By the Water: A Collage of Short Murders by Kelly Artieri is a crafty exploration of crimes of passion. Kelly has written nine gripping tales of everyday people caught up in life’s ups and downs and, unfortunately for some, this ends in murder. Kelly explores the shame behind killing a mistress, fleeing abusive husbands, and jealousy - the famous green-eyed monster. Her other tales embrace hope for a better life and courage in the face of bullies. Each story ties in with the theme of water, which is a force to be reckoned with on its own. She expertly shows that everyone is capable of hurting another, but luckily only a few people act on this. Sometimes murder takes place in an instant. One of life’s greatest mysteries is how a person can just snap at a moment’s notice.

I thoroughly enjoyed Kelly Artieri’s short stories. They are so well written and describe the motivations behind the murders perfectly. Kelly’s theme in By the Water demonstrates that people are like bodies of water – perfectly calm and still one moment, then turbulent and dangerous the next. While the topic might be a bit macabre for some, Kelly has a knack for bringing a story about a murder to life. My favorite was Fruit of My Labor. Seeing the underdog win was a wonderful change of pace and I was rooting for Rebecca the whole time. The trick to really good writing is if the reader can empathize with the characters and Kelly has mastered this talent. I loved Kelly’s writing and this collection is well worth a read.

By the Water by Kelly Artieri is an anthology featuring nine short stories revolving around murder. Somewhere, a scared woman discovers a freshly buried corpse. A pet dog becomes the unexpected witness in a puzzling murder case. In ‘Palm Trees Make Me Happy,’ an obsessed husband stalks his wife relentlessly. In ‘Fruit of my Labor,’ a corrupt developer tries to acquire land by any means possible. A few stories feature a lone house near a haunted swamp. In another tale, a faraway island never lets the visitors return. In some cases, characters from one story appear in another, albeit with a different setting.

As I knew beforehand that the story I was reading would invariably feature a murder, there was a unique build-up of anticipation. I kept trying to predict the identity of the unfortunate victim and spent each moment dreading the silent arrival of death. Sometimes, Artieri made the predictions easier, making me watch helplessly as the characters neared their inevitable fate. At other times, the twists would take me by surprise. Whatever the case, there was a sense of foreboding lacing each tale. Artieri masterfully created a haunting miasma of fear and distrust that made the stories tug at my core, making me shiver. While a few stories explored the dark abyss of a twisted psyche, some made us empathize with the killer. Sometimes the murderers were deranged psychopaths, while sometimes, they were ordinary people driven by passion or self-preservation. My favorites were ‘White Out’ with its rapidly escalating tension, and ‘My Bonnie’ with its atmospheric nature. I recommend By the Water to anyone who loves a dose of spookiness.