Deadly Dames -- Edited by Gary Lovisi

From its beautiful Maguire cover to entertaining contents, this anthology is a hardboiled treat. The title tells you all you need to know about the stories, and a deadlier bunch of women you probably haven't met in a while. So I've read the stories by Ed Gorman, Wayne Dundee (a new Joe Hannibal), Vin Packer, Pearce Hansen, Gary Lovisi, and C. J. Henderson, and I can tell you that you shouldn't expect the women in the stories to be all the same. Sure, they're deadly, but in different ways. The spy in Henderson's story is a femme fatale for sure, but not exactly in the Cain sense. Others are fatal in their own ways. It's a lot of fun to see how the writers work things out and how the different styles lead to stories of all kinds, from the all-action-all-the-time story by Henderson to the hardboiled Dundee to the contemplative Gorman. If you like noir, you'll find it here, but there's plenty more besides. Check it out.