Cold Eye by Margaret Skinner — Margaret Skinner

In the collected stories of Cold Eye, the characters face emotional mishaps, soulful sorrow and sucker-punch surprises in the City of Memphis, alternately known over the years as the murder capital of America, the home of the blues, and the birthplace of rock 'n' roll. With a backdrop like that, it figures that the stories told in the bars, barbecue joints, and churches of such a gritty city would offer a unique perspective on life.

In the title story “Cold Eye,” a man named Franko discovers his own breast cancer while participating in his wife's monthly breast exam.

“In Lou Groza,” a grown man experiences the surprise of his life when he meets his father for the first time ever in a neighborhood tavern.

In “The Things She Carries” a married woman receives both a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star from her former lover in the setting of Memphis' Old Forest.

In “Banana Day,” a surprise visitor turns Mawgrits' life inside out and, at the same time, recalls Beale Street and the sins of her Great-Uncle Jim Kinnane, Czar of the Underworld and Beale Street kingpin.

The shadow of certain death hovers close by the lake as a mother, father and son fish in “Wapanocca” . . . “Cane Brake” finds family members watching the clock and discussing the life and times of the family patriarch as he undergoes a liver transplant, questioning his worthiness.

In “House of Fury,” the mother of four grown sons living at home, takes on the task of raising a grandson who plays blues harp with a black youth as Memphis Sanitation Workers strike during the Civil Rights era of 1968, when Dr. Martin Luther King came to town in support of the workers and met his death.