The Writer relates in the Introduction ‘Each short story in Mystery Montage derives from a brief experience that fired my imagination and unfolded into a plot.’

Titles include Under the Boardwalk, Maasai Mara Murder, The Downeaster, Funeral, Rap Sheet, Homeless, Who Killed Horatio T. Adams?, Breakthrough, In the Rouge, The Pool Room, Two Guides and a Girl and Pa and the Pigeon Man.

Under the Boardwalk, The Reader meets Ollie and his wife Millie.  It is Ollie’s seventy-fifth birthday weekend and he is fussing whilst sitting up to his neck in sand.  The narrative is one which includes a mislaid engagement ring, the headline on the front page of the newspaper Millie brought to read proclaims A Woman’s Body Found Under the Boardwalk , and a beagle on a tether are all part of the chronicle.  

You may find yourself misled into thinking the wrong player is the murderer.  Watch for red herrings! 

 Maasai Mara Murder, Reader’s learn of Saati, a cattle rancher with 2 wives, the umber soon to be 3.  

Nurisha, Saati’s first wife heard her sixteen-year-old son Barkai shriek as a lioness tattered his back. Sadly, his mother mourns his death.  His body will be placed away from the village where the hyenas can eat it.  

Kunda, the tribe’s expert tracker is also skilled in reading dirt.  A furtive foot print is located near the body.  Watch the red herrings!

The Downeaster, Janet Prescott has an exceedingly insistent, rather controlling male friend who is resolute in his desire that their relationship will be much more.  Red herrings abound.

Funeral, A letter begins ‘Dear Emma,’ and quickly The Reader is caught up in the sequence of letters and replies that follow.  Careful!  Not all is as it seems. 

Rap Sheet, Interstate 405, seven twenty-five in the morning, the account commences with bumper to bumper traffic; sounds like a characteristic morning in LA traffic to this misplaced Californian.   

What follows is a well written who dunnit with rap interspersed.  

Homeless, A homeless man sits on a wooden bench observing the streetlight change green to red, green to red on a typical windy San Francisco afternoon.  Two police cars arrive to block the intersection as the red turns to green.

Who Killed Horatio T. Adams?  Just before his head ruptured with agonizing pain; Horatio could scarcely believe his good fortune when told his father in law was prepared to advance him some money.

A couple standing on the lanai at the top story of a ‘rich people’s’ condo may have waved a greeting. 

Horatio’s wife soon find she has an unanticipated and very uninvited guest.  Before long she is entangled with bookies and others of the gambling world.

Breakthrough, Real estate agent, 32-year-old Jennifer Cranston dwells in San Francisco.  Her therapist proposed she keep a journal.  It has been ten days from the date Jake, her sweetheart, was slain and Jennifer lost her memory.  She has been out of the hospital for a week.

In the Rough, Stan Green, PI, mails a letter confirming ‘Red Sands’ suspicions; Red’s wife is having an affair.  Watch for red herrings along the way to the surprise ending!

The Pool Room, in addition to an answer machine, a hard-working spider, and a coastal home all figure in this mystery filled with trickery, FBI and a long-ago murder. 

Two Guides and a Girl, Spirit Guides, one a departed PI the other a Franciscan Friar have their hands full when their charge has been murdered, or has she?

Pa and the Pigeon Man, a man sitting at the bedside of his dying father recollects incidents concerning his father and an old Italian man named Pidge and a pigeon named Gray Wings.  A haunting narrative filled with anguish.

A full dozen accounts woven by an accomplished writer encompass a comprehensive diversity of mystery genre from whodunnit, to suspense, and much, much more. Writer Morin presents each chronicle with ability well honed.

Cunning story lines, shrewd cerebral twists, from time to time the offender does get away with the crime, enthralling characters, and sometimes the perpetrator is at last brought to justice many years later, in addition to, now and again, a tale that is just plain fun; are all part of the mix.

Morin has realized an accomplishment infrequently experienced; she manages to write each account in such inimitable manner it seems as though the collection might well have been penned by a dozen diverse writers each offering one of their specialties, instead of a single novelist and a dozen individually varied narratives, Well Done.

I don’t retain all books I accept for review, I like mysteries, particularly those that keep me guessing, Patricia Morin’s Mystery Montage A Collection of Short-Story Mysteries is one book I will be keeping.

I particularly relish these short tales, handy for removing from purse or brief case for a quick read while spending a quick break from the busy day at the office, or for lazing away a warm summer afternoon sitting in the front porch swing.

Happy to recommend for home library, public and high school library, as well as for gifting a mystery aficionado.  

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Reviewed by Molly Reviews  BOOKS     molly   martin

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Amazon   Biography

Besides writing short stories, novels, and plays, Pat is a psychotherapist with Masters in both Counseling Psychology and Clinical Social Work. Her first two short-story collections, Mystery Montage (2010) and Crime Montage (2012) were released by Top Publications Ltd., Dallas TX. Her short story "Homeless" was a Derringer and Anthony Award finalist, while "Pa and the Pigeon Man" was nominated for a Pushcart. Her third short-story collection, Confetti - A Collection of Cozy Crimes, was released in February 2014 and her fourth short-story mystery collection, Deadly Illusions, was released in December 2015. You can learn more about Pat and her writing by visiting her website: www.patricialmorin.com