When writers publish novels under a pseudonym, it often allows them to make a new name for themselves in a different genre. But that was not the case with Joyce Carol Oates. She already was a well-known author with a number of psychological thrillers under her belt when she opted to release comparable stories as “Rosamond Smith” 40 years ago.

DOUBLE TROUBLE features two complete novels and two never-before-collected short stories originally written under Oates’ pen name between 1978 and 1999. Hard Case Crime has put these tales back in print for readers to enjoy. In this review, I will focus on the pair of novels.

"DOUBLE TROUBLE is a golden opportunity to revisit some outstanding work from the great Joyce Carol Oates, which allowed her to step into the shoes of Rosamond Smith and bring us complex and dark stories of obsession and murder that only she could have conceived."

STARR BRIGHT WILL BE WITH YOU SOON
Sharon Donner, an exotic dancer who performs under the name Starr Bright after a song from her youth, is a serial killer. She is driven by a hatred and vitriol for the male species that compels her to enact her signature brand of justice and revenge upon those who have the misfortune of crossing her path.

It begins at the Paradise Motel in Sparks, Nevada, where Starr is in the company of Billy Ray Cobb, a brute of a man whom she has selected for extinction. Once their sex play turns violent, she executes Billy Ray with the pearl-handled blade she had stashed in her purse. She brutalizes the body and writes in blood on the wall DIE PIG FILTH DIE SATAN with a crude star depicted below it.

Police begin to follow the tracks of the killer as she shows her modus operandi in other situations, each involving a bad man who she wants to make pay. Once her exploits have firmly hit the news, Starr changes her appearance and heads off to the home of her twin sister, Lily Merrick, to wait things out. Lily has not seen Sharon in a long time and only knows she’s a dancer who travels a lot for work with her troupe. Lily’s new husband is suspicious, while their teen daughter is in awe of her aunt.

The ending is far from predictable as old and new wounds are reopened between the sisters. Oates utilizes all of her dark noir skills to make this story disturb and sing.

SOUL/MATE
This novel brings us the flip side of the antisocial, psychopathic serial killer in the form of an obsessive young man. Wealthy and recently widowed Dorothea Deverell has not been the same since her husband’s unexpected death. However, she exists in a world of prestige, where being single and lonely is not acceptable.

As such, Dorothea has begun a new relationship with Charles Carpenter. But the scars she still wears from her grief make her susceptible to a new male figure who suddenly will enter her world and have a tremendous and unclear impact on her.

When Colin Asch turns up at a society gathering with Dorothea and several others, the story is told about his unfortunate upbringing that involved his parents dying when he was a child and the difficult time he had in foster care and many schools. Now he is back and supposedly prepared to acclimate into their social circle. However, Colin is disturbed and broken, and he has attained a lust for killing. Once he meets Dorothea, he feels a connection that he cannot explain and immediately becomes obsessed with her.

Colin’s next kills will be in her honor, but that is not where the horror of this story lies. Expect a surreal twist to the typical serial killer tale.

DOUBLE TROUBLE is a golden opportunity to revisit some outstanding work from the great Joyce Carol Oates, which allowed her to step into the shoes of Rosamond Smith and bring us complex and dark stories of obsession and murder that only she could have conceived.