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Mystery Writers of America Presents The Rich and the Dead ReviewThe premise of the original short story anthology THE RICH AND THE DEAD, commissioned by the venerable Mystery Writers of America organization, is a simple one: each story deals with a crime occasioned and/or motivated by great wealth --- either keeping it or acquiring it. The 20 stories selected by editor Nelson DeMille in turn demonstrate a collective wealth of talent and imagination, one that transcends the mystery genre. DeMille, possibly by accident but probably by design, balanced his selections almost equally by authors who are known to the reading public and those who should and will be. The result is a volume full of surprises, both expected and unexpected.
It is wonderfully and joyously difficult to pick one story in THE RICH AND THE DEAD over another. The best one? It's close, but I would have to give the nod to "The Pirate of Palm Beach" by Ted Bell. This tale of a gossip columnist crossing swords with a rakish and wealthy con man features unforgettable characters, laugh-out-loud dialogue, and more twists than you would expect in less than 30 pages. It has "Best Short Story" written all over it.
As will occur with the best of anthologies, my favorite keeps changing, but the nod would have to go to "Bling, Bling" by David DeLee, who, despite being a native New Yorker and living in New Hampshire, somehow captures my hometown of Columbus, Ohio, perfectly in this story about a wealthy but streetwise rapper who may be at the end of his game.
Every story has something to recommend it. Harley Jane Kozak's "Lamborghini Mommy" points up the painful differences between the rich and the super-rich. The story is quite wonderfully told through the voice of a divorced mom who --- horrors! --- has to work and must contend with a false murder rap on top of her fall from grace. The closing sentence of the story, by the way, is one of the best I have read in a long time. The venerable David Morrell is here as well with "The Controller," an instructive tale that teaches, among other things, the difference between a "bodyguard" and a "protective agent." It also features an interesting mystery, one with layers to it, wrapped in the trappings of a thriller.
Of course, when one thinks of a rich criminal these days, Bernie Madoff immediately comes to mind, and Twist Phelan comes up with an extremely well-done variation on that theme with "Happiness," an in-the-room look at what occurs as a family gathers one last time, among the spoils of ill-gotten gain, before their patriarch reports to prison. The author isn't the only twist associated with the story, as various members of the household jockey for positions while U.S. Marshals look on very carefully.
Not all of the stories deal with rich crooks, however, or at least entirely so. Jonathan Santlofer is represented with "Richie and the Rich Bitch," in which the Richie of the tale is a thief for hire who gets ripped off after doing an art heist and decides to do some ripping back. "Richie," which is dark, gritty and has a surprise ending, reminds me of a celluloid feature that Alfred Hitchcock would have loved to direct.
I could keep going. Peter Blauner makes a most welcome return with "Thank God for Charlie," about a fading Hollywood actress who uses and is used. Carolyn Mullen's "Poetic Justice" is a very literary historical tale about a wealthy and abusive factory owner who gets his comeuppance, as does the reader. And I haven't even talked about the stories by Lee Child, Michael Connelly (a Harry Bosch tale, no less!), S. J. Rozan, Nelson DeMille, and a host of others whom I feel badly about failing to mention by name and deserve to be. What higher praise for THE RICH AND THE DEAD can I give than to tell you that you will be richer for having read it?
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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