Trying to catch up on my short story reading. Not doing very well - I'm still a couple issues behind. Add in the fact that I'm working my way through the new short story anthology inspired by Stephen King's The Stand and I'll probably fall even further behind on the magazines. Me and my first world problems.
Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (March/April 2025)
Favorites from this issue:
- "Bent, Bent & Duckworth" by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson: A well-plotted story with a put-upon PI protagonist whose mother and step-father attempt to take over his business.
- "I Ain't Got No Home" by Steve Liskow: A missing homeless man prompts an investigation that leads to the exposure of human trafficking and political corruption.
- "Admissions" by Ken Linn: High-level academic shenanigans.
- "Quick Turnaround" by Gabriela Stiteler: A professional downsizer gets involved in a local mystery that doesn't concern him.
- "Boogie Shoes" by Jeff Marks: A locked-room mystery set in a mall shoe store circa late 1970's - bonus points for the Waldenbooks shoutout.
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (May/June 2025)
Favorites from this issue (one of the best overall I've seen in recent memory):
- "The Portrait of Adrian Whyte" by David Dead: My favorite short story so far this year, an imaginative tale that suggests the inspiration for Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray might have involved a real-life murder.
- "The Witch's Ball" by Elizabeth Elwood: A lively story of a celebrity murder during Halloween festivities at a witch museum in Salem.
- "Tarzan Must Die!" by Loren D. Estleman: A UCLA film archivist gets mixed up in the murder of an actor whose career has seen better days.
- "Nighthawks" by James Hazelton: A terrific flash fiction story inspired by Edward Hopper's famous painting, in which the author gives his take on the patrons at the counter. Spoiler alert - no one is innocent. You'll see this painting a whole different way after reading this story.
- "Blues in the Night" by Persia Walker: In 1940's New Orleans, a young nightclub singer takes on corruption in the police force and local politics to clear her name in the murder of her boyfriend. This read like something that could be expanded into a novel. The fact that I should have been in NOLA for Bouchercon this week just added to the reading experience.
- "Shamus and Buster" by Paul Ryan O'Connor: A P.I. is murdered and the investigation is told from the point of view of his aged cat.
- "A Short Madness" by Josh Pachter: The story of how a psychologist solves a "locked-cell" murder mystery set in an 1850's era mental institution, as told years later by his assistant.
Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (May/June 2025)
Favorites from this issue:
- "The Twenty-Fourth Canterbury" by Richard Helms: A successful author wants to end his hit series but is being pressured for just one more installment of his legendary sleuth.
- "Shane on the Scene" by James A. Hearn: A fun story about a young mystery fan who gets to help his detective uncle solve a case and thwart his mother's marriage to a crook at the same time.
- "Buds" by Kevin Egan: A play on words title and a fun story about a trial between a star and her former manager, and how a trio of court guards are drawn into the case.
- "Nobody Cares" by Michael A. Black: A dead homeless guy who is more than he seems leads a pair of detectives into local politics and corruption.
- "The Tell-Tale Hearts" by S. Frederic Liss: Detective Poe relates to the mysterious case of how he channeled Sherlock Holmes to solve the case of involuntary heart donors/murder victims.