Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

Graywolf, 264 pages, $16

Yes, I say this is a book about crimes. In a series of short stories, Carmen Maria Machado works on modernizing our western mythos. Sometimes taking urban myths and layering them, retelling them, and giving them a horror deeper than they originally had, Machado chills and thrills.

Peculiarities and a variety of sexual relationships underlie each story. My favorites are “Especially Heinous: 272 Views of Law & Order: SVU” and “Real Women Have Bodies.”

In “Especially Heinous,” Benson and Stabler of the NYC SVU (Special Victims Unit) are crossed by their doppelgängers, Henson and Abler. Machado creates bizarre underlying personal stories for actual series characters Benson and Stabler (of NBC’s juggernaut Law and Order series). Each “episode” is no more than a paragraph. About three “seasons” are covered, and a disjointed but cohesive tale is told. A police intern sent to hell (but sent back because he is annoying) and ghosts with jangling bells for eyes also populate the SVU vignettes. 

“Real Women Have Bodies” also features ghosts, although that is not quite the appropriate term. For a long time, women have been fading, becoming transparent, disappearing but not quite gone. This is a touching and mournful story about love and loss.

“Her Body and Other Parties” is original to the max, with fine writing, surprising turns, and plot twists that are melancholy, sweet, and funny.