Debra Goldstein is an author who can successfully write across many different tones: Light to Dark, and everything in between. My dear friend (and collaborator on the multi-award-winning short story “Ticket to Ride”) Dru Ann Love and I decided to celebrate the release of Debra’s new short story anthology with a different type of review. Dru Ann will present her musings on the lighter stories in the collection and I will review the darker stories–in line with our own brands and interests. Below you will find my thoughts about some of the stories included and you can follow this link to Dru’s Book Musings to get her thoughts on the lighter and cozier stories in the collection.
A selection of the darker stories in With Our Bellies Full and the Fire Dying:
“Pig Lickin’ Good” – In this story that was a Derringer Award finalist, Debra Goldstein uses the juxtaposition between the sweet cake recipe and the darker deeds surrounding it to maximum effect. Family dynamics play a huge role in this irresistibly entertaining story that resolves with a bit of a fairy tale moral at the conclusion.
“Violet Eyes” – This super short story–clocking in at less than 800 words–recounts the challenges of a new relationship when one partner has a highly stressful job. Authorial slight-of-hand keeps the reader disoriented, allowing the twist(s) to land successfully.
“The Night They Burned Ms. Dixie’s Down” – This Agatha and Anthony-nominated story is a short story I have always loved, so it was nice to revisit it in this collection. In the story, a young boy recounts his vantage point on an incident of arson, showing that as huge as the Civil Rights Movement was/is, it’s personal connections that give it so much power. I defy any reader to get to the conclusion of this story without feeling some real empathy.
“So Beautiful or So What” – Debra wrote this unforgettable”Bu story for an anthology in which each contribution used a song by Paul Simon as inspiration. The title of this current anthology–With Our Bellies Full and the Fire Dying–takes its name from a line in this story. Here, an undercover cop embedded in a homeless encampment discovers the humanity of the disenfranchised while he tries to solve the murders of three men.
“Bucket List Dreams” – One of the longer stories in this collection, this one presents a nice twist on a familiar plot: a spouse trying to hire someone to kill their partner. In this case, the wife of a boxed wine mogal hires a PI to do the deed, but nothing is as it seems in this delightful noir tale.
“Biff’s Place” – The narrator of this story looks back on moment they first became aware of Biff’s Place–a jazz/blues music club with an open door policy regardless of Race. Her Grand-Daddy knew the importance of music to bring folks together and convince them to stand up for what is right. She just wishes he’d been around to see what those lessons taught her–even the darker moments in her later life.
“This is Where I Buried My Wives” – This is my favorite story in the collection. A man and his new wife have a picnic lunch on the hill overlooking the graves of his previous wives. Readers will feel the tension in the air from the first sentence to the inevitable conclusion. This is a perfect example of how a dark tale can be told in non-graphic ways without losing any of the impact.
This is just a sampling of the excellent stories included in With Our Bellies Full and the Fire Dying. All fans of short crime fiction should include this book in their personal libraries. Find out more and order a copy direct from the publisher or from your favorite retailer.
Disclaimer: A print galley of this title was provided to BOLO Books by the publisher. No promotion was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.
