An excellent collection of short stories - these were great! There are 19 short stories in this anthology by mystery writers and in each story there are "partners" who work together - some are partners you would never expect. It was interesting for me as I was reading to pick out the partners in each story. I really enjoyed the stories that involved animals like "The Wagatha Labsy Secret Dogtective Alliance: A Dog Noir Story", "The Nature of the Beast", "Bite Out of Crime" and "Hector's Bees". My least favorite story was "Songbird", though it was definitely unique and wins my vote for the strangest partners. There were a couple of stories involving older people and forgetfulness which I thought were very good. I highly recommend this for anyone who likes crime stories. Short stories are not usually my favorite, but this is a winner.

Thanks to Ballentine Books through Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

An anthology featuring 19 short stories from leading mystery writers and edited by Anne Perry was sure to offer a lot of reading pleasure for me. And I certainly wasn't disappointed. The premise was that each story would feature odd partners paired up to solve a crime, commit a crime or just offer an explanation for an unusual happening. There are surprising stories; like the Jacqueline Winspear offering, "The Wagatha Labsy Secret Dogtective Alliance: A Dog Noir Story", which is like nothing I've ever read by her but which turned out to be one of the stories I enjoyed most. My favorite author team of Charles Todd contributed "Blood Money: An Inspector Rutledge Story" that conveyed the essence of the Inspector Rutledge series characters in a short amount of space. My vote for most unusual story would definitely have to be "Songbird Blues" by Stephen Ross featuring "partners" of a man's right and left hand. Just think about that for a moment.

I found many stories I enjoyed in this anthology with all 19 eliciting a level of satisfaction that I don't usually find in a collection from authors with such different styles of stories. The Mystery Writers of America have come up with a winner in this volume ranging all the way from a cat with his own Facebook page to Puritan witches. Lots of good reading for fans of the genre.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Ballantine for the e-Galley of this collection.

Odd Partners by Allison Brennan, Jeffery Deaver, William Kent Krueger – 4 Stars
Publisher: Random House Publishing – Ballantine Books
ISBN: 9781524799359

Odd Partners is a collection of 19 short stories by established authors. Each has a mystery/suspense theme with a unique plot, setting, and characters. All have a bit of surprise at the end. There are thieves, murderers, animal heroes, political tricksters, and ordinary people. Even some of the supernatural is included. None are boring and the good guy usually wins. Each story is entertaining because of its diversity.

I usually prefer the depth of a novel, but chose this anthology to read because it contained stories by recognized authors whose books I read in the past. I was surprised how well each story was developed and completed the book in a few days. It is obvious that the authors included in this anthology are award winners and best sellers.

Reviewer: Nancy