Killing it softly

The arrest of a serial killer in Vancouver forms the shadowy background to most of the stories in Nancy Lee's debut collection, all of which are fascinated by death.

With one eye on contemporary attitudes to death, informed largely by the way it is mediated through the news and TV, Lee examines how a society riddled with fear, insecurity, overexposure to violence, and confused ideas about mortality itself affect the individual psyche and the human capacity for love.

Lee uses words with forensic compassion, her stories shivery, thrilling pieces of emotional noir. An unusually intelligent debut.