J.G. Chayko

One of the many things I love about writing is reading the work of my peers and occasionally being asked to review it. It is a pleasure to review Crime Wave: Women of a Certain Age, the second anthology from the Canada West Chapter of Sisters in Crime.

This anthology is a delight to read. The stories are captivating, pulling the reader into each vivid world. We become involved with each character, whether they are plotting revenge, escaping death, or reconnecting with a long-lost love who has fallen on tough times. Crime Wave: Women of a Certain Age has something for everyone – from chasing criminals through India to solving murders in a corrupt nursing home; from hunting ghosts in a museum or meeting a clever housecleaning service that removes a little more than just dirt, the women in these stories are fierce, and sometimes fearsome, taking matters into their own hands.

This evocative collection of stories ranges from social commentary on the shortfalls of society to good clean sleuthing fun. Many of the settings in these stories are familiar to us, whether it’s a local town or city, or a memory lurking in our subconscious. We have walked on the same ground, and it is pure magic to see these stories come alive in the places we have travelled or stayed.

The stories are cleverly weaved reminding us that crime can be lurking anywhere, from skeletons in the closet (or perhaps the basement?) in Victoria to an allegedly cursed B&B in the charming Okanagan Valley. The narratives take us to the dark side and back. They transport us to forbidden places in the soul that both surprise and delight, make us laugh and make us shudder. They prompt us to question the actions we would (or wouldn’t) take in extraordinary circumstances.

Crime stories fascinate us. Is it because we are engrossed by the workings of the human psyche? Do we love solving the puzzle? Is it because we can live vicariously through certain danger without leaving the comfort of our couch? No matter why we love them, we are mesmerized by how far these women will go to find justice, exact revenge, or get down and dirty with a hands-on job.

Crime is not always what we think it is – there’s always more to the story and that’s what makes this anthology so remarkable. From R.M. Greenaway’s cloak of innocence in her story “Grace,” through to J.E. Barnard’s dramatic “Midsummer Day’s Dream,” these tales will hypnotize, fascinate, and pull you into their orbit, casting you as the investigator and digging a little deeper into the definition of crime.

Crime Wave: Women of a Certain Age is a perfect read for those cool autumn nights when the wind howls, the tree branches scratch against your window pane like fingernails and the raindrops strike the roof, drip-drip-dripping into the shadows of the gutters…so curl up in your favorite blanket and grab a hot cuppa, or something a little stronger, to ease the chills rolling down your spine as you dive into the realm of vengeance, justice and digging up the bones of the past.

This book will take you on an exhilarating journey where you will never underestimate any woman of a certain age.

Crime Wave: Women of a Certain Age will be released on October 19^th.

You can pre-order your copy here:  https://books2read.com/u/4DPKaP

It is also available on Amazon.