Summer is a perfect season for cross-country traveling and light reading. Map of Murder, an anthology of short murder mysteries taking place around the United States, gives you both in one package.
Domestic disputes are at the crux of some of the best stories in the collection. Though these stories were meant to entertain, I wonder if they also are meant to discuss the anxiety over relationships and family. "Death at the Dumpster" by Suzanne Flaig is a sinister tale about a philanderer caught between a few women in Pennsylvania who lands in a death trap. "The Ideal Wife" by Susan Budavari warns women about the peril of marrying mama's boys. And "The Murder Cache" by Beth Groundwater speaks of the danger of using a child as a pawn to get back at a spouse in a broken marriage.
Other stories draw you into a different kind of terror. "The Couteau Chooses" by Dean Wagner and Debi McKay places you in the middle of a standoff between a voodoo priestess and the Loa (voodoo spirits). And we are terrorized by a psychotic miner who has an eye for victims in "The Mystery of Fire Opal Mine" by R.L. Coffield. While these whodunits weave tales of fear and deceit, they also give us a small taste of the state where they reside. We get to travel to a Louisiana bayou, the Arizona desert land, and the industrial landscape of Chicago. Prepare yourself-this is no ordinary vacation. If you are looking for suspense, surprises and a taste of the macabre, your ride awaits.
- Jesmia Avery