What’s fresh, what’s famous, and what’s fiendish in short mystery and crime fiction.

Short sample:

The only body part I saw was a leg wearing a scrap of blue jean, and that was enough for me; no reason to delve deeper. From “Waiting on Joe” by Scott Loring Sanders (in The Best American Mystery Stories, 2018, eds. Penny and Penzler. Mariner Books Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018. Story originally appeared in Shooting Creek and Other Stories). **See footnote.

Point of view:

The best Sherlock Holmes stories, according to Arthur Conan Doyle.

74 mystery readers give the star treatment to The Mysterious Mr. Quin: A Short Story Collection by Agatha Christie (collected in 2010).

New releases, old releases:

Fishy Business: The Fifth Guppy Anthology (Sisters in Crime, April 2019).

The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories by Ian Rankin (collected in 2016).

Tricks of the Trade:

A devotee of “rejectomancy” (the arcane practice divining hidden meaning from rejection letters) breaks down the numbers after rejection #300 and explains why five different types of form rejections are actually all the same.

Free reads:

Pop! Pop! Pop open a six-pack of freebies at the new issue of Flash Bang Mysteries.

Art Taylor’s Edgar Award Winner “English 398: Fiction Workshop” (EQMM, July/August 2018) is free to read here.

Check my shorts, please:

My supernatural voodoo mystery “Most Evil” appeared in the anthology Busted! Arresting Stories from the Beat.

Thanks for visiting.

Peter DiChellis

** Beginning with Short walk #32 the blog will short-sample every story from the exceptional anthology The Best American Mystery Stories 2018, proceeding alphabetically by author through the Table of Contents until all twenty stories in the volume have been included. Links will be provided to both the BAMS 2018 anthology and story’s original publisher.

 

Weekly links to what’s fresh, what’s famous, and what’s fiendish in short mystery and crime fiction.

Short sample:

A man likes to think he knows where he stands within the food chain of predators and prey; even among other men. From “The Apex Predator” by William Dylan Powell (in The Best American Mystery Stories, 2018, eds. Penny and Penzler. Mariner Books Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018. Story originally appeared in Switchblade: Issue One). **See footnote.

Point of view:

Review: Sleep No More: Six Murderous Tales by P.D. James (from The Strand Magazine online).

New releases:

The oldest name in mystery magazines released another fresh issue: The Strand Magazine: Issue 57 (includes an exclusive Walter Mosley short).

Cutting-edge crime: Switchblade: Issue 9 (Kindle Edition, April 2019, paperback not yet available).

Check your mailbox, your local newsstand, and the AHMM and EQMM websites. May/June double issues (and online sneak peaks and excerpts) of the world’s most popular mystery magazines are ready to read.

Tricks of the Trade:

For those who missed Short walk #2 (way back in May) AHMM editor Linda Landrigan mulls twists, turns, and two essential elements for short mysteries.

Free reads:

All the latest free-to-read flash fiction from Mystery Tribune.

Check my shorts, please:

My crime story “Eternal Love” appeared in Switchblade: Issue 4.

Thanks for visiting.

Peter DiChellis

** Beginning with Short walk #32 the blog will short-sample every story from the exceptional anthology The Best American Mystery Stories 2018, proceeding alphabetically by author through the Table of Contents until all twenty stories in the volume have been included. Links will be provided to both the BAMS 2018 anthology and story’s original publisher.

 

What’s fresh, what’s famous, and what’s fiendish in short mystery and crime fiction.

Short sample:

I needed some clean wheels for when I dumped the van we were using, and Pen had always delivered. From “Rule Number One” by Alan Orloff (in The Best American Mystery Stories, 2018, eds. Penny and Penzler. Mariner Books Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018. Story originally appeared Snowbound: Best New England Crime Stories 2017). **See footnote.

Point of view:

Robert Lopresti reviews the best mystery story he reads each week. Like this one. And this one and this one. And this one, this one, this one, and this one.

New releases, old releases:

The Editor’s intro also rocks: Noir Nation #7.

Two collections by mystery shorts legend James Powell: A Dirge For Clowntown and A Pocketful of Noses: Stories of One Ganelon or Another.

Tricks of the Trade:

Gerald So interviews 2019 Derringer Finalists for the stories behind the stories. (Scroll down for all interviews, including mine!)

Free reads:

“Murder at Midway: 1942” (Part 1 and Part 2) by J.A. Becker and “Coppers” by Bruce Harris at Crimson Streets.

Check my shorts, please:

My crime-suspense story “They Die in Eight Minutes” first appeared, free to read, at Shotgun Honey in 2014.

Thanks for visiting.

Peter DiChellis

** Beginning with Short walk #32 the blog will short-sample every story from the exceptional anthology The Best American Mystery Stories 2018, proceeding alphabetically by author through the Table of Contents until all twenty stories in the volume have been included. Links will be provided to both the BAMS 2018 anthology and story’s original publisher.

 

Weekly links to what’s fresh, what’s famous, and what’s fiendish in short mystery and crime fiction.

Short sample:

Very still she lies, in the cunning of desperation. From “Phantomwise: 1972” by Joyce Carol Oates (in The Best American Mystery Stories, 2018, eds. Penny and Penzler. Mariner Books Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018. Story originally appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine). **See footnote.

Point of view:

Two reviews of Teresa Solana’s zany collection The First Prehistoric Serial Killer and Other Stories, here and here.

New releases, old releases:

Fault Lines: Stories by Northern California Crime Writers (Sisters in Crime NorCal, 2019).

The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories, ed. Otto Penzler (collected in 2010).

Tricks of the Trade:

A screenwriter identifies seven big storytelling mistakes.

Free reads:

All five of the 2019 Derringer Awards Finalists in the flash fiction category are free to read online.

“The Bicycle Thief” by James Blakey at The Norwegian American.

“Listen Up” by Peter DiChellis (that’s right, me!!) at Flash Bang Mysteries.

“Sonny the Wonder Beast” by Nick Kolakowski at Out of the Gutter.

“Don’t Text and Drive” by Robert Petyo at Flash Bang Mysteries.

“A Misunderstanding” by Travis Richardson at Out of the Gutter.

Check my shorts, please:

Stunned, humbled, and absolutely delighted to report my private eye yarn “The Belle Hope” (in Malice Domestic 13: Mystery Most Geographical) is also a Derringer Award Finalist, in the short story category!

(Since the Derringer Awards began in 1998, several writers have received two Derringer Finalist honors in the same year, including award-winning author Barb Goffman, with two Derringer Finalist stories this year. Congrats to all Finalists in all story categories.)

Thanks for visiting.

Peter DiChellis

** Beginning with Short walk #32 the blog will short-sample every story from the exceptional anthology The Best American Mystery Stories 2018, proceeding alphabetically by author through the Table of Contents until all twenty stories in the volume have been included. Links will be provided to both the BAMS 2018 anthology and story’s original publisher.