One of my favorite stories in Murder Is My Business is Max Allan Collins’s “Guest Service” featuring his well known killer, Quarry. Quarry has semi-retired and is working as a manager at a resort. Circumstances eventuate that bring Quarry back to his killing ways.
My other favorite story is Lawrence Block’s “Keller on Horseback” where Block’s professional hit-man, Keller, is sent on an assignment to a small town in Wyoming. Keller doesn’t know who hired him to kill a popular, wealthy resident of the town. The assignment is fraught mystery and Keller makes some unusual decisions in this unconventional tale.
There are many solid stories in Murder Is My Business by a number of “name” writers. If you’re in the mood for murder, this book is the place to find it. GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION: MURDER WAS HIS BUSINESS By Max Allan Collins — 7
The bishop and the hit man / by Andrew Greeley — 13
The man who shot Trinity Valance / by Paul Bishop. — 29
With anchovies / by John Lutz — 47
Guest services / by Max Allan Collins — 65
The matchstick and the rubber band / by Lynn F. Myers, Jr. — 89
Hitback / by Wayne D. Dundee — 101
Undercover / by Carolyn Wheat — 125
Angel face / by Daniel Helpingstine — 141
Improvident excess / by Barry N. Malzberg –153
The king of horror / by Stephen Mertz — 165
A nice save / by Edward Wellen –183
Without a trace / by Warren Murphy — 187
Runner and the deathbringer / by Teri White — 211
The operation / by Henry Slesar — 223
Surrogate / by Ed Gorman — 235
Keller on horseback / by Lawrence Block — 245
Everybody’s watching me / by Mickey Spillane — 275
Great book. Great theme. Great line-up. Great stories. In addition to the Collins and the Block, I’m very fond of the Wellen and the Slesar, and it’s always hard to top Ed Gorman.
Jerry, you’re right about the line-up in MURDER IS MY BUSINESS. Excellent writers, excellent stories!
But only a B+? A few Not-Bads mixed in?
Todd, the overall quality of MURDER IS MY BUSINESS is good, but a couple of stories involved murder but not as a contracted hit. I took off a few points for that.
I’m pretty sure I read this one but it will have to wait until we get home on Saturday to make sure. Good writers.
Jeff, I occasionally run across these wonderful short story collections from the 1990s. With the new Millennium, this type of book became extinct.
Well, a few of these still happen, such as the Shirley Jackson and Cornell Woolrich tributes…but those are hung on marketable Names.
Todd, exactly! Unless Big Names are involved, this type of anthology is unmarketable.