Dolphin Junction

September 1, 2021
Herron brings his unexcelled skill for jaw-dropping twists to 11 short stories originally published between 2006 and 2019. Even the most conventional of these tales, the four stories starring private inquiry agent Zo� Boehm and sometimes her husband and partner, Joe Silvermann, are filled with delicious surprises. In "Mirror Images," a successful author hires the couple to exorcise the late boathouse owner who keeps popping up to remind him that he got an unimportant detail wrong. Joe's hired to deliver a blackmail payment for a wayward wife's porn video in "Proof of Love" and to rid his client of a stalker in "The Other Half." Widowed, Zo� turns briefly and hilariously to psychotherapy in "What We Do." The other seven stories more consistently showcase Herron's gift for aha revelations that don't just identify the culprit, but indicate that you've been looking at everything backward. A cuckold undertakes murderous vengeance in "Remote Control." A couple blithely indulge in idle deductions about a stranger as a kidnapped woman lies in a car trunk outside their rest stop in "Lost Luggage." In the title story, an abandoned husband insists in vain that his wife never would have signed her goodbye note with a nickname she detested. The uncharacteristically bright "The Usual Santas" recounts the attempts of eight department-store Santas to deal with the imposter who's infiltrated their ranks. Even lesser efforts "An American Fridge" and "The Last Dead Letter" catch you looking the wrong way. And in "All the Livelong Day," in some ways the most predictable of all these stories, a couple's hike turns into an authentic nightmare. Perfect for readers eager to have the wool pulled over their eyes again and again.

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Starred review from September 27, 2021
The 11 entries in British author Herron’s first story collection offer wit, original metaphors, surprising plots, and seemingly placid scenes full of sinister undercurrents. Highlights include the seamlessly constructed title story, in which a man can’t convince the police that his missing wife has been abducted, and the wonderfully deceptive “Lost Luggage,” in which a young couple stop at a motorway service station and engage in a bit of people watching. “All the Livelong Day” elegantly teases back layers of expectation that lead readers from a simple hike through dramatic countryside to claustrophobic horror. Four stories feature Herron’s Oxford private investigators, Zoë Boehm and Joe Silvermann. In one of them, “Proof of Love,” each of the detectives confronts—in their own very different ways—a blackmailer. The distant past of MI5 spymaster Jackson Lamb, another of Herron’s series characters, is poignantly explored in “The Last Dead Letter.” Herron (This Is What Happened), who has received CWA Gold and Steel Dagger awards, is sure to win new fans with this one. Agent: Juliet Burton, Juliet Burton Literary (U.K.).

Starred review from November 1, 2021
Herron, best known for his Jackson Lamb espionage series, is also a gifted short-story writer. His latest collection contains 11 outstanding tales that range from taut and terrifying to cleverly ironic and subtly humorous. In ""What We Do,"" PI Zoe Boehm, the lead in another Herron series, is featured in a slick tale about a pseudo-psychiatrist, a plot to recover a fortune, and a plan to administer justice--or at least, Zoe's idea of it. In the title story, another highlight, a husband aims to prove his wife has been unfaithful with his best friend; however, dark secrets from the past come back to haunt the husband, leading to a shocking ending. ""The Usual Santas"" is a very funny story about renegade Santas who decide to do something about the crass commercialism of Christmas. ""The Last Dead Letter"" features spy Jackson Lamb in a twisted and ironic game of espionage, betrayal, and blackmail during the Cold War. But perhaps the most haunting and nightmare-inducing story here is ""All the Livelong Day,"" in which an unhappy couple, hiking in remote mountains, makes a horrifying discovery. There's something for everyone in this diverse and satisfying collection.

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