Death Will Tank Your Fish and Other Stories — Elizabeth Zelvin

The characters in this collection of short stories by multiple award-nominated author Elizabeth Zelvin range from recovering alcoholic and amateur sleuth Bruce Kohler to two very different women who kill, a pair of treasure-hunting Brits, and a burned-out Vietnam vet. In "Death Will Tank Your Fish," Bruce and his friends, world-class codependent Barbara and computer wiz Jimmy, use their knowledge of recovery in the twelve-step programs to find the killer of one drunk and two hundred guppies. In "The Silkie," an enigmatic and alluring woman works her wiles on a series of susceptible creeps and losers in a seaside town. In "Dress to Die," a cozy writer seeks revenge for a long-ago prom-night disappointment. "The Saxon Hoard" is a flash-fiction piece about two treasure hunters whose greed overcomes their common sense. In "Choices," a world-weary vet who thinks he's seen it all between the killing fields of Vietnam and the view from behind the bar meets a young woman who rekindles his capacity to be surprised. Find out why reviewers and readers praise Zelvin's "dialogue that sparkles," characters who "literally leap off the pages," and "tragedy and humor, sometimes in the same sentence." Zelvin's Bruce Kohler mysteries include Death Will Get You Sober, Death Will Help You Leave Him, and Death Will Extend Your Vacation.