Sunday Story Ratings #50: Graveyard Shift

 

Graveyard Shift by James M. Reasoner

Originally published November 1978 in Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine as by M. R. James; this edition 1995

Publisher: Oxford University Press

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

 

M

Not recommended for persons under 15 years of age, but no legal restrictions

(D, L, V, T)

Drug References {PG} {alcohol, tobacco}

Coarse Language {PG}

Violence {M}

Themes {crime, death, vengeance}

 

Representations

Gender:

The only specified woman is the protagonist's dead wife.

Sex:

Implicit heterosexuality in references to aforementioned dead wife and to couples buying late night infant supplies.

Race & Ethnicity:

Unmentioned; as usual characters presumed white US citizens.

Disability, Physical Diversity and Health:

Unmentioned.

 

Awards

None found

 

Notes

Very short, sharp tale of undetected, vengeance-driven serial killing.