Short Story Review: Two Stories

First up, in Kings River Life I read ​Pop Played the Ponies, by Margaret Mendel. This short story is mostly about the loss of the protagonist's father, but takes an interesting turn with the discovery of her father's secret life. This is not, strictly speaking, a mystery story. There are no startling revelations. It is a nice read about a daughter coming to terms with her father's hidden passion, horse racing.

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The second story is Mrs Walker and the Lady in the Laundry, by Katie Ginger, in Mystery Weekly Magazine. The annoyingly prim and proper Mrs. Walker has her rigid routine disrupted by the discovery of a body on her backyard clothes line.

A traditional mystery set in a small British village, my favorite aspect of the story was seeing Mrs. Walker soften her self-righteous attitude. I really didn't like her much at the beginning of the mystery. Her improved opinion of certain characters by the end improved my opinion of Mrs. Walker.

This was a fast moving and entertaining read. I thought I had figured out the whodunit before the end, but kept reading to make sure. I also enjoyed the characters, especially James Dixon.

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