Ever since I've been a child, I have held an affinity for short stories. Unfortunately, I have found more often or not, that I love the IDEA of short stories more than the narratives themselves, usually due to the author failing to capture my attention and interest in the span of a few pages. This was not the case with Laura Lippman's new collection of short stories, Seasonal Work, an incisive assortment of tales with a tantalizing true crime/noir vibe.
Seasonal Work is a collection without filler. Every story in this work is at the very least good, with some achieving paramount status in their ability to captivate and surprise. I would love to read a full-length novel of every single story in this collection, the plots are just that enrapturing.
This collection is divided into four parts, with each part containing three stories encompassing a theme - Baltimore, Women, Girls, and Marriage. Included in the collection are:
Seasonal Work: A teenage girl plays along with her stepfather's con, in which he temporarily moves the family to a new city every holiday season to fleece the citizens in funding their Christmas.
The Book Thing: Lippman's much-loved private investigator Tess Monaghan investigates the mysterious disappearance of books at a Baltimore bookstore.
The Everyday Housewife: Tess Monaghan's newlywed mother Judith Monaghan becomes suspicious of her neighbors while adjusting to married life.
Cougar: A mother grapples with the consequences of letting her adult son and his girlfriend live in her basement.
Snowflake Time: A news commentator in the vein of Bill O'Reilly navigates a multi-generational workplace while being accused of sexual harassment.
Tricks: A New Orleans con man invites his latest victim to the French Quarter for a weekend away before he swindles her of her fortune.
Ice: A young black girl dies playing on a frozen pond, and her tragedy is later paralleled in the life of another young girl.
The Last of Sheila Locke-Holmes: In this story inspired by Lippman's own life, a young girl obsessed with Harriet the Spy investigates her own parents' past.
Five Fires: A string of fires in a beach town puzzles its residents in an incendiary tale that could be ripped from the headlines.
Waco 1982: A privileged East Coast journalist learns just how different the news stories are spun in central Texas.
Slow Burner: A wife becomes suspicious of her husband after getting her hands on his burner phone.
Just One More: Set during the 2020 COVID lockdown, a couple plays with fire when they decide to make online dating profiles to see if they eventually match.
Quite reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's shorts, Seasonal Work will appeal to readers who love crafty tales of deceit.
- Brooke, Public Relations Librarian