Transgressions Vol. 1 edited by Ed McBain

Includes novelas by Merely Hate by Ed McBain, Hostages by Anne Perry, Walking Around with Money by Donald E. Westlake, Forever by Jeffrey Deaver and Resurrection Man by Sharyn McCrumb.

MERELY HATE, was part of the 87th Precinct. It is post 9/11 in Isola, and the detectives are called to investigate the murder of a Muslim cab driver. As usual it isn't a cut and dry serial killer. I was surprised by who the murder ended up being.

WALKING AROUND MONEY focuses on the bumbling crook John Dortmunder. Typical Dortmunder, makes me laugh out loud!

HOSTAGES, in which the head of the Protestant cause in Ireland refuses to step down for a more moderate leader, even when he and his family are taken hostage by men who will stop at nothing, even murder, to have their politics accepted. It was a good story especially the ending.

FOREVER, introduces Tal Simms, a mathematician/statistician working for Westbrook County Sheriff's Department. Simms is considered a "computer geek" by the rest of the detective squad, especially homicide detective Greg "Bear" LaTour. Simms and his eventual partner LaTour are confronted with several suspicious suicides. Older rich couples are killing themselves under dubious circumstances. In most respects, the underdog character Simms is every bit as likable as Lincoln Rhymes.

RESURRECTION MAN tells the tale of a slave who is purchased to be a grave robber for a medical college in the South just a few years before the Civil War. At first it was my least favorite story but by the time I got used to her mixing the past and present together I was ready for more. I haven't read much lately by Sharyn McCrumb so need to start up again. She has such a great storytelling voice.

FOREVER was the longest and I really enjoyed it the best. I actually wanted to hear this CD because of Westlake (I'm a big Dortmunder fan). It was good too.