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Rating: 
Summary: No Real Sense of the City
Review: Having just moved to San Francisco, and being a fan of mysteries and crime novels, I figured this collection of thirteen short stories and excerpts would be a nice way to get to know my new surroundings. Unfortunately, only a few of the stories really attempt to evoke their setting, and on the whole, the book is a bit flat. Bill Pronzini's contribution is a tragic (and rather predictable) little story set in Glen Park and the Mission. Dashiell Hammet's 1928 Continental Op story, "Fly Paper" is the longest, and perhaps best fiction in the book. Hildegarde Teilhet's "Demon in the Belfry," which recounts a savage double murder that occurred in 1895 is interesting reportage, but pales next to Oscar Lewis' 1924 true crime article, "The Phosphorescent Bride." His retelling of a famous murder and legal battle is the most engrossing bit of writing in the collection. Joe Gores contributes an early story from 1966, in which two hipsters decide to go witness an execution at San Quentin for kicks. It's an effectively creepy story, but not as evocative of the city as one of his DKA stories (which are collected in the volume Stakeout on Page Street) would have been. The editors note that Jim Thompson's story "Ironside", is one of his few that has fallen out of print. However, after reading it here, one can understand why as it exhibits a few of the harsh sentences he excelled at, but none of the coherence. Scenes from the 1958 film Vertigo are included, and although one may concede that Alfred Hitchcock "made" the movie, it's nonetheless irritating that the actual authors of the screenplay which is being excerpted, Alec Coppel and Samuel Taylor, are buried. Ambrose Bierce's Poe-inspired ghost story is a decent inclusion, but Mark Twain's brief ghost piece is not. Marcia Muller's "Deceptions" is a so-so story set amidst the city's elite and the Golden Gate Bridge. The excerpt from Mabel Maney's "The Case of the Not-So-Nice Nurse" is atrocious, while those from Gloria White's "Murder on the Run" and John Lantigua's "Heat Lightning" are more interesting, especially the latter, whose action is set in the Mission. On the whole, the collection is a very mixed bag, one I found rather disappointing. There's no real sense of the city to be gained from it, nor was I introduced to any outstanding talent I wasn't familiar with. Oh well, I guess I'll stick it in the guest bedroom.
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