, about an au pair who wants so badly to prove her love for the children in her care that she manufactures situations to save them from, "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree," about a secretary who married her boss and the threatening phone calls she receives, and "The Stranger in the Car," about a family trying to preserve face after a daughter is drugged and set up for blackmail. Murder is involved, of course.
The blurbs about the authors were almost as interesting as the short stories themselves -- there were so many women at the forefront of domestic suspense writing that I had no idea about, and hearing their biographies was absolutely fascinating. The most interesting, to me, was Miriam Allen Deford, who published her first short story at 12 and was working disseminating information about birth control at 14 (in 1902!!). While her story, "Mortmain," was not my favorite in the collection, it was still very suspenseful and interesting and I absolutely want to pick up either more works by her or a full length biography.
I highly recommend Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives to anyone interested in the suspense or thriller genres!
My favorite was probably "The Splintered Monday," about an older woman after the death of her sister. She's suspicious because everyone in the family is being too nice to her, and though she is no detective, she starts asking questions.
Also up there -- "Sugar and Spice," about the murder of an actor and the two cousins that had vied for his love, "Louisa, Please Come Home," a new-to-me Shirley Jackson about a runaway that decides to return home and finds her parents no longer recognize her, "The Heroine," the first published short story by Patricia Highsmith, about an au pair who wants so badly to prove her love for the children in her care that she manufactures situations to save them from, "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree," about a secretary who married her boss and the threatening phone calls she receives, and "The Stranger in the Car," about a family trying to preserve face after a daughter is drugged and set up for blackmail. Murder is involved, of course.
The blurbs about the authors were almost as interesting as the short stories themselves -- there were so many women at the forefront of domestic suspense writing that I had no idea about, and hearing their biographies was absolutely fascinating. The most interesting, to me, was Miriam Allen Deford, who published her first short story at 12 and was working disseminating information about birth control at 14 (in 1902!!). While her story, "Mortmain," was not my favorite in the collection, it was still very suspenseful and interesting and I absolutely want to pick up either more works by her or a full length biography.
I highly recommend Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives to anyone interested in the suspense or thriller genres!
beautyfullperla's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5