Knife Edge: An Anthology of Crime, Thriller, Mystery and Suspense Stories

By Jim Williams, Ruby Barnes, Mike Berlin and 20 more

An anthology of twenty-five crime, thriller, mystery and suspense stories from twenty-three authors, including Booker prize nominated Jim Williams. All profits to Booktrust.org.uk.

This global collection of short stories from 500 to 4000 words covers everything from cosy mystery to urban noir, gumshoe and classic crime.

Contents

The Hôtel Des Mutilées by Jim Williams – When beauty is more than skin-deep.

The Problem with the Tub by Mike Berlin – Will leave you with a fear of bathroom renovations.

Supermarket Sweep by Kim Fleet – Takes express shopping to a new level.

The Night Bus by Eric Tomlinson – This story of betrayal cuts to the core.

Herbal Remedy by Grace Fallon – A revealing monologue

Love is a Cheesy Ringtone by Eileen Condon – Heartbreaking testimony to the fickle nature of man.

A Rottweiler for Christmas by Dennis Thompson – Breakfast time explodes into murderous action.

The Standoff by Gerry McCullough – A moral story that one bad turn deserves another.

The Leaving of Liverpool by Debbie Bennett – Gritty scouser misadventure.

Mummy’s Watching by Eric Tomlinson – The past is sometimes best left behind.

Trouble Man by John Holland – No man can refuse this bait.

Accidents will Happen by Judy Binning – Choose your accomplices carefully.

The Twenty-Seven Steps by Pat Griffin – The caretaker should take care.

The Meat in the Sandwich by JJ Toner – Classical gumshoe with carefully woven humour.

Cooking Up Crime by Harriet Steel – A tasty take on the future of crime.

Soft Eyes by Anthony Farmer – Revenge delivered double-espresso style.

Story of a Dove by Tom Rhoyd – A heart-wrenching story of collateral damage.

Divine Intervention by Maura Barrett – When your world comes crashing down.

Diary of a Primary School Teacher by Kathy Dunne – This sort of school absence requires a special note.

If The Truth Be Told by Diana Collins – Sometimes the truth will out.

Going Equipped by Damon King – A sting in the twisted tail.

Connie and Liz by Janet Wadsworth – Carefully planned crime undone by a cat.

A Friend Indeed by Mike Berlin – Cleverly snatched from the jaws of destiny.

In the Soup by Stewart Lowe – Unexpected guests end up in the soup.

Vendetta by Ruby Barnes – Choose your housemates with care.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marble City Publishing
• Release date: May 30, 2013
• ISBN: 9781908943279

Jim Williams

Jim Williams, who worked for Linear Technology for nearly three decades, was a talented and prolific circuit designer and author in the field of analog electronics until his untimely passing in 2011. In nearly 30 years with Linear, he had the unique role of staff scientist with interests spanning product definition, development and support. Before joining Linear Technology in 1982, Williams worked in National Semiconductor’s Linear Integrated Circuits Group for three years. Williams was a legendary circuit designer, problem solver, mentor and writer with writings published as Linear application notes and EDN magazine articles. In addition, he was writer/editor of four books. Williams was named Innovator of the Year by EDN magazine in 1992, elected to Electronic Design Hall of Fame in 2002, and was honored posthumously by EDN and EE Times in 2012 as the first recipient of the Jim Williams Contributor of the Year Award.

Reviews for Knife Edge

[ulfhjorr · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Knife Edge is an anthology of 25 stories, mostly in the crime/mystery genre. Readers who enjoy British writing will likely be at home with this collection.Personally, I found the stories too short (averaging no more than 8 pages each) to really get into and enjoy. My personal stand-out in the collection was the first story: "The Hotel Des Mutilees" by Jim Williams.

[campingmomma · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was fantastic! Full of hard hitting murder, fast paced crime and more. With the exception of a couple of stories that just left you scratching your head or wanting more most of the stories finished up neatly with a solid conclusion. The only thing that really bothered me about the book were how short some of the anthologies were. I really got in to some of the stories only to find they were over. I took notes of all of the stories as I wanted to maybe do a more completely review, but space is a consideration here, so I will review only a few.Supermarket Sweep... Kim Fleet... A great read. It was the shortest story up to that point, but once I had an idea what was happening I stopped reading it twice(!)just to make it last longer. Fast paced, easy to read, enjoyable and wrapped up nicely at the end.Mummy's Watching...Eric Tomlingon... I DID NOT see this one coming. What a great story! The tale of a daughter searching for her birthmother and what can happen when you think you've found what you're looking for.And lastly, Cooking Up Crime...Harriet Steel... As a library employee I was intrigued by this story where books are highly illegal and cookbooks are considered food porn! This is a germ free future, hence the reason books are outlawed, especially books from a public library b/c everyone touches them. What will happen when a librarian finds a book of food porn in the library? One can only guess.Read this book! I took it on vacation and it was perfect for a quick read or a little longer stretch. The variety of authors characters and stories were bountiful. Something for everyone.

[tbrennan1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A lovely collection of 25 crime and suspense stories with some neat twists. Good read and all the authors must be congratulated on their tales.

[grandmacootie · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book. It's an easy read, and the 25 short (sometimes very short) stories are perfect for the beach, the doctor's office, or when you just don't feel like reading a long book. I used a rating of excellent, good, fair and poor for each story. I was concerned when the first story was confusingly symbolic and a bit pretentious and the next couple of stories were okay but not good enough to make me want to read more from the author. It picked up quickly, though, and by the end I thought almost half the stories were excellent. There was a wide variety in the subject manner and style, but those stories I enjoyed the most had good, crisp writing, were edgy, rough, fast-paced, suspenseful, appropriately gruesome, scary or evil, and satisfying. Most of the endings were predictable but it worked. Many of the stories reminded me of authors I enjoy but the way it was done it worked as well.(My 12 favorites were: The Night Bus; Herbal Remedy; A Rottweiler for Christmas; The Standoff; The Leaving of Liverpool; Mummy's Watching; Trouble Man; Accidents Will Happen; Twenty-Seven Steps; Going Equipped; Connie and Liz; A Friend Indeed)The 6 stories in the middle two categories (good and fair) were enjoyable and had potential, just didn't love them like I did my 12 favorites. The stories just didn't quite satisfy.I found almost a third (7 of 25) of the stories to be "poor" in my rating scale (1 star?) and they distracted from my overall enjoyment of the book for a variety of reasons: the story just didn't make sense, the ending was too predictable or just dropped off, it seemed the author was trying to copy another' author's style and couldn't make it work, or the writing was just a bit more amateurish and awkward.

[saretta7l · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Letto per il programma Early reviewers di Librarything.Raccolta di storie principalmente giallo-thriller, brevi e con finale a sorpresa.Le storie non sono tutte allo stesso livello e in molti casi la soluzione è facilmente intuibile, in ogni caso è una lettura carina e poco impegnativa.Una menzione in dis-onore va fatta per "Soft Eyes", tragicamente ambientato in Italia e quindi ricco di luoghi comuni e errori di varia natura.La triste verità è che il personaggio palermitano ordina incessantemente caffè americani e che il racconto nel complesso sembra uno spot pubblicitario (Clio, gli "Amaretti Tradizionali").Le poche frasi in italiano fanno piangere "si, si, no, capisce", "occhi moribidi" e "naso grande" [oh cielo, ma perchè?], passino anche editing e ricerca inesistenti, certo è che la Manon è Lescaut e non Lescant come vorrebbe farci credere l'autore.---Read for the Early Reviewer program in Librarything.It's an anthology of mostly crime-thriller stories, short and with a surprise ending.The stories are qualitatively different and in some case the ending could be guessed quite easily.It's however a nice and easy read.A mention in dis-honor must be done for “soft eyes”, sadly set in Italy and so rich in errors and cliché.The most tragic truth is that one character, from Sicily, keeps on ordering American coffee (mostly unlikely); the whole story seems sometimes a tv spot (the Clio, the “Amaretti tradizionali”).The few Italian phrases are awful and contains orthographical errors: "si, si, no, capisce", "occhi moribidi" e "naso grande". I may overlook the poor editing and research but I can’t the fact that the Manon is Lescaut and not Lescant as the author states.