The Saturday Night Deaths by Michael Kerr

Originally published July 1976 in Mystery Monthly; this edition 1995

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Collected in: Hard-Boiled: An Anthology of American Crime Stories (ed. Bill Pronzini & Jack Adrian)

MA15+

Considered unsuitable for persons under 15 years of age; legally restricted

(D, V, T)

Drug References {PG} {alcohol}

Strong Violence {MA15+}

Themes {MA15+} {crime, corruption, suicide, death}

Representations

Gender:

Female characters existing in relation to men, but distributed on a continuum of innocence to vice.

Sex:

Heterosexuality only.

Race & Ethnicity:

No mention, US characters presumed to be white.

Disability, Physical Diversity and Health:

Scars as relics of organised criminal violence.

Awards

None found

Notes

Another non-detective story I liked. Satisfying in a vengeful sort of way, with a strong sense of melancholy in the latter half. I suppose the appeal of the recent set I enjoyed despite not being 'detective stories' is they were still clever, decently executed short fiction. Not merely another bleak tale of human darkness. Interesting for at least one of plot or craft.