To say it is long overdue is a criminal understatement — Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives: Stories from the Trailblazers of Domestic Suspense Paperback
is simply one of the most significant anthologies of crime fiction,
ever. Highlighting a vital lineage of writers who have largely been
marginalized, trivialized as “cozy,” or just plain forgotten, editor
Sarah Weinman reclaims an important yet neglected arena of noir fiction
that she designates as “domestic suspense.” As the name suggests, these
stories take place within the confines of the home, and while they don’t
use the stereotypical noir setting of smoky bars and foggy back alleys,
they lack none of noir’s darker shades. The stories in this anthology
are as bleak, grim, and nasty as anything written by these women’s more
celebrated male contemporaries — and, in many cases, these stories are
all the more disturbing for their recognizably residential settings.
Without the generic hallmarks to separate reality from fantasy — tough
guys in fedoras, chain-smoking dames, and fast-spewing gats — noir takes
on a whole new realm of disturbing possibility, and the writers of Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives pack plenty of nightmares into their pages...
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