When asked for a recommendation for a different author or genre, I always recommend an anthology. These collections contain stories by many of todays best known authors as well as authors who could easily become favorites. The stories are short, skillfully written and usually revolve around a central theme. In fewer pages than a chapter in a full length novel, these authors must flex their writing skills to include the "hook" with all of the accompanying twists and a satisfactory ending to bring the reader back for more. In CRIME HITS HOME, these 20 authors have each given their own definition to the word HOME and displayed how a person reacts to an attack on that home. As in any library, some stories are better than others, some will make you think, some will make you flinch, but they all will give you a taste of what you'd find in the author's back library. So treat yourself, enjoy an anthology or two.....starting with this one.

Not a well put together anthology. Stories were very uneven, and some were haphazard. There are better mystery short story collections out there.

I found this collection of short stories to be a nice mix of perspectives when it comes to crime fiction. Many of the authors were first-time reads for me, and the stories were equal parts (at times) shocking, infuriating, intriguing, and a gut punch. The beauty of a collection like this is the opportunity to experience each author's take on the theme. Just like different people having different personalities and takes on an event, you can still appreciate where the author is coming from even if the story did not 100% resonate with you.

I absolutely love short stories. They have been a favorite of mine for many years. This collection was a too dark for me. I read all of them and some I sort of liked but overall I felt lost and unsatisfied. I think this would be good if you like stories that are violent and maybe a bit ambiguous. If you are like me and need to know everyone is okay, this is not the short story collection for you. Just keep moving along.....

Crime Hits Home introduced me to authors I wish I'd been reading for years.

Naomi Hirahara's Grand Garden was one of my particular favorites. Hirahara takes us to California shortly after WWII. What does it mean to be Japanese American at that time? Schoolyard bullying takes on a different level of intensity and Hirahara conveys the mix of pride and shame that the Japanese American family members have as they open up their home and garden to curious eyes. The violence that explodes seems inevitable and unexpected at the same time.

The concept of home is explored in this edition of the Mystery Writers' of America short stories anthology, Crime Hits Home. Home can be a physical place where one lives and keeps their possessions; maybe it's more about where someone spent their youth; for others, home has little to do with a physical structure and is more about how a feeling of warmth, comfort, and familiarity can be created.

I think this was my first time reading any of these authors unless I caught them in other anthologies. I'll also admit there was only one story that I couldn't finish because there was something about the writing style that felt clunky and difficult for me to read. The stories are diverse in character ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. I chose to highlight a few of them.

Grand Garden by Naomi Hirahara is the first story. Of course you don't need to read an anthology in any particular order, but I went through it in sequence. Grand Garden exposed me to characters in a time, place, and culture unfamiliar to me. There's a frustrating and sad quality to reading about this character's life as a Japanese-American child dealing with disrespectful White classmates. While a sacred katana, a family treasure, is central to this story, what you don't get is exploitative martial arts action movie scenes. It's about children who oppress their peers and no semblance of courtesy in them at all. Grand Garden asks, what wouldn't a child do to protect their family's personal space even if it appears humble or poor?

Banana Island by Susan Breen is a great take on the confidence game known as the Nigerian scam. Marly and Danjuma are characters connected through their jobs, yet there's an undeniable tether between them that even Marly can't explain. Danjuma is a con man. Marly's job is to stop him before he takes another woman's money. Author Susan Breen challenges the boundaries of a physical home when Marly is attacked in the one place she should be safest.

Haunted Home on the Range by A.P. Jamison presents something completely unique to this collection: a young detective named Augusta "Gus" DeWitt. This story is not only about solving a mystery, but also what it's like for a person to go through life wanting to break through gender roles. Through deductive reasoning and an ability to see and interact with ghosts, Gus solves a murder.

Forever Unconquered by G. Miki Hayden takes readers to the Florida Everglades, specifically into a geographic area still owned by Seminoles. By utilizing this setting, the author informs us about how indigenous families may interact with outsiders; it also creates dramatic conflict between U.S. law enforcement, criminals, and the Native Americans over jurisdiction. Billie is an ex-Ranger with a bad leg who will do whatever is necessary by the Seminole law to protect their land and families. Billie faces smugglers who threaten to kill his sister if he doesn't take them to an unsafe location. It's Billie's comfort zone. Even knowing that these criminals don't stand a chance, the story through Billie's perspective is tense.

Other stories that I found incredibly unique and compelling were Live Pawns by Ovidia Yu, The Happy Birthday Song by Bonnie Hearn Hill, and Jack in the Box by Steve Liskow. They were wonderful vignettes into the lives of characters so different from the average homogenous hero in our entertainment offerings.

Rating: 5 stars

I use collections of short stories such as this one in hopes of finding an author who gets my attention so engaged that I want to read more of their work. This collection didn't work out that way so that was a disappointment. The theme of crime in or around the home was well employed by each of the authors. I read the book back in November 2021 and found I couldn't remember the stories when I started writing my review. I read the entire book a second time hoping my interest would be more focused this time around, but it was just not to be. If one of your favorite authors has a story included in this volume, you may want to read the whole thing to get to that specific one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Hanover Square Press for an e-galley of this collection of short stories.

I love mysteries, and one of the forms in which I like them is the short story. There is something wonderful in a well-written short; a whole world encapsulated in just a few pages, with a mystery described and solved. It follows that a good anthology of mystery short stories is a pleasure, and this one is very good, indeed.

One of the sure things about anthologies is that the reader will prefer some stories to others. I especially liked the stories by Sara Paretsky, Walter Mosley, and S J Rozan herself. A couple of stories didn't particularly appeal to me, but that is normal.

All in all, this is an excellent anthology. It helps that Rozan is an author of note, she knows how to pick 'em.

This book was not quite what I was hoping it would be. Some of the short stories were amazing, and others were just so odd that they were very unenjoyable. Overall I don't think this book was sadly for me, I think I was just hoping for a bit more. I will however try recommending it to anyone looking for some short stories based off of crimes.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

I love Collections where different author gets together and put short stories, novella and full novels into one collection. It gives readers a chance to test out different authors stories, writing styles and the best of all find a new author!

Not every story or author will readers li

ke but it is a blend of different styles and stories that some times connects to the main title Crime Hits Home.

This anthologies are short stories have everything readers love from mystery and crime. While not all the stories are a hit the cast of author has kept to the theme. Some stories are rushed while others have master the ability to give readers a lot in a short amount of words.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy of Crime Hits Home: A Collection of Stories from Crime Fiction's Top Authors by S.J. Rozan
3 1\2 stars

Crime Hits Home is a collection of short stories by twenty different writers. The authors, the characters, and the subject matter of the stories are very diverse. The common theme of the stories is what happens when “crime hits home.” Some of the contributing authors are very well known, such as Naomi Hirahara, Sara Paretsky, and S.J. Rozan, and I’ve been reading their books for many years. Other authors were new to me, but may be familiar to others. An anthology of stories by different authors is almost always going to have stories that readers enjoy more than others, but it’s a great way to see additional works by authors you like as well as learn about authors new to you.

I wasn’t surprised that some of my favorite stories in the book are by authors I was already familiar with. Sara Paretsky contributes an unusual story about a college student that has a couple unexpected twists. The story by the editor of the collection, S.J. Rozan,, is short but powerful and features a smart, brave young woman who has experienced the unthinkable. I also enjoyed the story by Susan Breen about a woman who is a “scam baiter”, trapping men who con women out of money. Two of my other favorites are by authors I was unfamiliar with. David Bart’s “The World’s Oldest Living Detective” is an entertaining and touching story about a retired detective who is now living in a retirement home. Another favorite is The Happy Birthday Song By Bonnie Hearn Hill about a young girl who must make a decision that will affect the rest of her life.

In addition to the stories and authors I’ve mentioned, there are few other stories I enjoyed. Some of the others were either two grim and depressing for my taste or I just couldn't connect with. Even though the stories were hit or miss for me, the few standouts that I mentioned made the book a worthwhile read for me and I would rate the book 3.5 stars. There is usually something for everyone in a collection like this, so those that weren’t to my liking may resonate with other readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin/Hanover Square Press for providing an advance copy of this book. The book was provided to me at no cost, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

There are more than a few gems of short stories in #CrimeHitsHome, an ARC of which I received from #NetGalley. The concept of crime hitting close to home is unique and has a lot of potential.
Among the tales that I would give five stars are: the well-written The World's Oldest Living Detective by David Bart; the excellent Banana Island by Susan Breen; the compelling Stalking Adolf by Renee James; the intriguing Currents by Connie Johnson Hambley; the heart-wrenching What They Knew by Gabino Iglesias; the original and timely Live Pawns by Ovidia Yu; and the intriguing The Happy Birthday Song by Bonnie Hearn Hill.
I must admit, however, that twice I almost didn't continue with the book. The first time was after the first story, which I still cannot fathom why it was placed first in the lineup. The first story should be one that makes you want to keep reading, not one that was a chore to read. The second time was after a series of stories that barely held my attention, but the next story was Yu's, which restored my faith and made me continue reading.
Overall, aside from the six 5-star stories, I would rate the remaining as follows: one 1-star, one 2-star, five 3-star, and seven 4-star.
As with most compellations, this one is hit and miss, but the excellent offerings scattered among the others make it up for the others.

The newest MWA (Mystery Writers of America) anthology contains 20 stories that focus on home and what happens when crime invades these safe spaces. The stories range in tone from humourous to poignant to grim. In Naomi Hirahara's "Grand Garden", a young Nisei boy's family home in a hidden garden in Pasadena is invaded by a bullying white classmate and his brothers with tragic results for both families. By contrast, in David Bart's "The World's Oldest Living Detective", retired Albuquerque homicide detective/PI Ethan Brock is urged to using his sleuthing skills to find the retirement home's missing cat Ripley. And in Walter Mosley’s “Not Exit,” developmentally disabled Tom Exit has been locked up on Riker's Island for intervening when a woman was being mistreated by the police. His brutal journey through the penal system is highlighted.

Highly recommended.

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/Hanover Square Press with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and provided this review.

A variety filled smorgasbord of crime fiction by a wonderful array of writers. I loved this book! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher.

This is pretty good. A wide variety of stories and authors and styles. Crime is not a favorite genre, but most of these were entertaining. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

Crime Hits Home is a nice collection of crime related short stories exploring the most jarring type of crime imaginable, those that invade a victim’s most personal space: the home. Keep in mind that, as S. J. Rozan points out in her introduction to Crime Hits Home, “home” does not mean the same thing to everyone. Some people, Rozan says, are living in the home they want to spend the rest of their lives in, others hate where they are, and still others are desperate to return to the place they never should have left in the first place. But what all of these homes have in common is that we feel safest when we are there. So what happens when those safe spaces are violated in the worst ways imaginable?

Twenty authors, including Rozan, give their take on how that feels to the victim and what happens next. Mystery fans, of course, will recognize names like Sara Paretsky and Walter Mosley among the twenty, but some of the best stories in the book come from authors with whose work I am less familiar.

Among my favorites are “Oyster Creek,” a story by Neil S. Plakey in which a man comes home after his mother has been killed on the roadway in a tragic hit and run accident. After what he learns about the accident and who was behind the wheel, the young man faces a decision that there is no coming back from.

I enjoyed Ellen Hart’s “Calling Mr. Smith” because it is so easy to imagine what a movie director like Alfred Hitchcock could do with a plot like this one in which a woman mouths off in a bar one night that she would be better off without her elderly mother. Was the wrong person perhaps listening?

Then there’s G. Miki Hayden’s story, “Forever Unconquered,” about a Seminole Indian family whose home turf in swampy Florida is invaded by drug dealers who make the mistake of hijacking the wrong man’s airboat. Let’s just say that it’s not a mistake they are going to make twice.

What is my favorite story of them all is also the shortest in the book: S. J. Rozan’s “Playing for Keeps.” This is a deceptively simple story about a little girl who not only survived a German concentration camp but made sure that her younger brother did the same. Now, the children are living in the US where the girl is being mocked and bullied by a boy because of her accent and religion. If he only knew who he was picking on…

Bottom Line: The stories in Crime Hits Home, despite the theme common to them all, are very different from one another. They were, however, all chosen for the collection because of how clearly they address that theme: nothing is worse, and no one feels more cornered, than when a criminal dares invade a person’s home space, be that a physical home or a place you live in only in your mind. Bad things can happen to bad people when they push their intended victims too far — and in Crime Hits Home, those things do happen.

I enjoy anthologies as I can then go on and find regular books written by the many new authors I find. Crime Hits Home by S.J. Rozen gave a whole new meaning to the term home. Between the dark and the light-hearted stories I was throughly entertained by each and every one of the entries.

I received this ARC via Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, in return for an honest review. This anthology, by the Mystery Writers of America, centers on the theme of ‘home’. Each of these authors takes a unique look at ‘home’ and what can happen when something disrupts one’s view of that safe haven. Anthologies are always a delight as you may like one author, not like another and discover lots that you’ve not read before. S. J. Rozan has done a wonderful job of pulling together a diversity of perspectives, protagonists, antagonists and environments to showcase this wonderful cast of authors.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Crime Hits Home.

I'm wary of anthologies since I usually only like one or two short stories but I'm a fan of mysteries and thrillers, and I'm trying to keep an open mind about short story collections.

And I liked the theme that each story was woven around the home and what happens when your sense of safety and security is torn apart.

Imagine my shock and surprise (in a good way) when I discovered I enjoyed most of these stories!

Except for a couple which I didn't like, I enjoyed and appreciated the diversity and different perspectives of the main characters in each story, men and women, rich and poor, assassins and young people, people down on their luck, those struggling to make a decent life for themselves and their families, people of color and members of the queer community.

Some of the stories were amusing, surprising, with a good twist here and there and likable characters despite how short the stories were.

I look forward to the next anthology.