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Imagine all your favorite mystery writers sitting in a restaurant and talking about their novels and short stories, while discussing what problems they're having with their current works. The Adams Round Table group is just that. The first Tuesday of every month Lawrence Block, Mary Higgins Clark, Peter Straub, Susan Isaacs and eight other writers, can be found in their favorite Manhattan restaurant talking about their writing. This has been going on for fifteen years. What came from this gathering is six mystery collections of short stories called The Adam's Round Table; MURDER IN THE FAMILY is the latest in the series. What a joy to read "A Moment Of Wrong Thinking" by Lawrence Block. Although Block never has the narrator mention who he is, those who know Block's books will recognize the protagonist as Matthew Scudder, the lead character in his very poplar series of mystery books. Matthew tells us about a murder he investigated years before where a woman's husband committed suicide because he was depressed. But the question that remains is: did the husband actually commit suicide or was it really murder? Joyce Harrington's story takes us back to the early 1900s. "In The Merry Month Of Mayhem" a retarded 30 year old is accused of shooting his mother. The author takes us on a wonderful tour of 1900 New York City, complete with all the tunnels that lead from house to house. Ms. Harrington also shows us what the police were like at the beginning of the last century. Susan Issacs kept me laughing in "My Cousin Rachel's Uncle Murray" which takes the reader inside the diamond buying trade and shows us how murder is never far from the family business. Justin Scott contributed the cute "Cat In Love." In this story we meet talking animals on a farm where murder in the family doesn't escape them either. In "Hole In The Head" by Whitley Strieber, a man is shot in the head and murdered by his wife. His spirit sticks around for a bit and soon he is able to understand why his wife killed him and also discovers all the other people who were involved with his murder. He also receives a visit and a warning from his dead father. There's nothing like a good anthology of short stories to introduce you to new and spectacular writers. The best part of MURDER IN THE FAMILY is that I got to read some stories from a number of my favorite authors. MURDER IN THE FAMILY is not to be missed. This book makes me want to read all of the previous five Adams's Round Table books. I'm certain that are equally as good as this latest in the series.
Reviewed by Sharon Katz, August 2002
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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