30 Years of Short Crime Fiction Excellence

The recently announced Derringer Award finalists from the Short Mystery Fiction Society marks the 30th year of the organization and the 28th anniversary of the awards. The honors currently include the categories of Best Flash Story (up to 1000 words), Best Short Story (1001-4000 words), Best Long Story (4001-8000 words), Best Novelette (8001-20,000 words). (Best Anthology was added last year.) I've been fortunate to have been a four-time finalist and also a winner in the Short Story category.

On Art Taylor's "The First Two Pages" blog feature this week, I was featured as part of the new anthology, Hot Shots: Celebrating Thirty Years of the Short Mystery Fiction Society, which was just released. Editor Josh Pachter chose one story from each of the 28 years the SMFS has handed out Derringers for the anthology. I was thrilled to have my 2012 winning story, "The Touch of Death," chosen for inclusion, especially to be slotted alongside such luminaries as Doug Allyn, Michael Bracken, Bill Crider, John Floyd, Slesar, Cathi Stoler, Art Taylor, Melissa Yi, and many more.

For some of the best short crime fiction, from hardboiled to cozy, check out this celebratory anthology and enjoy some fun, thrilling quick reads. And if you're a writer in this genre, consider joining the SMFS. Membership is free and is open to writers, editors, publishers, and anyone with an interest in the subject.

Short, But Sweet

 

The Short Mystery Fiction Society (SMFS) announced the finalists for the annual Derringer Awards. The SMFS is a group of writers, readers, editors, publishers, and others dedicated to the promotion and celebration of mystery and crime short stories. Since 1998, the SMFS has awarded the annual Derringers to outstanding published short stories and people who've greatly advanced or supported the form. The Best Anthology Derringer was also presented for the first time in 2025. The winning short stories will be revealed on May 1, and winners will receive medals that are presented during Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention. Congrats to all the finalists!

Best Flash Story (Up to 1,000 words)

• "Bradycardia" by Elizabeth Dearborn (Punk Noir Magazine, 2/4/2025)
• "Check Rear Seat" by Carl Tait (Exquisite Death, 5/1/2025)
• "It All Comes Out in the Wash" by James Patrick Focarile (Gumshoe Review, 10/31/2025)
• "Just Like Old Times" by Shari Held (Yellow Mama, 2/15/2025)
• "The Man Under the Bridge" by Bern Sy Moss (Spillwords, 6/1/2025)

Best Short Story (1,001 to 4,000 words)

• "Blind Pig" by Michael Bracken (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, September/October 2025)
• "Chains" by Frank Vatel (All Due Respect, 9/1/25)
• "Hollywood Prometheus" by Christa Faust (Crime Ink: Iconic: An Anthology of Crime Fiction Inspired by Queer Icons, Bywater Books)
• "The Artist" by Linda Ann Bennett (Midnight Schemers & Daydream Believers: 22 Stories of Mystery & Suspense, Superior Shores Press)
• "Wax On, Wax Off" by Nina Mansfield (Donna Andrews Presents Malice Domestic: Mystery Most Humorous, Wildside Press)

Best Long Story (4,001 to 8,000 words)

• "A Sign of the Times" by Tom Milani (Sleuths Just Wanna Have Fun: Private Eyes in the Materialistic Eighties, Down & Out Books)
• "Masterpiece" by Mark Thielman (Black Cat Mystery Magazine 16, September 2025)
• "Six-Armed Robbery" by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier (Donna Andrews Presents Malice Domestic: Mystery Most Humorous, Wildside Press)
• "Whatever Kills the Pain" by C.W. Blackwell (Whatever Kills the Pain, Rock and a Hard Place Press)
• "Zebra Finch" by donalee Moulton (The Most Dangerous Games, Level Best Books - Level Short)

Best Novelette (8,001 to 20,000 words)

• "Aswarby Hall" by David Dean (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, March/April 2025)
• "Loose Change from a Mini Cooper" by Frank Zafiro (Chop Shop Episode 10, Down & Out Books)
• "Saint Bullethead" by Nick Kolakowski (Fighting Words: Bruisers, Brawlers, & Bad Intentions, Leonardo Audio)
• "The High Priest of Low Men" by C.W. Blackwell (Myopic Duplicity: Do the Ends Ever Justify the Means?, Leonardo Audio)
• "The Temporary Murder of Thomas Monroe" by Tia Tashiro (Clarkesworld, January 2025) (audio version)

Best Anthology (previously announced)

• Crimeucopia - The Not So Frail Detective Agency edited by John Connor (Murderous Ink Press)
• Gone Fishin': Crime Takes a Holiday, The Eighth Guppy Anthology edited by James M. Jackson (Wolf's Echo Press)
• Hollywood Kills: An Anthology edited by Adam Meyer & Alan Orloff (Level Best Books - Level Short)
• Midnight Schemers & Daydream Believers: 22 Stories of Mystery & Suspense edited by Judy Penz Sheluk (Superior Shores Press)
• On Fire and Under Water: A Climate Change Crime Fiction Anthology edited by Curtis Ippolito (Rock and a Hard Place Press)
• SoWest: Danger Awaits! A Desert Sleuths Anthology edited by Claire A. Murray, Eva Eldridge, Suzanne E. Flaig, Denise Galley, and Sarah Smith (DS Publishing)

Farewell to a Fine Crime Fiction Publication

I just learned this morning of the closing of Mystery Magazine magazine (formerly known as Mystery Weekly). As their website notes:

 

Due to the subscription challenges we've faced following the closure of Kindle Newsstand, Mystery Magazine will cease publication with September 2024 being our final issue.

Since 2015, Mystery Magazine has published over one hundred issues, featuring nearly 800 original stories by over 700 authors. All issues are available in print and Kindle formats on Amazon and have never appeared online. Issue bundles are available through Amazon that serve as a veritable "who's who" of the mystery writing world, including both established and emerging authors.

It has been a privilege and an honor to share our love of short mystery stories over the years!

Kerry & Chuck

 

I was fortunate and honored to have three of my own short stories published in the magazine, and I join other authors of the genre both in mourning and in appreciation of all the work Kerry and Chuck have done through the years. Print magazines are a dying breed, it seems, and Amazon's decision to shut down Kindle Newsstand has led to the shuttering of several other publications in the past year or two. This also serves as a reminder: if you love crime fiction, consider subscribing to these magazines! It will help them, and you'll also benefit from the hours of reading pleasure they provide.

An Avalanche of (Non-Charity) Anthologies

Yesterday, I took note of some recent anthologies for charity, but there are many more anthologies based on other themes and events that have come through the publishing pipeline recently. Here are some of those titles:

Under the auspices of New York City’s The Mysterious Bookshop and its affiliated Mysterious Press, Lee Child has selected twenty short crime tales as the Best Mystery Stories of the Year. The award-winning Mysterious Press senior editor, Otto Penzler, brings his decades of anthologist experience to this new annual publication, each of which will feature a different bestselling author to serve as guest editor. The inaugural edition includes tales by Stephen King, Sara Paretsky, Doug Allyn, Jim Allyn, Michael Bracken, James Lee Burke, Martin Edwards, John Floyd, Jacqueline Freimor, Alison Gaylin, Sue Grafton, Paul Kemprecos, Janice Law, Dennis McFadden, David Marcum, Tom Mead, David Morrell, Joyce Carol Oates, Joseph S. Walker, and Andrew Welsh-Huggins.

Meanwhile, Steph Cha is taking the helm of the Best American Mystery and Suspense series (formerly edited by Penzler), with best-selling crime novelist Alafair Burke joining her as the first guest editor. Spanning from a mediocre spa in Florida, to New York’s gritty East Village, to death row in Alabama, this collection reveals boundless suspense in small, quiet moments, offering startling twists in the least likely of places. The lineup of featured authors includes Jenny Bhatt, Christopher Bollen, Nikki Dolson, E. Gabriel Flores, Alison Gaylin, Gar Anthony Haywood, Ravi Howard, Gabino Iglesias, Charin Jones, Aya de Leon, Preston Lang, Laura Lippman, Kristen Lepionka, Joanna Pearson, Delia C. Pitts, Eliot Schrefer, Alex Segura, Brian Silverman, Faye Snowden, and Lisa Unger.

This Time For Sure is the latest Bouchercon Anthology, edited by Hank Phillippi Ryan and available from Down & Out Books. What would you do if you had a second chance? A do-over? How far would you go to get back at the one who got away, the one who did you wrong, the one who tricked you, manipulated you, ignored you? Twenty-two brilliant skilled authors now offer their journeys into revenge, revealing how they would even the score, turn the tables, make things right. One used a map. One a tape recorder. A decoy. A disguise. A lie. One even used a banana. Featured authors include Craig Johnson, Gabriel Valjan, Kristen Lepionka, Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Karen Dionne, Clark Boyd, David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Elizabeth Elwood, Damyanti Biswas, Martha Reed, Lucy Burdette, Sharon Bader, Alexia Gordon, Alex Segura, Edwin Hill, Steve Shrott, Elisabeth Elo, Alan Orloff, G. Miki Hayden, Charles Todd, Heather Graham, and Ellen Clair Lamb.
 

Midnight Hour, edited by Abby L. Vandiver and published by Crooked Lane, showcases 20 mystery and suspense stories written by people of color, each with a pivotal moment set at midnight. Highlights include Callie Browning’s twisty "Dead Men Tell No Tales, which centers on the murder of the prime minister of Barbados; Christopher Chambers’s clever "In the Matter of Mabel and Bobby Jefferson," in which Shane, an English major now working the night shift at an insurance company call center, wearily concludes, "It’s going to get funny tonight," but he doesn’t know the half of it; Tina Kashian’s unsettling "Cape May Murders," Sona and Priya, both mothers of young daughters, go away for a relaxing weekend at the Jersey Shore and wind up sharing their B&B with a murderer; and Sanjay, the Hindi Houdini, finds his séance spinning out of control in Gigi Pandian’s droll, "The Diamond Vanishes."
 

Untreed Reads recently released Monkey Business, featuring a Who's Who of award-winning crime writers paying homage to the Marx Brothers in fourteen short stories, each inspired by one of the brothers' studio films. Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, Duck Soup, Animal Crackers...over the two decades between 1929's The Cocoanuts and 1949's Love Happy, the Marx Brothers-Groucho, Harpo, Chico (and sometimes Zeppo) entertained movie-goers around the world with their madcap antics, rapid-fire dialogue, and prowess on the piano, the harp, and in song. Authors with stories here include Donna Andrews, Frankie Y. Bailey, Jeff Cohen, Lesley A. Diehl, Brendan DuBois, Terence Faherty, Barb Goffman, Joseph Goodrich, Robert Lopresti, Sandra Murphy, Robert J. Randisi, Marilyn Todd, Joseph S. Walker, and editor Josh Pachter.

The stories in Murder by the Glass: Cocktail Mysteries, also from Untreed Reads, infuse this collection of deadly deeds with a variety of potent potables from light-bodied puzzles to edgier tales with bitter consequences. This anthology includes works by Allie Marie, Betsy Ashton, Frances Aylor, Mary Dutta, Eleanor Cawood Jones, Diane Fanning, Debra H. Goldstein, Libby Hall, Maria Hudgins, Teresa Inge, Maggie King, Kristin Kisska, Allie Marie, K. L. Murphy, Alan Orloff, Josh Pachter, Shawn Reilly Simmons and Heather Weidner.
 

So West: Love Kills is the latest anthology from Sisters in Crime Desert Sleuths Chapter. From the wilds of Arizona’s Rim country to its dusty lowland deserts, you’ll find it all within the pages of So West: Love Kills. Bonds forged and broken. Covenants kept and cast aside. Love nurtured and left to rot. Not everything is as it seems. Not everyone can be trusted. But one thing is for certain—love hurts. Sometimes it even kills! Contributing authors include Shannon Baker, Mysti Berry, Meredith Blevins, Patricia Bonn, Lauren Buckingham, Susan Budavari, William Butler, Patricia Curren, Meg E. Dobson, Beverly Forsyth, Denise Ganley, Roberta Gibson, Katherine Atwell Herbert, Tom Leveen, Susan Cummins Miller, Charlotte Morganti, Julie Morrison, Claire A. Murray, Kris Neri, Karen Odden, R K Olson, D.R. Ransdell, Kim Rivery, Elena E. Smith. 

Stores in the Capitol Crimes 2021 Anthology, Cemetery Plots of Northern California (with a foreword by best-selling author Catriona McPherson), delve into the creative minds of Capitol Crimes members. The setting: Northern California. The theme: that place we all finally must visit, the cemetery. The plots and characters are as diverse as the authors. And their stories will touch your spirit where adventure and fear intersect. The featured stories are from Donna Benedict, Melissa H. Blaine, Jenny Carless, Chris Dreith, Eve Elliot, Elaine Faber, Kenneth Gwin, Kim Keeline, Virginia Kidd, Nan Mahon, Jennifer Morita, Karen Phillips, Richard Schneider, Terry Shepherd, and Joseph S. Walker.

Another Sisters in Crime chapter, SinC NY-TriState, has published the anthology, Justice for All: Murder New York Style 5. Injustice may lurk inside a swanky Manhattan apartment, a high school classroom, a Soho art gallery, a Madison Avenue church, the waters traversed by the Staten Island ferry, turn-of-the-century Lower East Side, or the Brooklyn suburbs. The crime committed may involve homophobia, xenophobia, child abandonment, sexual abuse, white privilege, ageism, or literary snobbery. Regardless, these tales are designed to both enlighten and delight readers of suspense who seek out a bit of fairness and integrity in the city that may never sleep but does often rectify its wrongs. Participating authors include Lori Robbins, Catherine Siemann, Cathi Stoler, Anne-Marie Sutton, D.M. Barr, Roz Siegel, Kathleen Marple Kalb, Ellen Quint, Mary Jo Robertiello, Catherine Maiorisi, Nancy Good, Nina Mansfield, Susie Case, Stephanie Wilson-Flaherty, Nina Wachsman, and Elle Hartford.

There's also Death by Cupcake, edited by Jess Faraday. A cupcake sounds so innocent, but these cupcakes aren’t always sweet. In fact, many lead to a sticky end. But only for those who truly deserve it. Featured stories include "The House Next Door" by Lee Mullins;" Sweet Anaphylactic Revenge" by Meg Candelria; "Tea & Misery" by Tracy Falenwolf; "Hello Goodbye Cupcake" by Mark Hague; "Cupcakes and Emeralds" by Maggie King; "The Third Act" by Gay Toltl Kinman; "Up a Pole Without a Paddle" by JoAnne Lucas; and "Little Miss Cupcake" by Korina Moss.
 

Bristol Noir has published two new anthologies: Tainted Hearts & Dirty Hellhounds, featuring Alpheus Williams, Andrew Davie, Anthony Neil Smith, B.F. Jones, Ben Newell, Blake Johnson, Bobby Mathews, C.W. Blackwell, Curtis Ippolito, David Tromblay, Don Stoll, F.J. Romano, Gabriel Hart, Graham Wynd, Ian Ayris, Jason Butkowski, J.B. Stevens, and John Bowie; and Savage Minds & Raging Bulls, with stories from John Bowie, M.E. Proctor, Mark Atley, Mark McConville, Max Thrax, M.Jack Hall, MJ Newman, Nathan Pettigrew, Paul D. Brazill, Phil Hurst, Richard Barr, Russell Day, Scott Cumming, Stephen J. Golds, Tom Leins, William R. Soldan, Wilson Koewing, and Zakariah Johnson.
 

Murderous Ink Press has just published Crimeucopia - Careless Love. Is love ever perfect? Or is it an obsession that remains rather than just a passing phase? And who’s to say that Revenge isn’t, in fact, a dish best served hot from the flames of passion? Fifteen writers tell us about affairs of the heart – some with humor, some with a darker intent, and others that are never quite exactly what they seem. There are stories from Steve Sneyd, Ange Morrissey, James Roth, Michael Wiley, Gustavo Bondoni, Matthew Wilson, Peter W. J. Hayes, Wil A. Emerson, Brandon Barrows, Bern Sy Moss, Michael Anthony Dioguardi, Russell Richardson, Robert Petyo, Sam Westcott, Bryn Fortey, and Vicky LaPerso – all of whom take us on roller coaster rides through a fictional Tunnel of Love. 
 

One of Down & Out Books' latest anthologies (with a release date of October 11) is Trouble No More. Turn on any classic rock station, and you’ll hear Southern Rock tunes that will make you stomp your foot and sing along to. The hard-rocking pioneers of the genre left behind a legacy of hard living that endures today. The stories in Trouble No More celebrate those pioneers. Find ramblers, gamblers, swindlers, and double-dealers within these pages, all striving to survive more than the Southern humidity. There are twenty-one stories of heartbreak, murder, robbery, and barnyard brawls from Bill Baber, C.W. Blackwell, Jerry Bloomfield, S.A. Cosby, Nikki Dolson, Michel Lee Garrett, James D.F. Hannah, Curtis Ippolito, Jessica Laine, Brodie Lowe, Bobby Mathews, Brian Panowich, Rob Pierce, Joey R. Poole, Raquel V. Reyes, Michael Farris Smith, J.B. Stevens, Chris Swann, Art Taylor, N.B. Turner, and Joseph S. Walker.

 

Anthologies for Charity

Some recent anthologies that are raising money for various charities have popped up in my various newsfeeds lately. Here are some of the more recent ones that are helping to provide money and awareness for Covid relief, cancer, and violence against women:

This Halloween, a group of crime writers including Peter James, M W Craven, T M Logan, and Trevor Wood are publishing a spooky crime anthology to help raise funds for the Barnardos Children in Crisis Appeal, set up in the wake of the "shadow pandemic" created by Covid-19. The collection, Afraid of the Shadows, features 20 short stories edited by Miranda Jewess, editorial director at Viper. It is the third volume in the bestselling Afraid of the Light series, launched during the March 2020 lockdown, which has raised thousands of pounds for its chosen charities. It includes contributions from CWA Short Story Dagger shortlistees Victoria Selman, Elle Croft, Robert Scragg, James Delargy, and Dominic Nolan, as well as stories by Phoebe Morgan, S R Masters, Clare Empson, Matt Wesolowski, N J Mackay, Kate Simants, Jo Furniss, Heather Critchlow, Adam Southward and Rachael Blok.

Telos Publishing has picked up a new crime anthology edited by USA Today bestselling author, Samantha Lee Howe. The book, titled Criminal Pursuits: Crimes Through Time, has been put together by Howe to raise money for the charity POhWER which works to give a voice to those struggling with Human Rights issues in the UK. The authors taking part are: A A Chaudhuri, Raven Dane, Caroline England, Paul Finch, Samantha Lee Howe, Rhys Hughes, Maxim Jakubowski, Awais Khan, Paul Magrs, Sandra Murphy, Amy Myers, Bryony Pearce, Christine Poulson, and Sally Spedding.

The Pixel Project, established to end violence against women, has launched its first charity anthology, Giving the Devil His Due, published in partnership with Running Wild Press. Best described as "The Twilight Zone meets Promising Young Woman," the anthology will feature sixteen stories in homage to the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence, one of the largest annual anti-violence against women events in the world. Edited by Rebecca Brewer, formerly of Ace (Penguin Random House), the anthology includes sixteen major names and rising stars in Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror today including Angela Yuriko Smith, Christina Henry, Dana Cameron, Errick Nunnally, Hillary Monahan, Jason Sanford, Kaaron Warren, Kelley Armstrong, Kenesha Williams, Leanna Renee Hieber, Lee Murray, Linda D. Addison, Nicholas Kaufmann, Nisi Shawl, Peter Tieryas, and Stephen Graham Jones.

The C Word: For some lockdown has been murder is a collection of short stories collated during the COVID-19 pandemic to raise money for NHS Charities Together. Described as "a plethora of wonderful stories created by a wide variety of writers, each with their own unique style," the anthology includes contributions from Steve Mosby, Sophie Hannah, Elly Griffiths, Sarah Hilary, and twenty other crime fiction authors.

The fourth installment in Gutter Books’ Rock Anthology Series, Coming Through in Waves, pays tribute to Pink Floyd and is edited by horror author and cancer survivor T. Fox Dunham. Coming Through in Waves weaves together a plethora of dark, strange, and intriguing images that only Pink Floyd could inspire, with stories by Dunham, K. A. Laity, Paul Brazill, Allan Rozinski, A. Patterson, Morgan Sylvia, S. Lauden, Andy Rausch, Tom Leins, and Kimberly Godwin. A portion of the proceeds from this project will be donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, to which T. Fox Dunham, a survivor of a rare form of lymphoma, is indebted.

Back in February, Down & Out released The Great Filling Station Holdup, edited by Josh Pachter, featuring crime stories inspired by the music of Jimmy Buffett, famous for his iconic "Margaritaville." Here, you can enjoy stories from Leigh Lundin, Josh Pachter, Rick Ollerman, Michael Bracken, Don Bruns, Alison McMahan, Bruce Robert Coffin, Lissa Marie Redmond, Elaine Viets, Robert J. Randisi, Laura Oles, Isabella Maldonado, Jeffery Hess, Neil Plakcy, John M. Floyd, and M.E. Browning. A third of all royalties are being donated to two charities co-founded by Jimmy Buffett, Singing for Change and the Save the Mantee Club.

The 'Zine Scene

The new May/June 2019 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine is out with sunny shores that contain dark secrets, including Edgar Award winner Art Taylor’s “Better Days”; the edge-of-your-seat ride “Hurricane Jonah” by T.J. MacGregor; Pat Black’s policemen on a bittersweet day, “The First Day of the School Holidays”; a private investigator in Mark Stevens’s “A Bitter Thing,” a story taking place in the world of hit rock musicians; the latest take from EQMM's Black Mask department, Dave Zeltserman's "Brother's Keeper" and much more.

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine's May/June issue takes a look at the divide in mystery fiction between the professional investigator and the amateur sleuth and how the interplay between vocation and avocation can unfold in any number of interesting ways. Whether it’s the duly anointed law enforcement officers whose personal passions inform their work, or the accidental sleuth whose professional expertise sheds light on a knotty problem, this month’s stories reveal the complex feedback between the things people do for pay and for love. The cover story is “A Deadly Game of Flamingo Bingo” by Terrie Farley Moran, with other tales by Chris Muessig, Gigi Vernon, Elizabeth Zelvin, Melissa Fall, and more.

Soon after its founding in 2011, Noir Nation: International Crime Fiction became a globally recognized home of international crime fiction and, with this issue, it also includes noir poetry. Noir Nation #7 features fiction by Deborah Pintonelli, Nahary Hernandez, JJ Toner, Barbie Wilde, David James Keaton, Ava Black, Simon Rowe, D.V. Bennett, Frauke Schuster, Gerald Heys, and BV Lawson; poetry by Bianca Bellová, Adam Ward, Juleigh Howard-Hobson, Bonny Finberg, and Shawn Stibbards; nonfiction by Michael Gonzales; a staff interview with police detective and writer George Beck; plus the winners of the First Golden Fedora Poetry Prize: George Perreault, Michael Zimecki, Timothy Ryan, J.D. Smith, Craig Kenworthy, Frank De Blasé, James Gardner, Joe Cortinas, Barry Nathan, and Timothy Tarkelly.

Mystery Weekly Magazine's April issue features “The Persistence Of Illusion” by Bond Elam, in which Detective Harry Sturgis finds himself stuck with a twenty-five-year-old case and the last thing he expects is to get himself killed; “One Night At The Pine Lake Motel” by Blu Gilliand finds two pro wrestlers and one disbelieving spectator on a collision course with trouble on a hot summer night at a seedy Alabama motel; in “Tangerines And Wild Garlic” by Steve Toase, Sarah travels to Ben's hometown to meet his family, but then she finds herself in the midst of a town tradition where everything is not what it seems; PTSD is the focus of “Paper Soldier” by Al Onia; in “Andromeda Smiled” by C.W. Blackwell, retired detective Charlie Kane is lured from his solitude to reprise his role as a famous gumshoe; “Honey's Turn” by Michael Cahlin and Beth Slick is a twisted his-and-her love story and what happens when a good love goes really, really bad.

The spring Mystery Scene magazine features a profile of thriller author Steve Barry; there's also a look at the “Ten Commandments of Mystery Fiction" as laid out by author Father Ronald A. Knox; Oline Cogdill has rounded up a pack of canine sleuths; Jon L. Breen has a roundup of the latest legal thrillers; author Robert Dugoni tells how studying law taught him to think linearly and problem-solve; there's the always interesting “The Hook: Intriguing First Lines” feature, showcasing interesting openings from mystery novels, and much more.

Strand Magazine: Issue 57 includes an exclusive Walter Mosley short story about a bank teller’s impact on a huge corporation with “An Unlikely Serious of Conversations.” Noted author James Ziskin pens a story about a meek husband’s wonderful escape plan with “A Bed of Roses.” David Marcum has Holmes and Watson on the case with a “A Simple Solution.” Elizabeth Creith pens a story set during two times dealing with spells and the Spanish Armada with “The Spanish Entanglement.” And Jeffrey Alan Lockwood has a most unusual PI solve a murder case in “With a Little Help from my Friends.” There's also an exclusive interview with bestselling author Don Winslow who spoke about drug cartels, writing, and his latest novel, The Border, plus you'll find oodles of book reviews.

Mystery Tribune's second anniversary issue features a curated collection of short fiction including stories by Hester Young, Edgar Award Winner SJ Rozan, Hilary Davidson, Ryan David Jahn, Edgar Award Winner Gary Earl Ross, Jonathan Ferrini, Kevin R. Roller, and William R. Soldan; interviews and reviews by Charlaine Harris, Charles Perry and Nick Kolakowski; art and photography by Brittany Markert, Anka Zhuravleva and more. This issue also features a preview of the new Wrath Of Fantomas graphic novel by Olivier Bocquet and Julie Rocheleau.

Volume 31, no. 1 of Clues: A Journal of Detection includes articles on dementia in detective fiction; trauma and contemporary crime fiction; a Percy Bysshe Shelley poem viewed as a detective story; a look at “The Sign of Four" and the detective (Sherlock Holmes) as a disrupter of order; two new takes on the Nancy Drew series; and more.

The latest edition of Switchblade Magazine is out, with new noir fiction focusing on “the darkness and complexity of the human psyche” by Paul D. Marks, Jack Bates, Mark Slade, Richard Risemberg, J. Rohr, Willie Smith, A.F. Knott, John Kojak, Fred Rock, and Stefen Styrsky. Managing Editor Scotch Rutherford promises a heaping helping of vice including prostitution, racketeering, a new take on good old-fashioned mob fiction, and a little unorthodox religious intervention.

The new Flash Bang Mysteries offers up the Featured Cover Story, “Getting Ideas” by Amy Samin; The Editors' Choice story, “Conversation with the Murderer” by Heidi Hunter; and other new crime stories from Herschel Cozine (“Dead End”); Karen Cantwell (“Stupid is as Stupid Does”), John M. Floyd (“Grandpa's Watch”), and Stay Woodson (“The Final Course”).

The 'Zine Scene

The new May/June 2019 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine is out with sunny shores that contain dark secrets, including Edgar Award winner Art Taylor’s “Better Days”; the edge-of-your-seat ride “Hurricane Jonah” by T.J. MacGregor; Pat Black’s policemen on a bittersweet day, “The First Day of the School Holidays”; a private investigator in Mark Stevens’s “A Bitter Thing,” a story taking place in the world of hit rock musicians; the latest take from EQMM's Black Mask department, Dave Zeltserman's "Brother's Keeper" and much more.

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine's May/June issue takes a look at the divide in mystery fiction between the professional investigator and the amateur sleuth and how the interplay between vocation and avocation can unfold in any number of interesting ways. Whether it’s the duly anointed law enforcement officers whose personal passions inform their work, or the accidental sleuth whose professional expertise sheds light on a knotty problem, this month’s stories reveal the complex feedback between the things people do for pay and for love. The cover story is “A Deadly Game of Flamingo Bingo” by Terrie Farley Moran, with other tales by Chris Muessig, Gigi Vernon, Elizabeth Zelvin, Melissa Fall, and more.

Soon after its founding in 2011, Noir Nation: International Crime Fiction became a globally recognized home of international crime fiction and, with this issue, it also includes noir poetry. Noir Nation #7 features fiction by Deborah Pintonelli, Nahary Hernandez, JJ Toner, Barbie Wilde, David James Keaton, Ava Black, Simon Rowe, D.V. Bennett, Frauke Schuster, Gerald Heys, and BV Lawson; poetry by Bianca Bellová, Adam Ward, Juleigh Howard-Hobson, Bonny Finberg, and Shawn Stibbards; nonfiction by Michael Gonzales; a staff interview with police detective and writer George Beck; plus the winners of the First Golden Fedora Poetry Prize: George Perreault, Michael Zimecki, Timothy Ryan, J.D. Smith, Craig Kenworthy, Frank De Blasé, James Gardner, Joe Cortinas, Barry Nathan, and Timothy Tarkelly.

Mystery Weekly Magazine's April issue features “The Persistence Of Illusion” by Bond Elam, in which Detective Harry Sturgis finds himself stuck with a twenty-five-year-old case and the last thing he expects is to get himself killed; “One Night At The Pine Lake Motel” by Blu Gilliand finds two pro wrestlers and one disbelieving spectator on a collision course with trouble on a hot summer night at a seedy Alabama motel; in “Tangerines And Wild Garlic” by Steve Toase, Sarah travels to Ben's hometown to meet his family, but then she finds herself in the midst of a town tradition where everything is not what it seems; PTSD is the focus of “Paper Soldier” by Al Onia; in “Andromeda Smiled” by C.W. Blackwell, retired detective Charlie Kane is lured from his solitude to reprise his role as a famous gumshoe; “Honey's Turn” by Michael Cahlin and Beth Slick is a twisted his-and-her love story and what happens when a good love goes really, really bad.

The spring Mystery Scene magazine features a profile of thriller author Steve Barry; there's also a look at the “Ten Commandments of Mystery Fiction" as laid out by author Father Ronald A. Knox; Oline Cogdill has rounded up a pack of canine sleuths; Jon L. Breen has a roundup of the latest legal thrillers; author Robert Dugoni tells how studying law taught him to think linearly and problem-solve; there's the always interesting “The Hook: Intriguing First Lines” feature, showcasing interesting openings from mystery novels, and much more.

Strand Magazine: Issue 57 includes an exclusive Walter Mosley short story about a bank teller’s impact on a huge corporation with “An Unlikely Serious of Conversations.” Noted author James Ziskin pens a story about a meek husband’s wonderful escape plan with “A Bed of Roses.” David Marcum has Holmes and Watson on the case with a “A Simple Solution.” Elizabeth Creith pens a story set during two times dealing with spells and the Spanish Armada with “The Spanish Entanglement.” And Jeffrey Alan Lockwood has a most unusual PI solve a murder case in “With a Little Help from my Friends.” There's also an exclusive interview with bestselling author Don Winslow who spoke about drug cartels, writing, and his latest novel, The Border, plus you'll find oodles of book reviews.

Mystery Tribune's second anniversary issue features a curated collection of short fiction including stories by Hester Young, Edgar Award Winner SJ Rozan, Hilary Davidson, Ryan David Jahn, Edgar Award Winner Gary Earl Ross, Jonathan Ferrini, Kevin R. Roller, and William R. Soldan; interviews and reviews by Charlaine Harris, Charles Perry and Nick Kolakowski; art and photography by Brittany Markert, Anka Zhuravleva and more. This issue also features a preview of the new Wrath Of Fantomas graphic novel by Olivier Bocquet and Julie Rocheleau.

Volume 31, no. 1 of Clues: A Journal of Detection includes articles on dementia in detective fiction; trauma and contemporary crime fiction; a Percy Bysshe Shelley poem viewed as a detective story; a look at “The Sign of Four" and the detective (Sherlock Holmes) as a disrupter of order; two new takes on the Nancy Drew series; and more.

The latest edition of Switchblade Magazine is out, with new noir fiction focusing on “the darkness and complexity of the human psyche” by Paul D. Marks, Jack Bates, Mark Slade, Richard Risemberg, J. Rohr, Willie Smith, A.F. Knott, John Kojak, Fred Rock, and Stefen Styrsky. Managing Editor Scotch Rutherford promises a heaping helping of vice including prostitution, racketeering, a new take on good old-fashioned mob fiction, and a little unorthodox religious intervention

The new Flash Bang Mysteries offers up the Featured Cover Story, “Getting Ideas” by Amy Samin; The Editors' Choice story, “Conversation with the Murderer” by Heidi Hunter; and other new crime stories from Herschel Cozine (“Dead End”); Karen Cantwell (“Stupid is as Stupid Does”), John M. Floyd (“Grandpa's Watch”), and Stay Woodson (“The Final Course”).

 

 

Praise for Short Shorts

The Short Mystery Fiction Society announced the winners of this year's Derringer Awards for excellence in short crime fiction. And the winners are:

FLASH Category:  The Bicycle Thief  by James Blakey

SHORT Category: Dying In Dokesville  by Alan Orloff

LONG Category: With My Eyes  by Leslie Budewitz

NOVELETTE Category: The Cambodian Curse  by Gigi Pandian

Congrats to each! For a listing of all the finalists in the various categories, follow this link to the SMFS website:

The 'Zine Scene

The new May/June 2019 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine is out with sunny shores that contain dark secrets, including Edgar Award winner Art Taylor’s “Better Days”; the edge-of-your-seat ride “Hurricane Jonah” by T.J. MacGregor; Pat Black’s policemen on a bittersweet day, “The First Day of the School Holidays”; a private investigator in Mark Stevens’s “A Bitter Thing,” a story taking place in the world of hit rock musicians; the latest take from EQMM's Black Mask department, Dave Zeltserman's "Brother's Keeper" and much more.

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine's May/June issue takes a look at the divide in mystery fiction between the professional investigator and the amateur sleuth and how the interplay between vocation and avocation can unfold in any number of interesting ways. Whether it’s the duly anointed law enforcement officers whose personal passions inform their work, or the accidental sleuth whose professional expertise sheds light on a knotty problem, this month’s stories reveal the complex feedback between the things people do for pay and for love. The cover story is “A Deadly Game of Flamingo Bingo” by Terrie Farley Moran, with other tales by Chris Muessig, Gigi Vernon, Elizabeth Zelvin, Melissa Fall, and more.

Soon after its founding in 2011, Noir Nation: International Crime Fiction became a globally recognized home of international crime fiction and, with this issue, it also includes noir poetry. Noir Nation #7 features fiction by Deborah Pintonelli, Nahary Hernandez, JJ Toner, Barbie Wilde, David James Keaton, Ava Black, Simon Rowe, D.V. Bennett, Frauke Schuster, Gerald Heys, and BV Lawson; poetry by Bianca Bellová, Adam Ward, Juleigh Howard-Hobson, Bonny Finberg, and Shawn Stibbards; nonfiction by Michael Gonzales; a staff interview with police detective and writer George Beck; plus the winners of the First Golden Fedora Poetry Prize: George Perreault, Michael Zimecki, Timothy Ryan, J.D. Smith, Craig Kenworthy, Frank De Blasé, James Gardner, Joe Cortinas, Barry Nathan, and Timothy Tarkelly.

Mystery Weekly Magazine's April issue features “The Persistence Of Illusion” by Bond Elam, in which Detective Harry Sturgis finds himself stuck with a twenty-five-year-old case and the last thing he expects is to get himself killed; “One Night At The Pine Lake Motel” by Blu Gilliand finds two pro wrestlers and one disbelieving spectator on a collision course with trouble on a hot summer night at a seedy Alabama motel; in “Tangerines And Wild Garlic” by Steve Toase, Sarah travels to Ben's hometown to meet his family, but then she finds herself in the midst of a town tradition where everything is not what it seems; PTSD is the focus of “Paper Soldier” by Al Onia; in “Andromeda Smiled” by C.W. Blackwell, retired detective Charlie Kane is lured from his solitude to reprise his role as a famous gumshoe; “Honey's Turn” by Michael Cahlin and Beth Slick is a twisted his-and-her love story and what happens when a good love goes really, really bad.

The spring Mystery Scene magazine features a profile of thriller author Steve Barry; there's also a look at the “Ten Commandments of Mystery Fiction" as laid out by author Father Ronald A. Knox; Oline Cogdill has rounded up a pack of canine sleuths; Jon L. Breen has a roundup of the latest legal thrillers; author Robert Dugoni tells how studying law taught him to think linearly and problem-solve; there's the always interesting “The Hook: Intriguing First Lines” feature, showcasing interesting openings from mystery novels, and much more.

Strand Magazine: Issue 57 includes an exclusive Walter Mosley short story about a bank teller’s impact on a huge corporation with “An Unlikely Serious of Conversations.” Noted author James Ziskin pens a story about a meek husband’s wonderful escape plan with “A Bed of Roses.” David Marcum has Holmes and Watson on the case with a “A Simple Solution.” Elizabeth Creith pens a story set during two times dealing with spells and the Spanish Armada with “The Spanish Entanglement.” And Jeffrey Alan Lockwood has a most unusual PI solve a murder case in “With a Little Help from my Friends.” There's also an exclusive interview with bestselling author Don Winslow who spoke about drug cartels, writing, and his latest novel, The Border, plus you'll find oodles of book reviews.

Mystery Tribune's second anniversary issue features a curated collection of short fiction including stories by Hester Young, Edgar Award Winner SJ Rozan, Hilary Davidson, Ryan David Jahn, Edgar Award Winner Gary Earl Ross, Jonathan Ferrini, Kevin R. Roller, and William R. Soldan; interviews and reviews by Charlaine Harris, Charles Perry and Nick Kolakowski; art and photography by Brittany Markert, Anka Zhuravleva and more. This issue also features a preview of the new Wrath Of Fantomas graphic novel by Olivier Bocquet and Julie Rocheleau.

Volume 31, no. 1 of Clues: A Journal of Detection includes articles on dementia in detective fiction; trauma and contemporary crime fiction; a Percy Bysshe Shelley poem viewed as a detective story; a look at “The Sign of Four" and the detective (Sherlock Holmes) as a disrupter of order; two new takes on the Nancy Drew series; and more.

The latest edition of Switchblade Magazine is out, with new noir fiction focusing on “the darkness and complexity of the human psyche” by Paul D. Marks, Jack Bates, Mark Slade, Richard Risemberg, J. Rohr, Willie Smith, A.F. Knott, John Kojak, Fred Rock, and Stefen Styrsky. Managing Editor Scotch Rutherford promises a heaping helping of vice including prostitution, racketeering, a new take on good old-fashioned mob fiction, and a little unorthodox religious intervention.

The new Flash Bang Mysteries offers up the Featured Cover Story, “Getting Ideas” by Amy Samin; The Editors' Choice story, “Conversation with the Murderer” by Heidi Hunter; and other new crime stories from Herschel Cozine (“Dead End”); Karen Cantwell (“Stupid is as Stupid Does”), John M. Floyd (“Grandpa's Watch”), and Stay Woodson (“The Final Course”).

The 'Zine Scene

I haven't done an update on the latest crime magazine offerings lately, so without further ago, here are some great issues to check out (in alphabetical order):


Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine:  The May/June double issue has the usual mystery puzzles, mystery photograph contest, reviews, and new stories from Emily Devenport, John H. Dirckx, Jane K. Cleland, Deborah Lacy, Steve Liskow, Leslie Budewitz, Tara Laskowski, Thomas K. Carpenter, John C. Boland, Neil Schofield, Dayle A. Dermatis, Marianne Wilski Strong, and B.K. Stevens.


Crimespree Magazine features a cover story on the late, much-beloved Bill Crider, author of the Sheriff Dan Rhodes series and much more; a celebration of Mickey Spillane’s 100th birthday (did you know the iconic author was also a spokesman for Miller Lite for 18 years? He made over 100 commercials both for TV and radio); two articles from Eryk Pruit, and the regular features.

Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine:  In addition to reviews, Blog Bytes, The Jury Box, and the announcement of the EQMM Readers Award, the May/June issue has new short fiction from Doug Allyn, Gabriel Flores, Peter Sellers, Hollis Seamon, Richard Helms, William Hallstead, Steve Hockensmith, Susan Dunlap, R.t. Raichev, Benjamin Percy, Marjorie Eccles, Bill Pronzini, Hilary Davidson, and Carlos Orsi.


Flash Bang Mysteries shares new short, short crime from featured author Regina Clark and "On and Off," as well as the Editor's Choice, "No Way Out" by Herschel Cozine; and also mini-tales from Robert Petyo with "Don’t Text and Drive," Vy Kava with "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished," and John M. Floyd, with "While You Were Out."

Mystery Readers Journal's latest themed edition is Big Cops II, which continued the two-issue focus on policing in urban environments. There are columns, reviews, and twenty essays from authors on such topics as "How Technology Is Affecting Big City Cops," including two you can read online, "Proof of Procedure" by J.A. Jance and "Big City Perspective, a Greek Island Life" by Jeffrey Siger.


Mystery Scene Magazine: The cover story is an Oline H. Cogdill interview with Anglophile author Elizabeth George; Michael Mallory also takes a look at the versatile writer Henry Slesar, who's penned scores of short stories and TV programs; Jake Hinkson takes a look at true crime docuseries; Jon L. Breen has his annual round-up of recent legal thrillers; and much more.


Mystery Weekly Magazine's May 2018 issue includes stories by Jazz Lawless about a mob hit that didn’t quite "take"; Troy Seate’s take on a 1950s detective who’s haunted by a legend from the deep; Cecily Winter’s near-futuristic look at a terrorist car; Craig Terlson’s look at an unusual couple; Jody Wenner’s unsettling tale of a man who wakes up to find a piece of himself missing; and Edward Musto’s "Armistice."


Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine's recent March issue had Holmes features from "John H. Watson, M. D" and "(Mrs) Martha Hudson"; new short stories by Stan Trybulski, Michael Haynes, Dianne Neral Ell, Laird Long, Ellen Wight, Marian McMahon Stanley, Teel James Glenn, Dana Martin Batory, and a classic from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself; and new non-fiction articles, poetry, art, and cartoons.


Strand Magazine's spring edition features fiction by Jeffery Deaver (a Lincoln Rhyme story), William Trevor, David Marcum, and Andrew McQuilkin; a feature article by Lisa Gardner on research, inspiration, and fact vs. fiction; and an exclusive interview with Caleb Carr, whose Alienist books have been recently adapted for TV.


Suspense Magazine has its usual author interviews, reviews, and articles including profiles of Jack Carr, Alma Katsu, Jake Tapper, Steena Holmes, Lee Goldberg, and Rhys Bowen; Barry Lancet and Anthony Franze are back with their latest "Articles on Talking Writing." Dennis Palumbo tells us "How not to overwrite." Stepping back in time, there's a great interview that was recently on Crime and Science Radio, hosted by D.P. Lyle and Jan Burke, as they talked with Michael Tabor, a forensic dentist who has stories you won't believe.


Switchblade Magazine's May issue has "fast action gutter" fiction from returning author Court Merrigan and Rob Pierce; Indianapolis crime writer, and managing editor of Pulp Modern, Alec Cizak; Switchblade usual suspects Preston Lang, Jack Bates, Robb T. White, Rick Risemberg, and Lisa Douglass; and also new prospects Tom Andes, Tony Genova, E.F. Sweetman, David Rachels, Danny Sophabmisay, Chris McGinley, Timothy Friend, and Tom Barlow.


 Yellow Mama's April issue includes the feature story by "Noir-meister" Jason Butkowski, as well as new crime stories by Jim Farren, Marci McKim, British horror writer Sam Graham, Kenneth James Crist, J. Brook, Jon Park, and Jerry Vilhotti; and the usual kick-ass poetry and illustrations.

The 'Zine Scene

It's been a while since I had a roundup of the latest offerings of crime fiction and news in magazines (both print and digital), but I hope to rectify that with today's blog post - and another next week focusing on anthologies. So, without further ado, here they are (with a hat tip to Peter DiChellis, Sandra Seamans, and Martin Edwards):

The November/December issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine features some familiar characters: Special operative cum high-school principal Anne DeWitt returns in “Small Signs” by Charlaine Harris; Elizabeth Zelvin’s sleuth Bruce Kohler is back in a Central Park/Strawberry Fields whodunit (“Death Will Help You Imagine”); Lou Manfredo’s Detective Rizzo takes on a case with a bit of nostalgia (“Rizzo’s Monkey Store”); writer-sleuth Antonia Darcy again stumbles upon a body in “Murder at The Mongoose” by R.T. Raichev; and detectives Hennessey and Yellich return in Peter Turnbull’s procedural “Bad Bargain Lane.” The newcomers include Jim Fusilli, who has his Black Mask debut with the mob story “Precision Thinking,” and John Gastineau’s suspenseful Department of First Stories entry, “A Coon Dog and Love," plus there's much, much more from Dominic Russ-Combs, Tim L. Williams, Tom Tolnay, Penny Hancock, Frankie Y. Bailey, Richard Chizmar, Bill Pronzini, T. J. MacGregor, Zoë Z. Dean, and Doug Allyn.

The new issue of EQMM's sister publication Alfred Hithcock Mystery Magazine includes post-war Manhattan private investigator Memphis Red, who confronts shifting motivations, political alliances, and even identities in L. A. Wilson Jr.’s “Harlem Nocturne; a young woman tries to escape the consequences of a one-time lapse in judgment but finds she can’t escape those determined to find her in S. L. Franklin’s “Damsels in Distress"; and the shadow of calamity, in the form of drought, leaves a western town vulnerable to a charismatic, and dangerous, itinerant preacher in Gilbert Stack’s “Pandora’s Hoax.” There are also plenty of other stories that fit the issue's theme of a landscape of shadows offering many opportunities for both deception and misperception, including those from Eve Fisher, Robert S. Levinson, William Dylan Powell, Susan Oleksiw, Tara Laskowski, Robert Lopresti, R. T. Lawton, Carol Cail, and Anna Castle.The edition also features the second installment of the new feature The Case Files as Steve Hockensmith brings to light some cutting-edge mystery-related podcasts.

I announced this earlier in a Mystery Melange, but it's worth repeating here: Spinetingler Magazine announced it will begin regular publication of a print magazine with the first issue due November 2017 by Down & Out Books. "As is true in life, the events of the past have a tendency to influence our actions in the future," said Sandra Ruttan, co-editor of Spinetingler. "It is the support of our readers that has enabled us to return with this print edition. With their continued support we hope to be able to continue to bring exceptional short fiction and features to you for years to come." The Fall 2017 edition will feature original stories by Tracy Falenwolfe, Karen Montin, Jennifer Soosar, Nick Kolakowski, David Rachels, and yours truly. There are also author snapshots of Con Lehane, Rusty Barnes, Mindy Tarquini, as well as book features and reviews.

Spinetingler is not the only foray into the crime magazine field from Down and Out Books, which also publishes Crimespree, as it just recently launched a new digest, Down & Out, The Magazine, edited by Rick Ollerman. Reed Farrel Coleman contributed an original Moe Prager story, and the editors promise that each issue will feature a story based on a series character. There are also new tales by established and well-known writers including Eric Beetner, Michael A. Black, Jen Conley, Terrence McCauley, Rick Ollerman, and Thomas Pluck. J. Kingston Pierce, fresh off his former beat from Kirkus Reviews, also introduces “Placed in Evidence,” his non-fiction column, and the zine will answer the question of what happened to crime fiction after Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler moved on from the pulps in the essay “A Few Cents a Word.”

The latest issue of Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine (#23) from Wildside Press includes new stories and features by Dan Andriacco, Henry W. Enberg, Steve Liskow, Laird Long, Robert Lopresti, Gary Lovisi, David Marcum, Kim Newman, and a classic tale from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, himself. SHMM is a go-to favorite for tales in the more traditional, Holmesian vein.

The latest Mystery Weekly Magazine features the cover story, “The Sugar Witch” by R.S. Morgan, as well as new short fiction from Joseph D’Agnese, Peter DiChellis, Stef Donati, Debra H. Goldstein, R.S. Morgan, Edward Palumbo, Tom Tolnay, and David Vardeman. Mystery Weekly bills itself as offering up every imaginable subgenre, including cozy, police procedural, noir, whodunit, supernatural, hardboiled, humor, and historical mysteries.

Flash Bang Mysteries, edited by BJ Bourg, publishes mystery and crime flash fiction quarterly online, in January, April, July, and October, with a mission to showcase "stories that feature believable characters who speak naturally, realistic situations that bleed conflict, and surprise endings that stay with us long after we reach the final period." The latest issue includes new work by Michael Bracken, Larry W. Chavis, Herschel Cozine, John M. Floyd, and Earl Staggs.

The only American scholarly journal for crime fiction, Clues, has published its latest issues (35.2) in both print form, which can be ordered from McFarland, and digital, available on Kindle and Google Play. As noted in the introduction by executive editor Janice M. Allan, this edition includes analyses of works by E. C. Bentley, Benjamin Black, Andrea Camilleri, Leslie Charteris, Agatha Christie, Tana French, Dashiell Hammett, and Herman Melville, and the TV series True Detective. There are also reviews of nonfiction works in the genre, including Out of Deadlock: Female Emancipation in Sara Paretsky's V. I. Warshawski Novels and Her Influence on Contemporary Crime Fiction (Enrico Minardi and Jennifer Byron, eds.) and Susanna Lee's Hard-Boiled Crime Fiction and the Decline of Moral Authority.

The latest issue of CADS (Crime and Detective Stories), Geoff Bradley's "irregular magazine of comment and criticism about crime and detective fiction," includes an article on "Serendip’s Detections XVI: Disjecta Membra by Tony Medawar," the first attempt to provide a definitive and accurate overview of all the unpublished material featuring Lord Peter Wimsey; a look at "Two and Nearly Three, Crime Classics by Andrew Garve" by Pete Johnson; and "Women Detectives in Fiction: The Early Period" by Philip L. Scowcroft, who explores Sayers’ comments on female detectives. (HT to Cross Examining Crime and Martin Edwards)

The third issue of Crime Syndicate Magazine is out with ten fantastic crime fiction short stories from some of the top crime writers on the market today. Guest-edited by Eryk Pruitt, this issue follows its mission of publishing hard-hitting crime fiction of stories "about violence, greed, lust, debauchery, and any combination," from drugged-outmarital problems in the East Texas countryside (Eryk Pruitt's own "The Deplorables") to helping a new college bestie murder a New Orleans local "god" (Nina Mansfield's "Gods and Virgins in the Big Easy"). There are additional offerings from Kevin Z. Garvey, Max Booth, Dennis Day, S.A. Cosby, Travis Richardson, Paul Heatley, Allen Griffin, and David A. Anthony.

Noir Nation No. 6 continues the crime noir tradition by circling back to its 20th Century jazz roots. This issue includes contributions from 14 writers, including "oldtimer" Gary Phillips, and Tatiana Eva-Marie, who is publishing her first story, who use their stories to address "jazz and crime, jazz and temptation, and the startling impulses that give them life and genius." Other stories in the issue hail from JC Hopkins, Tigre Galindo, Tatiana Eva Marie, John Goldbach, Brendan DuBois, Geronimo Horowitz, Gary Phillips, Jonas Kyle, Andrey Henkin, Alfredo Meridee, Jackie Goodwin, and Ted Berg, and Bill Moody.

In case you missed it, the first issue of Black Cat Mystery Magazine was launched into the crime fiction universe. The brainchild of Wildside Press publisher John Betancourt and Wildside editor Carla Coupe, the magazine is expected to come out quarterly. The inaugural issue features new stories from Alan Orloff, Art Taylor, Josh Pachter, Barb Goffman, Meg Opperman, Dan Andriacco, John M. Floyd, Jack Halliday, Michael Bracken, Kaye George, James Holding, and Fletcher Flora.

The most recent issue of Mysterical-E features new short fiction by Rosemary and Larry Mild, Rafe McGregor, Leslie Budewitz, Sam Wiebe, Robert Watts Lamon, Justin A. McWhirter, Peter W. J. Hayes, Rita A. Popp, Summer Theron , Andrew Miller, Bern Sy Moss, J. R. Lindermuth, and Leroy B. Vaughn. Plus, Gerald So has his latest "Mysterical-Eye on TV and FIlm" column, Christine Verstraete talks up characters, and Frances G. Thorsen looks at classic crime novels. And there are the usual interviews and reviews.

July/August issue of Suspense Magazine has interviews with Peter James, Tess Gerritsen, Linda Fairstein, Sandra Brown, Brenda Novak, and Jeff Menapace. There's also a new section by bestselling author Alan Jacobson, with “The Writer’s Toolkit," and Dennis Palumbo writes a great article about "Rejection." Plus, Anthony Franze and Barry Lancet's "Rules of Writing with J.A Jance"; D.P. Lyle's Forensic Files; and pages of book reviews and short stories.


The most recent Mystery Readers Journal, "Big City Cops I" has "Author Author" features from Max Allan Collins, J.T. Ellison, Margaret Maron and more, including three that are available online: "Cops These Days Aren’t What They Used To Be" by Rennie Airth; "Chinatown Crime Time" by Henry Chang; and "Are You Feeling Safe?" by Lyndsay Faye. There are also new reviews from Lesa Holstine, Michael Mayo, L.J. Roberts, and Craig Sisterson, and more.