Writing this Staff Choice recommendation is justified.   Even though this collection of short stories has been on our shelves since 2009, it is justified.   There is not one weak story out of the nine that appear.  That is justification in itself.

 

Justified is the FX television series starring Timothy Olyphant.   The  show still emits a buzz even though it is in its second season.  It is based on the short story Fire in the Hole that is included in this book.  The TV adaptation is dead-on in the pilot episode.  That alone speaks volumes about the kind of writer Leonard is.  Two of his strengths are being able to write descriptively and capture everyday dialog.

 

What other popular writer can create a cute encounter between two retirees that encompasses both a fading past and sweet future in only five pages? Such is Hanging Out at the Buena Vista.

 

In Karen Makes Out, U.S. Marshall, Karen Sisco, of film fame and former TV series Out of Sight, shows another unsuccessful slice of her sex life.

 

Sparks is the aptly titled story about an insurance company investigator looking into the suspicious house fire of a young widow of a recently departed millionaire.

 

The title story has a former burlesque dancer turned bored rich wife getting marriage counseling from her Columbian murdering maid.

 

Available in both written and audio book formats in our collection.  

 

This checkout would be most justified.