MARCIA'S BOOK JOURNAL:

November 2001

Death by Horoscope, edited by Anne Perry

Death by Horoscope is a themed anthology that features well-written mysteries with intriguing characters and twisting plots.  The best part (for me) about these short stories is the generally respectful look at astrology and astrologers.  Many of the authors explained at length (usually via dialogue) that astrology is more than just the daily newspaper sun sign column.  They explained about the birthdata required, the time spent in calculation, and more than one writer had a character exclaim, "She looks so normal!" when meeting a professional astrologer.

One of my favorite stories was the first in the book "The Astrologer Who Predicted his own Murder" by Peter Tremayne, a Sister Fidelma mystery, which takes place in 7th century Ireland, and does about as good job of explaining horary astrology as you can do in short fiction.  Another favorite was "Ghosts" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch about a very professional hired killer who used astrologers to find a day of major calamity in the chart of his intended victims.

As an astrologer, and as a mystery reader, I found Death by Horoscope quite thrilling.

(c) 2001 Marcia M. Sacks

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