Saturday, November 24, 2007

Tales from Mistwillow- Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers

Tales from Mistwillow
Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers
RMFW Press, Sep 2007, $9.95
ISBN: 9780976022510

The theme behind this superb eleven tale anthology is the title town Mistwillow in Colorado at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The contributions vary from a ghost sending faxes to his descendents to solve a family mystery (“Jilly and the Ghost” by Sally Clark) to a ghost returning home in an urn a century after his parents died in an earthquake (“Return Me to Mistwillow” by Terry Wright) to an amusing “Mistwillow Crime Wave” by Suzanne Young in which a dedicated sheriff receives several confessions on a homicide.

Each tale is well written by the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers with many being haunting such as the Iraq war vet who comes to “Amy’s World” by Cindi Myers or the serial killer who comes “Full Circle” from his childhood demons by Charlie Calloway. Others are grounded as the wife no longer accepts being a “Sparring Partner” by Jeff Shelby or the WWII home front drama of “Bingo” by Jedeane MacDonald in which a young woman leads amateurs fighting a fire on her first day as fire chief. Whether it is political rivalries Steve and Jennie opening a time capsule (“It’s About Time” by Janet Lane) or Addie learning “Death Lessons” at eight years old during WWI or Thomas adding a special ingredient to his “Kilning Spree” pottery (by Lauren Patten), all are fun to read. The anthology ranges from paranormal to suspense to mystery with no clinkers as readers will enjoy visiting the short stories that make up TALES FROM MISTWILLOW just like Amanda eventually does in “Mistwillow Day’s” by Liz Hills.

Harriet Klausner

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