Jigs & Reels: Short Stories by Joanne Harris (Doubleday, £15).
THE widespread feeling that the short story is dead is obviously premature.
Adding to a number of new collections being published this spring comes Harris' Jigs & Reels.
For those expecting tales only about food or France, prepare to be surprised.
The 22 eclectic stories here range from Blackpool vampires and ugly sisters, to mermaid women and kinky leatherware.
Each story is prefaced with a brief note from Harris about why, or where, she wrote it and 14 stories in the collection are new.
The others were specially written for magazines, other book collections or for broadcast.
This is a book that's difficult to put down.
John Phillpott
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