Crime Songs
Edited by Sean O'Leary
Close to the Bone Publishing, 2025
Genre: Fiction
This is a novel attempt as this is an anthology of crime stories inspired from rock or pop songs. The editor Sean O'Leary has done a stellar job of compiling the short stories on crime ranging from theft to murder.All the 16 authors have named their short stories after title of their favourite song.
Many readers may not be familiar with some of the songs but with the internet, you will be able to find all of them.So be prepared to listen to the songs before you read the stories.It gives you a better understanding of why certain car models or dialogues are used. At least, that is how I read it. It was fun too as being a writer, I needed to know the lyrics of the original song before I read the short story. It is nice both the title and the band are mentioned.
Some crime writers have literally written the story from the lyrics of the song while others do an interpretation of the lyrics. Some have just taken the title and made up their own stories. Maybe it is just me but I felt "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones was almost like reading about the Epstein case that I ended up searching for Epstein's family. The proper whodunit was "Right Place, Wrong Time" and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The best way to read this book is to have the song play in the background. It is up to the reader - you can always read it without knowing the song. That would also work too.
You can read this book in any order as it an anthology. The style varies with each short story as they are written by different award winning authors.The writing flows well but you will definitely end up with some favorites.
I think it would have been nice if someone had chosen "Bohemian Rhapsody"and "Every Step You Take" and wrote a story based on it but that is just me!
If you like songs and reading short stories about crime - anything from theft to murder, this book is definitely for you.
You can buy the book here Amazon
