Dead Girls

Britta Santowski is a freelance writer in Victoria.

The eight hauntingly morbid short stories that make up this debut
collection are thinly threaded together by cameo appearances of a
(fictional) Vancouver dentist, Thomas Coombs, who also happens to be a
serial killer with a specialization in prostitutes.

“Associated Press” explores the narrator’s relationships with
“this boy”—an electronic salesman whom she meets while on jury
duty for the trial of Thomas Coombs—and “that boy,” an activist
photographer. “Sally in Parts” scrutinizes Sally’s body in order
to reconstruct her life in relationship to her hospitalized father. In
“Valentines,” 15-year-old Joey sells the sexual favors of his
13-year-old girlfriend, Jess, to his 14-year-old friend, Kyle.

The title story concerns a missing teen-turned-prostitute and the
impact of her disappearance on her parents’ relationship. As they
drive toward East Vancouver in the story “East,” friends Annie and
Jemmie experience a mini-adventure somewhat reminiscent of Thelma and
Louise. In “Young Love,” an amphetamine-influenced nurse, Mary,
chaperones at a rave, aggressively flirts with the husband of a friend,
and sexually romps with a young teen high on Ecstasy. “Rollie and
Adele” explores the relationship between Rollie, a painfully shy
tattoo artist, and Adele, a street-worn prostitute. “Sisters” shows
how the differences between two sisters manifest themselves in relation
to Kevin the pimp.

These stories were apparently influenced by the large number of
prostitutes who vanished from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside in what
has since become Canada’s largest serial killer investigation. Linked
or not, Dead Girls shows how the effects of serial killings can ripple
through an entire community. Despite the grim subject matter, Lee’s
stories are infused with humor and a gentle humanity.