Murder on Route 66

By: Various

Book Overview

Today's best mystery writers take to the road with a brand-new collection of stories featuring the great American highway, Route 66. Take a ride on the wild side with: * David August* Eleanor Taylor... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425170640
• ISBN13: 9780425170649
• Release Date: July 1999
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Length: 294 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

A mother lode of tales from the Mother Road

A generation of Americans is just beginning to learn about "the Mother Road," U.S. Route 66, that cruised from Chicago through to Los Angeles. The premise of this anthology is along that stretch of highway, murder and mayhem once lurked.Sixteen writers ply their trade with varying levels of success. And though none of the stories are stinkers, three really stand out:"Rappin' Dog" by Dick Lochte pits a precocious 14-year-old girl/would-be detective against her elders in a mystery plot right out of MTV. When one of a rapper's hangers-on tells her "I take you to be some kind of Spice Girl wannabe," Serendipity (Sarah to her friends) coolly replies "Then you'd be making a mistake." She also catches the errors the police and her detective friend makes."Motel 66" by Barbara D'Amato is a classic tale of domestic discord with a smoothly twisted ending that *I* didn't see coming. Reading "Spooked" by Carolyn G. Hart is like finding a fine old pulp magazine -- Black Mask or something similar -- tucked away in your father's chest. A neat little World War II story, and Hart manages to work in a recipe for apple pie which uses honey instead of the then-rationed sugar. All told, a nostalgic trip down memory lane on a highway that itself is fast-becoming a memory. Recommended!

some are better than others

Overall these stories were great. The ones that really stuck to route 66 were the best. A couple just mentioned the road. I doubt these short stories gave justice to some of the authors. J.A. Jance is a much better writer than this book shows. Most of the stories have twists at the end. It was fun to guess the ending, but I was wrong about 1/2 the time.

Get your Kicks!

What fun this book was to read! From Chicago to L.A. you'll have the a trip full of adventure and mystery reading this anthology I enjoyed every one of the stories, and some of them were just excellent! Lots of trivia and history is set around some engrossing and nostalgic stories! Great for light reading! Usually I don't rate anthologies because stories vary from very bad to good, but this one deserves 5 stars for all the stories!

Excellent mystery anthology starring the famous highway

Some of the top mystery writers of our time have collaborated on a nostalgic short story trip down Route 66. The sixteen tales occur during different time periods and at varying stops along America's first Federal Highway. Readers will be taken as far back as the 1920's to the present. Of interest is the fact that all the contributors live or have lived in towns along the fabled road. Mystery readers who enjoy short stories, anyone who turns nostalgic over Route 66, or just wants to gain a feel of the pre-superhighway America will enjoy this collection. The tales vary in location and time, but they all contain a high quality not often seen throughout an entire anthology. Surprisingly several of the characters are fully developed, leading to deep story lines, thereby, making this book well worth the ride.Harriet Klausner