overall a very good collection. the writing is generally excellent in these stories. many of them had plots that i didn't love, but the writing was almost always fantastic. i wasn't always interested in the violence (but then i maybe shouldn't have picked this up) but it was almost always done in a way that subverted the typical idea of who commits violent acts, or how. each of these stories and poems is about woman as actor and as the one with agency, not like you usually see in noir or crime fiction.

i was glad to read this, and to hear from some of these authors for the first time, and others after a long long hiatus.

favorites were too many lunatics by lucy taylor, please translate by edwidge danticat, o.b.f. inc by bernice l mcfadden, il grifone by valerie martin, and update on werewolves, the last poem by margaret atwood. and i loved the writing in thief by steph cha, fire town by aimee bender, while not loving either story, and would very much be interested in reading more elizabeth mccracken.

in particular, i thought danticat's way of telling the story (only through a series of voicemails, translated and transcribed) was innovative and interesting. lucy taylor had great voice and a nice twist of unreliability, with a sort of ambiguous ending (one of my favorite things). the tension and the writing were outstanding in valerie martin's piece, which probably would have been my favorite if not for bernice l mcfadden's. what awesome social commentary. i loved it.

the only story i didn't like was cassandra khaw's, but even that one i thought was really, really well written.

great collection.

an issue with the audio production of this book - there is no pause, literally none, between stories. it reads as if the title and author of the next story are the next sentence in the previous story. there is no reason they can't add a 5 second pause to the end of each story. let us breathe for a second before moving directly into the next author and story. ( )

A thoroughly entertaining anthology of fine stories! Particularly enjoyed stories by Solomon, Joyce, Lim, Martin, Llewellyn, Kohler, and Cha, but I didn't skip a one. ( )

This is a collection edited by Joyce Carol Oates and it shows. The collection is distinctly noir-tinged and the pieces focus largely on domestic situations or ones with a striking power imbalance. Oates has also assembled an impressive roster of authors here, from Edwidge Dandicat to Aimee Bender; there's no lack of talent on display.

There's an enormous variety to the pieces here. Most stories fit well into the crime genre, from Valerie Martin's Il Griffon, a classic noir about a young married woman living in an old apartment building in Rome; to Lisa Lim's bleak and unsettling illustrated domestic drama, The Hunger. There are also some pieces that sit outside traditional genre parameters, but fit beautifully with the themes of the collection, from Bernice McFadden's sharp-edged satire, OBF, Inc., to six poems by Margaret Atwood, to a creepily atmospheric story about a museum, An Early Specimen by Elizabeth McCracken.

This is a solid and well-conceived collection. Not a single author sent in a mediocre offering. But considering who was editing this collection, is that any surprise? ( )

Face it, the minute you put Joyce Carol Oates’ name as editor on a book, high expectations abound. And the idea of a collection of mystery and crime stories – noir – all written by women makes for an added draw.

Oh, how high expectations lead to great falls.

The collection starts out very nicely. Livia Llewellyn’s story about a young girl and her relationships with her friend and the friend’s father comes out slowly, eerily, and subtly. We think we know what is going on, but don’t want to be sure. The end is equally satisfying.

And therein ends anything worth mentioning. The remainder of the stories do not provide anything new, do not provide any real excitement, and do not even show a particular writing skill level that would evidence their inclusion in any collection. Even the final piece by Ms. Oates, while at least crafted well, does not really go anywhere – or, at least, anywhere worth going.

I cannot recommend this collection. It quite simply falls flat on all counts. ( )

I just couldn't relate to any of the stories in this book, which is unusual as mysteries are my favorite genre and I usually love books published by Akashic Books. ( )