Publisher's Weekly Review
Bestseller Kellerman's hardcore fans will welcome this eclectic volume, whose 17 selections include two new tales about her series husband-and-wife team, LAPD Lt. Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus; two stories with family themes, one coauthored with Kellerman's two daughters ("The Luck of the Draw"); and a pair of autobiographical essays, one a poignant tribute to her late father ("The Summer of My Womanhood"). Kellerman's short stories may lack the intricate plotting of her novels (Stone Kiss, etc.), but a typical effort like the title story, in which Decker notices some things out of place when a friend dies of an apparent heart attack, is never less than entertaining. Brief comments at the start of each entry provide context. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
A Kellerman compendium, complete with the author's own self-indulgent introductions. If you've been pining for L.A. cop Peter Decker and his orthodox Jewish wife Rina to resurface as a detective team (Street Dreams, 2003, etc.), your book has arrived. The duo open this collection in a new story, "The Garden of Eden," in which they wend their way through a horticulture backdrop to decode a family inheritance. This is followed by an ensemble piece, "Open House," in which Pete and the gang at Homicide headquarters deal with one more dead body. Then the reprints begin, a couple of them featuring the pair ("Bull's-eye" and "A Woman of Mystery"), the rest standalone stories and essays. Kellerman gives her own children a chance to strut their stuff. Daughters Rachel and Ilana star in "The Luck of the Draw," a YA morality tale revolving around a winning lottery ticket, and son Jesse in "Mummy and Jack," a jaunt through the Ripper's Whitechapel. Kellerman concludes with two essays: "The Summer of My Womanhood" is a paean to her deli-owning father. Stronger and more crime-oriented is "Small Miracles," in which the author foolishly chases down the mugger who had the effrontery to challenge her mother and son. A double dose of Faye and her wonderful kids, though the absence of her husband Jonathan is sorely felt. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Kellerman may be best known for her Rina Lazarus-Peter Decker mysteries, but she's also written numerous short stories, 18 of which are collected in this rather varied anthology. Not all of the stories fall within Kellerman's usual crime beat. Luck of the Draw, for example, a collaboration between Kellerman and her daughters (at the time, 11 and 15), is a pleasant tale in which a sudden windfall causes a close-knit family to reassess its economic priorities. On the other hand, Mummy and Jack, which Kellerman wrote with her author-playwright son, Jesse, is a dark psychological thriller. Rina and Peter appear in several stories, and Kellerman includes a tale starring one of her first PI characters, Andrea Darling. Greed, dashed hopes, and boredom, occasionally leavened with a touch of humor, are the stuff of many others. A brief note about how each selection came to be heads each tale. --Stephanie Zvirin Copyright 2006 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Kellerman, author of the best-selling Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus series, demonstrates her command of the short story with this collection of 17 tales, nine of which were previously published. In "The Stalker," an abusive husband is his ex-wife's living nightmare. She can never get away-or can she? In the title story, Rina investigates a neighbor's death. With her son Jesse, Kellerman reinvents Jack the Ripper in "Mommy and Jack." (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
