Rick Ollerman and an impressive group of writers have produced Blood Work, an anthology of crime and mystery stories in appreciation for Gary Shulze, owner of the ONCE UPON A CRIME bookstore in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Together with his wife, Pat, Gary helped dozens of writers by offering them a site for readings and promoting their books. When Gary died, the writers he helped decided to “give back” by producing this volume of short stories. The guidelines for the stories: they had to involve a book, or bookstore, or tuba (Gary played the tuba as part of a band that played concerts in the Twin Cities area).
In his Introduction, Rick Ollerman writes: “No one who is taking part in the writing or publishing of this book is making a penny from it. This is as true a labor of love as we can make it, with all the proceeds going to a charity that Pat says saved Gary’s life many times over. The beneficiary of this work is the Memorial Blood Centers of St. Paul, Minnesota…” This is the giving season so consider buying this book, enjoying the stories, and supporting the Memorial Blood Centers. I admire Rick and the other writers who contributed to this special project. Highly recommended! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction by Rick Ollerman 1
Lush–Duane Swierczynski 5
Undeliverable–Libby Fischer Hellmann 17
Seven Fiancees–David Housewright 29
House on the Mound–Randy Wayne White 43
Just Another Cold Case–William Kent Krueger
Ticket to Hell–Kristi Belcamino
Message from a Dead Man–Michael Allan Mallory 75
Melanie–Jen Conley
Faith–Stuart Neville
Tommy the Turtle and the Tuba–Michael A. Black
The Adventure of the First Problem–Jess Lourey 127
The Stolen Arm–Scott Adlerberg 147
The Shoe Tack–Reed Farrel Coleman 159
Return–Eric Beetner 167
Malta–Terrence McCauley 175
Unsafe–Lois Greiman 191
At the Laundromat–Nick Petrie 205
The Secret Adversary–Jessie Chandler 217
I’m With It: A Love Story–Gary R. Bush 231
The Case of the Missing Tuba–Michael Stanley 251
Tide Kings–Rick Ollerman 259
An Orchestral Caper–Don Bruns 277
The Last Customer–John Gaspard 293
The Dead Man Blues–Lissa Marie Redmond 303
The Truck Stop–Jenny Milchman 321
Backlit–Michael Bracken 343
The Funkafied Man–Gary Phillips 363
Moose Tracks–Dave Case 377
One for the Books–Austin Camacho 391
Subtle Notes–Case Younggren 397
sounds like a good cause and enjoyable stories. I”m guessing the best place to get it is the bookstore, which I hope is still open.
Maggie, Rick has made sure BLOOD WORK is available at multiple outlets. Well worth supporting!
Once Upon a Crime has copies that have been signed by many of the contributors. They’d be happy to ship copies out….
The Mysterious Bookshop in NYC does, as well, and BookPeople in Austin has a few. If you like signed copies….
Rick, you did a great job editing BLOOD WORK! The quality of the stories is high and there’s a wonderful variety revolving around the three themes. I can’t recall any other mystery stories that involve tubas!
Nice. I’d sure like to read the Krueger story.
I called to order 2 copies, but got a recording their website didn’t state hours. I left a message and will follow up when I get back from my errands today
thanks for the info
Thank you, George. The tuba thing was not a limiting factor in anyone’s story by anyone who chose to use one, especially in Reed Farrel Coleman’s story. I was a little bit surprised–and I shouldn’t have been–how deftly it was handled by those who did. Some really good stuff, I think. Thanks for the review….
Rick, it was a pleasure reading and reviewing BLOOD WORK. You did an outstanding job editing such a wonderful anthology for a great cause!
Thanks for making note of this collection! Glad you enjoyed the stories – I did too!
Nick, your story gave me a whole new appreciation of laundromats!
I just wanted to thank you for hyour kind words, George. This was a fun project and I am flattered to find my story in such impressive company. Anyone who reads this book will know what I mean. Crazy good stories!
Austin, your “One for the Books” was a delightful read! As you say, BLOOD WORK is full of good stories! It’s a tribute to you and your intrepid Editor that you’ve produced such a wonderful volume to honor Gary Shulze!
Thank you, George, for shining a light on BLOOD WORK. It was indeed a labor of love for Gary, and getting to read your thoughts on the blog is an honor for him and us all.
Jenny, I was happy to visit your Truck Stop! And keep on trucking’!