1 book 2 stories.
The first, The Sisters Strange short -by the authors standards but vintage Connolly. The second story is actually 2 stories in one and takes place at the beginning of the Covid pandemic and first lockdown.
Both stories were rather minimal and so there was a lot of meaningless filler. Still a very good book, overall. ( )

The Furies are two books in one involving private detective Charlie Parker. The books were written tongue and cheek but not to be taken as a joke. The characters were all believable as well as the situations. The good guys and the bad guys helped each other. Five stars were awarded in this review. The remark afterwards was "wow." ( )

Two excellent Charlie Parker stories in one volume, with a ratty hotel for the down-and-out in common.

In the first, The Sisters Strang, Parker is drawn into a case featuring a ne-er-do-well who has just returned to town, the two sisters he used to, and will again, spend time with, and a quiet man who has fallen for one of the women.

There also is an elusive figure determined to get back something that was his. He has connections to old cases of Parker's, and those ghostly connections foreshadow what may well happen here.

In the second story The Furies, Parker tries to wrap up two new cases as Covid shutdown looms. One is the daughter of someone he knew in high school, who is with an increasingly abusive boyfriend. The other involves a mobster's widow who wants back memorabilia of her deceased child that two very bad men are holding for ransom.

As with most Parker stories, the dead are never far away.

Connolly's ability to combine wise-cracking PI work with the paranormal is unmatched. ( )

Short novel (Sisters Strange) & novella (Furies) follow the usual Charlie Parker format; not quite as catchy as early novels, but enjoyable. ( )

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Charlie Parker is back in John Connolly’s newest novel "The Furies." The cases we see Parker solve are all unique but connected by one common thread: Women who refuse to be a victim. While hunting for the answers we get to see Parker track down criminals, talk about Maine, and learn about coin collecting. All of this is done with Connolly’s beautiful prose and dry wit.

This novel is rather interesting. First, it’s not really one novel. Instead, it’s two shorter novels collected together. The first one, “The Sisters Strange,” was originally written as an online novella during the COVID-19 pandemic. I read along with the web serial at the time, but I am still glad I read the final published story. It is greatly expanded and some plot points tweaked, so it felt like a brand new experience.

Secondly, Connolly has once again gone back to the first-person perspective for the Parker novels. While originally all the novels were written in the first person, the series did a switch to the third person. I appreciate once again hearing Parker’s internal monologue and that there were still chapters told in the third person when Parker was “off-screen.”

As always Connolly’s prose is magnificent. Every sentence takes you on a journey and somehow he made even coin collecting sound interesting and sinister. I loved every diversion the plot takes to talk about a random side character. Portland, Maine comes to life in this text as every description is filled with rich imagery.

I loved this book. It was a wonderful read and a great diversion. While the split book format, basically being two novels printed together, was a little odd at first, there are enough connectors between the stories to make it a cohesive narrative. If you love the other Charlie Parker novels, then this one is sure to suit you. ( )