Music of the Night : the Crime Writers' Association Anthology, edited by Martin Edwards #BookReview #BlogTour

 

Music of the Night is a new anthology of original short stories contributed by Crime Writers' Association (CWA) members and edited by Martin Edwards, with music as the connecting theme. The aim, as always, is to produce a book which is representative both of the genre and the membership of the world’s premier crime writing association.

The CWA has published anthologies of members’ stories in most years since 1956, with Martin Edwards as editor for over 25 years, during which time the anthologies have yielded many award-winning and nominated stories by writers such as Ian Rankin, Reginald Hill, Lawrence Block, and Edward D. Hoch.

Stories by long-standing authors and stellar names sit alongside contributions from relative newcomers, authors from overseas, and members whose work haven’t appeared in a CWA anthology before.

It's such a pleasure to be reviewing Music of the Night: the Crime Writers Association Anthology for the Random Things Blog Tour today. Many thanks to Anne Cater from Random Things Tours and Flame Tree Press for my digital copy of the novel.

Two of the greatest pleasures of love; arguably perhaps two of the greatest necessities are music and literature so the theme of this most recent CWA anthology was a mouthwatering prospect. Music of the Night, expertly curated by Martin Edwards could be described as 'Now That's What I Call Crime Fiction' and while an eclectic mixtape of short stories, is definitely all thrillers and no fillers.

It's always tricky when reviewing an anthology to know whether it's best to pick out a few choice stories that particularly stood out, to give a general overview of the collection without going into specific details about any of the titles or to say something about all of them. After much deliberation, I've decided to briefly share my thoughts about each of the stories, in the order in which they appear in the anthology.

Abi Silver – Be Prepared

Having thoroughly enjoyed a couple of Abi Silver's excellent Burton and Lamb legal thrillers, this opening story set at a joint guide and scout camp in the early 80s might be a departure from that contemporary series but proves to be no less hard-hitting. The sense of menace as those present sing songs and perform skits around the ubiquitous camp fire builds gradually as it becomes increasingly clear that something terrible is going to happen. With a witty yet dark sense of time and place and a fabulous conclusion, Be Prepared is a superb opener.

Alison Joseph – A Sharp Thorn

A Sharp Thorn is an intriguing mystery and a wonderful example of how to write a short story that feels like a novel. Emma Collett receives a puzzling phone call from a care home in Cornwall because a dying man called Robert Sinclair wishes to see her. She has no idea who he is but this obviously isn't a case of mistaken identity. The truth involves a vintage harpsichord and a chilling, long-kept secret

Andrew Taylor – Wrong Notes

This twisty little historical mystery finds a young cub reporter sent to cover a concert at girls' school but the story turns out to be rather more exciting when a murder takes place during the performance. Full of red herrings and with an excellent sense of place, how the murderer is uncovered is hugely satisfying. 

Antony M. Brown – The Melody of Murder

Another story set in the 80s, The Melody of the Murder captures the period beautifully, from the headlines about the Falklands War to the mentions of Wogan and the upcoming World Cup in Spain. The case at the heart of the investigation would easily grace a full-length novel so it's to Antony M. Brown's credit that I wasn't left feeling short-changed. A serial killer has been staging his victims to look like the covers of albums and leaving clues as to his next murder - which proves to be especially macabre...

Art Taylor – Love Me or Leave Me

One of the most terrifying stories in the collection; Love Me or Leave Me finds Garrett increasingly tormented by music that only he can hear. Later revelations suggest something dark happened in his past and this fragmented, disturbing tale echoes his tortured mind. The open ending of this one is wonderfully ominous.

Brian Price – The Scent of an Ending

No crime fiction anthology would be complete without a locked room mystery. This story about Keith, a collector of vintage records who dies while ensconced in his soundproofed haven is a satisfyingly perplexing puzzle, featuring a cunning murder, an intriguing cast of suspects, some dogged police work and a cleverly worked dénouement. 

Cath Staincliffe – Mix Tape

This is one of the shortest stories in the collection but provides perhaps the longest playlist with some great songs included on the mix tape of the title. Short but definitely not sweet, the black humour of the final song mentioned concludes this shocking tale of love gone wrong perfectly.

Catherine Aird – The Last Green Bottle

The Last Green Bottle is an absorbing detective story featuring Sloan and Crosby from Catherine Aird's Callenshire Chronicles, with an English village setting we perhaps most associate with cosy crime fiction.  After DI Sloan and DC Crosby receive a mysterious phone call informing them of a murder but with no body and little evidence, they have to uncover how the clues linked to 'Ten Green Bottles' are connected to a cold case. 

Chris Simms – Taxi

Underlining the wonderful breadth of crime fiction perfectly, Taxi follows the cosy crime mystery of The Last Green Bottle with a modern, gritty story about a serial killer who targets young women. Told partly from the killer's narrative and partly from the perspective of his next potential victim, this is a grim, tense story where the murderer's choice of music provides a chilling soundtrack to his crimes.

Christine Poulson – Some Other Dracula

Despite the title, this isn't horror crime fiction so much as a closed circle mystery with a setting at an upmarket party that would grace a Golden Age detective novel. With the guests in Halloween themed fancy dress, the murderer might have the perfect disguise in this atmospheric, rather witty story.

David Stuart Davies – Violin – CE

Another of the shorter stories but no less unsettling for that; Violin is a chilling tale of obsession and covetousness. Written entirely in dialogue, it's a wonderful example of how short stories allow authors to play around with form, with a pitch-perfect conclusion.

Dea Parkin – The Sound and the Fury

If music hath charms to soothe the savage beast, it can also rouse emotions to fever pitch as we discover here when a woman makes a furious journey to her lover's house accompanied by her 'Murder at Midnight' playlist. It's a brutal tale of jealousy and possession, with the lyrics to her favourite song punctuating her increasingly frenzied house call. 

Jason Monaghan – A Vulture Sang in Berkeley Square

The title to this one obviously brings to mind the famous wartime song but set just after the end of the war, A Vulture Sang in Berkeley Square is a chilling story about exchanging secrets. Unlike the often rose-tinted nostalgia about this period, Jason Monaghan explores a bleaker, more honest reality where opportunism flourished alongside the more celebrated attributes of the time. The two men in the story might seem to lead very different lives but it turns out they may not be quite so different after all...

Kate Ellis – Not a Note

Not a Note is a twisted tale about overbearing parents, thwarted ambitions and dark revenge. Narrated by young Hester, who is forced to attend piano lessons by her controlling mother, she bears witness to murder shortly after the country celebrates the Coronation. Superbly evocative of the time, this is an undoubtedly chilling story with a nuanced conclusion that left me with some sympathy for the guilty too.

L.C. Tyler – His Greatest Hit

His Greatest Hit perhaps takes the brief to this anthology most literally, with a story that is structured rather like a song, with verses, bridges and a repeating chorus. Set at a funeral for a one-time pop star attended by crime writer, Ethelred Tressider and his literary agent, Elsie Thirkettle from L.C. Tyler's Herring comic crime series, it cleverly reveals the truth not to the death that led to this burial but to a murder driven by passion, jealousy and blackmail.

Leo McNeir – Requiem

Another of the stories in the anthology that give readers a tempting taster of the author's characters from their series, Requiem finds Marnie and Ralph from his long-running Marnie Walker books taking a few days away from it all on a trip along the Grand Union Canal. When they hear noises from a nearby church, they go exploring; with Mozart's Lacrimosa as a sad backdrop to a recent unsolved murderer, they may come closer to the killer than they realise. These aren't characters I'm familiar with but this beautifully descriptive story has left me wanting to know more.

Martin Edwards – The Crazy Cries of Love

A sad tale of loneliness after bereavement or a dark story about love turning sour? The Crazy Cries of Love could be described as both and is a creepy, complex exploration of voyeurism and guilt. Twisted, shocking and very clever.

Maxim Jakubowski – Waiting for Cornelia

Fiction echoes real life in the most unsettling way here as the narrator, a crime author and music journalist accidentally realises that the deaths of real-life celebrities might not be the tragic accidents or sad losses to illness they were reported as. A biting satire about the opportunistic commodification of musicians following their death, it's fiction that had me almost believing it was real. The conclusion is deliciously dark too.

Neil Daws – The Watch Room

Sibling rivalry taken to its most sinister extreme here as two brothers, one woman and a brooding, isolated setting lead to an atmospheric tale of bitter revenge. The music theme is perhaps at its loosest here, with one of the brothers' fiddle playing merely helping to build characterisation but it's an affecting, haunting tragedy that could easily form the basis of a traditional murder ballad

Paul Charles – The Ghosts of Peace

The Ghosts of Peace is another story that introduced me to a recurring character and I've made a note that I need to read more about DI Kennedy soon. The seemingly impossible murder of a man at a gig in a Camden theatre allows Paul Charles to explore the bitter history and rivalries of a band and provides Kennedy with red herrings and a cleverly worked reveal.

Paul Gitsham – No More ‘I Love You’s’

Annie Lennox isn't just the soundtrack to this story but I'll leave you to discover how one of her songs turns out to be an important clue. Paul Gitsham is the author of the DCI Warren Jones books and this perfectly scaled down mystery is exactly what I'm looking for in a police procedural. It's a really cleverly constructed detective story that belies its short nature. If it's not already obvious, this anthology is seriously adding to my tbr mountain!

Peter Lovesey – And the Band Played On

Arguably the most poignant story in the collection, And the Band Played On takes its title from the old music hall number that memorably features in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train. An old man with a dark past featuring gangsters, murder and love, this is a beautifully observed, empathetic short story with a surprising twist. 

Ragnar Jónasson – 4x3

There's nobody better than Ragnar Jónasson at creating a terrifying oppressive sense of claustrophobia and this short, simple story is the perfect example of the way he develops a chilling atmosphere. We are instructed to listen to 4'33" by John Cage while reading the story; why will soon become clear. At just a few pages long, this might be short but it turns out to be the stuff of nightmares (mine at least!)

Shawn Reilly Simmons – A Death in Four Parts

Mendoza is the archetypal tortured musician in A Death in Four Parts. Now down on his luck having been unable to replicate his early success, he has a deadline to meet and resents the interruptions from his neighbours. He eventually rediscovers his muse but this engrossing, bloody tale has another twist before the conclusion. An acerbically cynical look at ambition and talent, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Vaseem Khan – Bombay Blues 

Persia Wadia makes a welcome appearance to conclude this fabulous anthology as she investigates the puzzling murder of a well-known jazz musician. The protagonist of the Malabar House series has to figure out which of her suspects was responsible for killing a man when they could all have a motive. As always, Vaseem Khan's sense of place is sublime and this engrossing story explores the more unglamorous side of the jazz scene and the changing, tumultuous social conditions of the still newly independent India.

I loved seeing how each of the authors met the 'Music of the Night' brief; some based their plot on music, others used it more subtly but every story in this outstanding anthology deserves its place here. I thought it was wonderful and highly recommend it.

Music of the Night : the Crime Writers' Association Anthology, edited by Martin Edwards will be published by Flame Tree Publishing on 22nd February 2022. It can be purchased from their website, from Hive, Waterstones, Amazon or ordered from your favourite independent bookshop.

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About the Publishers

FLAME TREE PRESS is the imprint of long-standing independent Flame Tree Publishing, dedicated to full-length original fiction in the horror and suspense, science fiction & fantasy, and crime / mystery / thriller categories. The list brings together fantastic new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices. Learn more about Flame Tree Press at www.flametreepress.com and connect on social media @FlameTreePress.