Midnight Hour: A chilling anthology of crime fiction from 20 authors of color

by Abby Vandiver

A 2022 ANTHONY AWARD NOMINEE for Best Anthology

From a simple robbery gone horribly wrong to a grisly murder in a secret love dungeon, this stellar collection of crime fiction short stories showcases some of today's finest voices of color.

Edited by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Abby L. Vandiver, this thrilling anthology will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Welcome to Midnight Hour...

Jennifer Chow: "Midnight Escapade"
After years of silence, two women decide to meet up in a unique escape room but get trapped in a deadly game from which there may be no escape.

Tracy Clark: "Lucky Thirteen"
A gun. A last meal. And only one survivor. Sometimes the stars align--but only for the lucky one--as predator and prey come face-to-face one fateful New Year's Eve.

H. C. Chan: "Murderers' Feast"
Techpreneur John Manley left a trail of duped investors and damaged women in his wake. What happens when two hundred of his closest enemies gather for a five-day gourmet retreat?

Christopher Chambers: "In the Matter of Mabel and Bobby Jefferson"
It's almost midnight, it's snowing, and a bored call center worker catches a customer inquiry that smells of murder. Is he a knight rescuing the intended victim or someone else's pawn?

Plus, stories by Richie Narvaez, Frankie Bailey, E. A. Aymar, Faye Snowden, Tina Kashian, and many more.

• ISBN10: 1643857525
• ISBN13: 9781643857527
• Publish Date: 9 November 2021
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Crooked Lane Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781643857527

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Midnight Hour is a well curated anthology of crime fiction and light horror curated and edited by Abby L. Vandiver. Released 9th Nov 2021 by Crooked Lane Books, it's 336 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a nice collection of varied short crime and light horror fiction from 2021 and all are by authors of color. There are several nominees here from mystery and crime awards such as the Edgar from the MWA (2 stories).

The stories are varied, there were (as always) some which didn't grab me personally, but all were well written and competently plotted. They were mostly in the 4 star range(ish) with a smattering of really standout stories. This is a well curated solid anthology of stories in the 3-5 star range. There are 20 stories in the anthology and all are previously unpublished fiction from very well known and some new-to-me authors. It shouldn't be noteworthy, but it is; not only are these authors all persons of color, but women are heavily represented here as well (16/20 by my count).

One reason I prefer collections and anthologies is that short fiction is really challenging. It's spare and the author doesn't have a wealth of wordage to develop characters or the plotting. Well written short fiction is a delight. I also love collections because if one story doesn't really grab me, there's another story just a few pages away. I can only recall a few times where I've read a collection (or anthology) straight through from cover to cover as I did this one.

Four stars on average. It's a diverting read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.