A Twist of Malice
Author: Jean Rae Baxter
A Twist
of Malice brings together fourteen short stories,
told with economy and clarity. Their settings, protagonists
and plots cover a wide range; yet the common element of
irony unites them. In Jean Rae Baxter’s dark vision,
nothing is as it seems or as it should be. Her characters
lose their dreams, or they dream too much. Obsession overwhelms
a love-struck youth. A university student copes with the
aftermath of a rape she cannot remember. Two eleven-year-olds
kidnap a cat. A cast-off wife exacts cruel, calculated revenge.
A bored housewife is trapped by a love letter falling into
the wrong hands. An old woman imagines a beautiful life
for the child she aborted seventy years in the past. In
each story the central figure reacts uniquely when expectations
are thwarted. The outcome may be absurd or tragic or darkly
comic, but seldom what the character, and by extension the
reader expects.
Six of the stories in this collection have been published
in Canadian literary journals or anthologies. Five have
been shortlisted for awards, and three are award winners.
“Jean Rae Baxter burrows
deeply inside her characters' twisted minds, giving the
reader unsettling views from the vantage point of evil.
Her plots are deftly constructed, her writing smooth and
her resolutions dark and heartbreaking. Perhaps most compelling
of all, her stories involve people like us - who act in
ways we never would. Or so we hope.”
~ Peter Sellers, editor and mystery
writer
“Baxter understands what
all great short-story writers understand: that simplicity
of style and characters drawn from real life will hold readers
from the first story to the last. You’ve met all these
people before, likely in your own hometown, but never with
such secrets exposed. What an exciting debut collection!”
~ Chris Pannell, poet and editor
"With a deft literary hand,
Jean Rae Baxter draws the reader down into the chilliest
recesses of the human soul. Where dreams are betrayed and
hope eclipsed. Powerful tales, beautifully told."
~ Barbara Fradkin, author of the Inspector
Green series
