Reviews for Circles & squares

The average rating for Circles & squares based on 2 reviews is 1.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-01-02 00:00:00 Michael Marmura This is an interesting themed anthology - children as a major focus of a mystery or crime story: sometimes as victim, sometimes as target, sometimes as detective. But, as usual recently, I only got this through inter-library loan for one story, Cornell Woolrich's "Fire Escape", so that's the review and grade. "Fire Escape" (aka "The Boy Cried Murder") is a variant on the "Boy Who Cried Wolf" story, updated here and streamlined into a classic Woolrich "nobody believes me/race against time" vehicle. Interesting that Woolrich is flexible enough to modify his anguished, malevolent universe approach into a child's viewpoint of helplessness because adult do not take children seriously. The plot, as this is not a Woolrich "vast conspiracy" story, is simplicity itself - a boy in the city, attempting to catch an errant breeze on a sweltering hot night of sleep, climbs up one story to sleep on the fire escape and happens to view a murder through the window of the apartment above his. Unfortunately, the boy has a propensity for telling tales so - his parents don't believe him, and then, neither do the cops - and so he's left in a situation where a faked telegram draws his mother away from their apartment (his father works the overnight shift) and he's left to contend with the killers himself. It's a very engaging story, as might be expected - Woolrich gets the boy's voice just right, neither too worldly, nor ignorant. The climax is exciting (and, kudos to Woolrich, effectively under-written, as it offered many chances for bombastic extrapolation - but then Woolrich is only bombastic with emotions, not situations). Also, the helplessness of a child at an adult world that will not take him seriously, even as he's trying to do the right thing, is well-portrayed. Extra special bonus - an important clue overlooked by the police hinges on an OTR (old time radio) broadcast! The story was made into the film THE WINDOW in 1949, then again as THE BOY CRIED MURDER in 1966, then again as EYEWITNESS in 1970, then again as CLOAK & DAGGER in 1984.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-02-12 00:00:00 David DAO Good themed short story anthology spanning many eras of mystery fiction, with Woolrich's Fire Escape as the standout.