The Little Men is short. Very short. So short that it's probably better considered a short story than a novella. As such, this will probably be a very short review to match. The Mysterious Bookshop has published a series of short fiction from popular mystery authors that they're calling "Bibliomysteries". I'm definitely going to check a few more out, though I'll probably skip Anne Perry's because I may like murder in fiction but I'm not a fan of real-life murderers.

This story takes place in 1953 Hollywood, where failed actress Penny now works as a make-up artist on set. She's just been ditched by a Hollywood bigwig that uses and discards beautiful young women hoping that sleeping with him will grant them their big break on the silver screen. She rents a quaint little bungalow in Canyon Arms and befriends the elderly gay men living next door. They inform her of the bungalow's previous tenants, particularly a bookseller named Larry who committed suicide twelve years before, using the gas stove.

The furniture is still the same as it was when Larry lived and died there twelve years earlier, including all his books, and Mrs. Stahl, the landlord, admonishes Penny when she moves the bed a small distance from the wall. That's when things start to get weird. Penny is awakened every night at 2am by lights and noises. She begins to unravel, and we, the readers, become increasingly unsure of what is real and what is not, are she becomes sure that she is being tortured by little men. The books and their former owner seem to awaken something in Penny, influencing her increasingly bizarre dreams and filtering into her everyday life, increasing her paranoia regarding the landlord.

Megan Abbott is great at creating a setting, her use of language and grimy descriptions of Hollywood transporting you there. It's easy to imagine. She deftly manages Penny's confusion and paranoia, cleverly weaving a possible murder mystery with a ghost story. The Little Men is fast and incredibly absorbing, a fun mesh of genres that you can read in a very short amount of time. ( )

Girl Noir. I can't say I've ever read any before now, but who cares? I loved it. Megan Abbott's prose is so damn sharp that I can hear the hunting knife scratch on the inside of my kitchen wall from here.

What can I say? I love Penny. I feel empathy for her. I got sucked right in to the mystery and sucked right into her empathy for poor Larry. This was damn fine suspense, worthy of any of the best horror writing I've ever had the pleasure to read. You might say I rolled in it like a dog to shit on a grassy knoll.

Okay. Raise your hand if you're one of those crazy fans of Mulholland Drive. It's okay to admit it. I am one of those people. You remember that scene with the little people? The 'OMGWTH am I seeing, and why am I so fascinated with something I can't understand' kind of feeling?

Well, yeah. I got that here. I loved it. Almost magical realism. It skirts the edge without quite making the cut, and that's the whole point. The whole story is sharp.

I think I've found a new guilty pleasure. Moaar girl noir. ;) ( )

This is actually a short story --- in fact it was included in Otto Penzler's "Best Of..." annual surveys in 2014. It's one of those stories where, if you consider the various options open to the narrator/central character, and decide which is the worst decision she could make -- well, of course, that's the decision she does make. The ending was quite good, though. ( )

This is just a short story, but it was satisfying! I really enjoyed the old Hollywood setting (I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts about this Hollywood era), and could perfectly picture the Canyon Arms in my head. Abbott keeps you guessing, even at the end. Is Penny a reliable narrator? Is she crazy? Is it gas? Is it ghosts? Is the landlady messing with her? What about those guys next door? Abbott takes you on a brief but wild ride through this time in Penny’s life. This was easily read on a weekend morning, and was well worth the time. ( )

Nice novella set up in 50’s Hollywood about a failed actress who rents a bungalow with a past. And although books are less prevalent here than in other Bibliomysteries titles (and I missed them), this story, with its mixture of noir and spooky elements, turns out to be a gripping and entertaining short read with a moving ending. ( )