In April, I found myself gravitating towards short stories. As much as I love getting lost in the pages of a novel, sometimes I’m short on time or just want to sample a different genre without committing to a longer book. Below are the short stories I read last month.
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Signal Moon by Kate Quinn
Fans of historical fiction will be captivated by Signal Moon. The novel opens in Yorkshire, 1943, where twenty-two-year-old Lily Baines works as a Wren responsible for intercepting live radio transmissions from Nazi vessels. She transcribes the encrypted communications and sends them to Bletchley Park.
One night, she stumbles upon a transmission from an unexpected source: it’s US naval officer Matt Jackson and he needs help. The only problem is, for Matt, it’s 2023. Despite their eighty-year time difference, Lily and Matt must find a way to work together to prevent a tragedy.
Lovers at the Museum by Isabel Allende
When a night watchman at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao finds a naked man and a woman in a wedding dress asleep in the museum, he calls the police. Detective Larramendi is assigned to the case. The two lovers, who don’t seem to know each others names, insist they spent the night in the museum. The guards insist that this is impossible.
The lovers tell a story that intolerant Detective Larramendi cannot fathom. He’s looking for facts not the whimsical ramblings of two people who think they are in love.
Lovers at the Museum is a quirky love story that you can read on your lunch break.
The Rise by Ian Rankin
I haven’t read a police procedural for a while so this was a great short story to get me back into the genre. The Rise is a luxurious residential tower in London. When the night-shift concierge is found murdered, investigating officer Detective Sergeant Gillian Gish is tasked with finding the killer.
DS Gish begins her investigation with an intriguing line up of suspects; a Russian oligarch, the wife of a notorious criminal, an Arab princess, an actress and the man obsessed with her, and an art dealer. The investigation has barely begun when a second body is found.
As you’d expect from the creator of Inspector Rebus, The Rise is a riveting read with a masterfully crafted mystery.
All of the short story recommendations above are Amazon Original Stories and, at the time of writing, can be downloaded on Kindle for free.