Dolphin Junction

Dolphin Junction is a collection of eleven short stories of varying lengths by award-winning British author, Mick Herron. Published previously between 2006 and 2021 in Ellery Mystery Magazines, Women’s Weekly Fiction Specials, Best British Crime collections, as audio by Audio Go and BBC, and by Bookdealer and Soho Press, these are marvellous little bites of Mick Herron magic. Proof of Love is a Zoe Boehm PI (The Oxford Investigations) short story. Zoe’s husband and partner, Joe Silvermann takes on a case for one of Oxford’s richest men, promising to deliver a blackmail fee whilst also discovering the identity of the blackmailer. He’s going to need Zoe’s help: Joe is more of a “traditional” PI; this might need Zoe’s internet expertise. Joe delivers, as promised, but with an admonition for his client. Zoe’s solution comes from a different angle. Delightful! In Remote Control, a casual remark (or two) from a perennially peeved fellow commuter leads a husband, who has previously proven a tendency to jealousy, to suspect his beautiful wife of infidelity. An excellent final twist! Lost Luggage: On her way to work early one morning, Jane Carpenter is taken from a nearby park. Some hours later, at a motorway services café, Peter Mason and Jennifer Holmes, on their way to a party, indulge in some people watching. They make observations about a lone diner who sits where he can keep an eye on his car. A chilling twist to this one! Mirror Images is a Zoe Boehm PI (The Oxford Investigations) short story. A client comes to Joe Silvermann with an unusual problem: the man he shot dead sixteen years ago on the boathouse balcony has suddenly sprung back into his mind, and won’t leave. After first suggesting a therapist, Joe takes on the case. “His normal reaction to a new problem was to seek Zoe’s input, ideally without her noticing that he was unsure what to do next. The word ‘ideally’ was unavoidable here, as Zoe not noticing never actually occurred in practice.” Not wanting to attract her scorn (again) leaves “… Joe’s fallback position: What would Marlowe do?” Joe’s investigations include poling up the river on a punt (and falling in) to view the site of the since-burned -down boathouse. This one has a brilliant twist, and Zoe Boehm provides a tidy solution. In the title story, Dolphin Junction, David Wallace returns home from a conference to find his wife has packed some of her things, quit her job, withdrawn half their savings from their bank account and left him a postcard saying it’s over between them. But one word on that card has him convinced that Michelle has been abducted. Unfortunately, no-one, not friends, not the police, agree, so David has to follow his instincts. In An American Fridge, an engineer at a nuclear research lab learns that betrayal of one’s country and a new allegiance (for the perceived purpose of maintaining balance of power) comes with an American fridge. The Other Half is a Zoe Boehm PI (The Oxford Investigations) short story. PI Joe Silvermann agrees to tail a disgruntled ex whom a casual acquaintance claims has been stalking him, and vandalising his flat. The woman certainly seems to be acting a bit crazy, but Joe knows that his wife and partner, Zoe Boehm, is unlikely to approve, especially of the man’s next request. This one has a laugh-out-loud twist and sees justice neatly done. All The Livelong Day, describes a married couple walking in Derbyshire on the third day of a five-day break. Missing waymarkers set them on the wrong course and, halfway down a hill with no mobile reception and ominous rainclouds approaching, Jon falls and fractures his ankle. Helen heads off to the farmhouse below where an enormous flock of birds swirls above the barnyard. It’s a tale that demonstrates how an ailing marriage that can just about survive the good times will fracture badly when under stress. A rather dark twist at the end.

Very enjoyable short stories

Great selection