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A review by ridgewaygirl
Cutting Edge: New Stories of Mystery and Crime by Women Writers by
5.0
This is a collection edited by Joyce Carol Oates and it shows. The collection is distinctly noir-tinged and the pieces focus largely on domestic situations or ones with a striking power imbalance. Oates has also assembled an impressive roster of authors here, from Edwidge Dandicat to Aimee Bender; there's no lack of talent on display.
There's an enormous variety to the pieces here. Most stories fit well into the crime genre, from Valerie Martin's Il Griffon, a classic noir about a young married woman living in an old apartment building in Rome; to Lisa Lim's bleak and unsettling illustrated domestic drama, The Hunger. There are also some pieces that sit outside traditional genre parameters, but fit beautifully with the themes of the collection, from Bernice McFadden's sharp-edged satire, OBF, Inc., to six poems by Margaret Atwood, to a creepily atmospheric story about a museum, An Early Specimen by Elizabeth McCracken.
This is a solid and well-conceived collection. Not a single author sent in a mediocre offering. But considering who was editing this collection, is that any surprise?
There's an enormous variety to the pieces here. Most stories fit well into the crime genre, from Valerie Martin's Il Griffon, a classic noir about a young married woman living in an old apartment building in Rome; to Lisa Lim's bleak and unsettling illustrated domestic drama, The Hunger. There are also some pieces that sit outside traditional genre parameters, but fit beautifully with the themes of the collection, from Bernice McFadden's sharp-edged satire, OBF, Inc., to six poems by Margaret Atwood, to a creepily atmospheric story about a museum, An Early Specimen by Elizabeth McCracken.
This is a solid and well-conceived collection. Not a single author sent in a mediocre offering. But considering who was editing this collection, is that any surprise?