The author, who has written, among other things, nine books in the acclaimed Charlie Fox series, has now published in e-book form what is termed an “e-thology,” a collection of five short stories, and an excellent addition it surely is.
The first, “A Bridge Too Far,” is, appropriately enough, the very first short story ever written featuring the ex-Special Forces soldier turned self-defense expert/bodyguard, Charlotte [“Charlie”] Fox, whose background further includes teaching self-defense classes for women before ultimately working in “close protection.” The plot deals with members of a Dangerous Sports Club who engage in activities which justify its name. The action takes place on a morning in May in Lancashire, in the UK, described, in the author’s typically wonderful prose, as an hour when “the last of the dawn mist clung to the dips and hollows [of the valley], and was quiet enough to hear the world turning.” Lest this peaceful scene lull the reader, the tale concludes with a stunning ending.
The second story, “Postcards from Another Country,” was the second Charlie Fox short story, fittingly, and deals with Charlie’s employment by an old-money family, the titular country being “the world of the very wealthy.” Close protection in that milieu is more of a challenge than usual, as Charlie finds when she is hired after a failed murder attempt on the male head of the family, whose members have come to believe that money is the answer to everything.
The next tale, “Served Cold,” was nominated for the CWA Short Story Dagger Award in 2009. The only one in the collection where Charlie is not front and center, its protagonist is a waitress and stripper. In “Off Duty,” the fourth Charlie Fox short story, the incidents there recounted were originally intended for inclusion in the US edition of Book #6, “Second Shot,” but ultimately not used as such, and is a sort of lead-in to Book #7, “Third Strike.” “Truth and Lies,” the concluding piece, was written especially for this “e-thology.” The reader is treated to author notes prefacing each short story, giving insights into its origins, as well as bonus material at the end, with biographical details on the author and her masterful creation, Charlie Fox, all of which just makes the reader look forward to the next novel in the series [working title “Die Easy”] that much more. Highly recommended.
