SMFS Official Announcement: 2025 Derringer Award Finalists

Since 1998, the Short Mystery Fiction Society has awarded the annual Derringers—named after the popular pocket pistol—to outstanding published stories. The awards recognize outstanding stories published during 2024. Results of membership voting are scheduled to be posted on May 1, 2025.

The full listing of our nominees and the markets that published the finalist stories has been compiled and supplied by Derringer Coordinator Paula Messina.

 

FLASH

 

Sweet Red Cherries by C.W. Blackwell

(Punk Noir Magazine, November 28, 2024)

 

Mob Mentality by James Patrick Focarile

(Shotgun Honey, June 20, 2024)

 

La Petite Mort by Susan Hatters Friedman

(Bristol Noir, February 16, 2024)

 

Kargin the Necromancer by Mike McHone

(Mystery Tribune, December 15, 2024)

 

Lockerbie, 1988 by Mary Thorson

(Cotton Xenomorph, October 13, 2024)

 

 

SHORT STORY 

 

"Skeeter's Bar and Grill" by Julie Hastrup

(Larceny & Last Chances: 22 Stories of Mystery & Suspense, Superior Shores Press)

 

"The Wind Phone" by Josh Pachter

(Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, September/October 2024)

 

"The Heist" by Bill Pronzini

(Shamus and Anthony Commit Capers: Ten Tales of Criminals, Crooks, and Culprits, Level Best Books)

 

"The Last Chance Coalition" by Judy Penz Sheluk

(Larceny & Last Chances: 22 Stories of Mystery & Suspense, Superior Shores Press)

 

"The Kratz Gambit" by Mark Thielman

(Private Dicks and Disco Balls: Private Eyes in the Dyn-O-Mite Seventies, Down & Out Books)

 

LONG STORY

 

"How Mary’s Garden Grew" by Elizabeth Elwood

(Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, January/February 2024)

 

"Heart of Darkness" by Tammy Euliano

(Scattered, Smothered, Covered & Chunked: Crime Fiction Inspired by Waffle House, Down & Out Books)

 

"Putting Things Right" by Peter W. J. Hayes

(Thrill Ride - The Magazine, December 21, 2024)

 

"Motive Factor X" by Joseph Andre Thomas

(Howls from the Scene of the Crime: A Crime Horror Anthology, Howl Society Press)

 

"Cold Comfort" by Andrew Welsh-Huggins

(Private Dicks and Disco Balls: Private Eyes in the Dyn-O-Mite Seventies, Down & Out Books)

  

NOVELETTE

 

"A Band of Scheming Women" by Joslyn Chase

(Thrill Ride - The Magazine, March 21, 2024)

 

"Christmas Dinner" by Robert Lopresti

(Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, November/December 2024)

 

"Barracuda Backfire" by Tom Milani

(Chop Shop Episode 4, Down & Out Books, April 1, 2024)

 

"Her Dangerously Clever Hands" by Karen Odden

(Crimeucopia - Through the Past Darkly, Murderous Ink Press)

 

"The Cadillac Job" by Stacy Woodson

(Chop Shop Episode 1, Down & Out Books, January 1, 2024)

ANTHOLOGY

(Previously Announced)

Devil's Snare: Best New England Crime Stories 2024

Edited by Susan Oleksiw, Ang Pompano, Leslie Wheeler, Crime Spell Books

Friend of the Devil: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Grateful Dead

Edited by Josh Pachter, Down & Out Books

Larceny & Last Chances: 22 Stories of Mystery & Suspense

Edited by Judy Penz Sheluk, Superior Shores Press

Murder, Neat: A SleuthSayers Anthology

Edited by Michael Bracken and Barb Goffman, Level Best Books

New York State of Crime: Murder New York Style 6

Edited by D.M. Barr and Joseph R.G. De Marco, Down & Out Books

The 13th Letter

Edited by Donna Carrick, Carrick Publishing

March News from the Short Mystery Fiction Society

 March of 2025 was another exciting and productive month for the writers belonging to the Short Mystery Fiction Society!  Readers looking for the best crime and mystery short stories being published today had a lot to choose from.  Let's take a look at some of the highlights!

It's been a fantastic month for anthologies!  First up, from White City Press, we have A KILLING AT THE COPA: CRIME FICTION INSPIRED BY THE MUSIC OF BARRY MANILOW, edited by J. Alan Hartman and featuring a range of terrific writers including SMFS Vice President Linda Kay Hardie and such members as John Floyd, Christine Verstraete, Shari Held and Karen Keeley.  Manilow may be filed under "easy listening," but this collection provides 13 hard-hitting tales of love, life, relationships, and other situations gone horribly wrong.  He writes the songs, SMFS writes the thrills!

Stephen Sondheim might seem like an even less likely inspiration for crime fiction than Manilow--until you remember that he cowrote a classic film whodunit (The Last of Sheila) and that many of his musicals revolve around murder.  In EVERY DAY A LITTLE DEATH: CRIME FICTION INSPIRED BY THE SONGS OF STEPHEN SONDHEIM, edited by Golden Derringer winner Josh Pachter for Level Best Books, one song from each Sondheim musical becomes the basis for a masterful tale, some by the best crime writers working today and some from Broadway insiders.  SMFS members in the cast list include Pachter, President Joseph S. Walker, Jeffrey Marks, John Floyd, and Marcia Talley.  Josh says there are literally hundreds of Easter eggs here for dedicated Sondheim fans--how many can you find?

Two terrific music-based anthologies not enough for you?  You're in luck!  The hits just keep on coming, as Down & Out Books is proud to present IN TOO DEEP: CRIME STORIES INSPIRED BY THE SONGS OF GENESIS, edited by SMFS's own Adam Meyer.  The seventeen stories presented here span the whole history of this iconic group, from prog rock to pop, Peter Gabriel to Phil Collins.  And once again, SMFS members are well represented, with standout stories from our own stars--including Barb Goffman, Michael Bracken, Joseph S. Walker, Tom Milani, Alan Orloff, Josh Pachter and Stacy Woodson.

Of course, not every collection of stories has to be based on music!  March also saw the release of ELEMENTARY, MY DEAR MARPLE, a special issue of The MockingOwl with seven fabulously fun cozy shorts for your reading pleasure, including SMFS members donalee Moulton and Arthur Vidro.  Classic mystery never goes out of style!

donalee Moulton is also among the SMFS members represented in CRIMEUCOPIA: CHICKA-CHICKA BOOMBA!, a special edition of the regular anthology series celebrating four years of publication with an all-women lineup of nineteen fabulous Countesses of Crime.  Let these talented scribes, including N. M. Cedeno, Vera Brook, Denise Johnson, Ruth Morgan, and many more, take you on a tour of every corner of today's mystery landscape!

The anthology THUGGISH ITCH: SCHOOL collects stories set in the world of school, and Robert Petyo's "Endless Recess," about a teacher who finds a strange little boy on the playground, would be a standout in any volume.  Don't miss it!

Looking for a good listen?  Check out the Mysteries to Die For podcast, in which listeners are challenged to beat the detective to the solution of a devilishly complicated case.  In the episode "Clipped," from Robert J. Binney, Henri Beauchamp, hairdresser extraordinaire, is forced to play sleuth when a wedding is burglarized.  Can you solve the case before Henri?

Meanwhile, the online magazine BULL hosts M. E. Proctor's "Back Seat Surprise," in which a hitman makes a discovery that changes everything.  Not for the faint of heart!

Over in SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERY MAGAZINE #34, globetrotting Josh Pachter gives us "X Marks the Spot," in which a Kansas police chief has to grapple with the kidnapping of his own wife.  With this story's release, Josh has officially published stories with titles starting with every letter of the alphabet.  Time to dive into titles that start with numbers, Josh!

GUILTY plays host to "Yellow Bird," by Zakariah Johnson, a flash piece about a man who decides that robbing his employer sounds like more fun than working for him.  Not many words, but plenty of power!

"Taking the Plunge," by the prolific Steve Liskow, is the cover story for BLACK CAT WEEKLY #186.  In this story, PI Tatiana Kova wonders what reason a handsome, wealthy, and healthy man would kill himself just before his wedding to a supermodel.  You won't soon forget the answer!  And hey, it's worth noting that BCW is closing in on 200 issues of the providing the best crime, sf and pulp reading you could ask for at a bargain price.  Why not reward them, and support the writers and genres you love, with a subscription?

TOUGH is another venue regularly turning out great work for anyone who loves crime fiction.  In Vinnie Hansen's "Justice Served," they offer the chance to see how a long-ago LSD trip plays out today.

Finally, SMFS members don't just write fiction--they review it, too.  You'll find even more great reading through the regular reviews published on the invaluable blog Kevin's Corner by Kevin Tipple and his guests, like this take on Leo Bruce's "Our Jubilee is Death" by SMFS Derringer Coordinator Paula Messina.

That's just a sampling of what the SMFS had to offer in March!  If you're looking for more, remember that membership is free and offers a host of benefits, including the chance to rub (virtual) elbows with some legends of mystery writing.  April promises to be another fantastic month, so don't miss out!  

  

  

February News from the Short Mystery Fiction Society

This February, love was in the air--along with more gripping stories from the members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society!  Here's a guide to just some of the cunning plots, surprising twists, nerve-shattering suspense, and sweeping emotions our talented writers brought to readers last month.  Even in the shortest month of the year, SMFS delivers!

• Congratulations to SMFS member (and Golden Derringer lifetime achievement winner) Barb Goffman, whose stories "A Matter of Trust" (from the anthology Three Strikes--You're Dead!) and "The Postman Always Flirts Twice" (from Agatha and Derringer Get Cozy) were BOTH nominated for the Agatha Award for best short story of 2024!  Incredibly, Barb has been nominated for this award fifteen years in a row, racking up multiple wins along the way and cementing her status as one of the finest writers in the field.
  
  
  
• Also nominated for an Agatha, in the category of best nonfiction, is Writing the Cozy Mystery: Authors' Perspectives on Their Craft, including contributions from SMFS members Edith Maxwell, Kathleen Marple Kalb, and Leslie Budewitz.  This one belongs on every writer's shelf!
  
  
  
• On sale now, the March/April issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, as always, includes a number of SMFS members.  Don't miss Edith Maxwell's "While the Iron is Hot," a dark tale of COVID-era obsession.  G. M. Malliet brings us "The Unwanted Guest," an Elizabethan-era mystery featuring Mary Queen of Scots.  And in Lori Rader-Day's "The Woman from Rolling Stone," a music rep gambling on a long-missing artist's work makes a surprising connection at a launch party.
  
  
  
• Meanwhile, over at Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Gabriela Stiteler serves up "Quick Turnaround," in which we learn that easy money is rarely as easy as it seems.
  
  
  
• Another Golden Derringer recipient, Josh Pachter, has coedited (along with K. L. Murphy) Crime in the Old Dominion, the new anthology from the Central Virginia chapter of Sisters in Crime.  The volume includes Pachter's own "The Perfect Job," in which a teacher in the Virginia prison system has a life-threatening encounter with a former student.  Also featured is Kathryn Prater Bomey's "House Arrest," in which a body turns up in a newly purchased home.
  
  
  
• In Chuck Brownman's "Her Smile Cuts Deep," published in the seventh volume of Hoosier Noir, a man working at a meat processing plan discovers what the woman he loves is really doing, thinking and planning.  The same issue brings us Zakariah Johnson's "Flight," in which a mother and child navigate the aftermath of a disaster.
  
  
  
• Chuck Brownman could also be found dealing out killer flash fiction in February at Punk Noir Magazine with "A Valentine's Day Surprise," alongside Elizabeth Dearborn's "Bradycardia," M. E. Proctor's "Final Cut," Jessica Slee's "Galentine's Day," and Kathryn Prater Bomey's "Meet Me at the Railroad Tracks."  All these writers demonstrate you don't need a lot of words to deliver a powerful punch of a tale!

  

  
  
• Yet more terrific flash fiction is to be found in the February issue of Pulp Asylum, including Paul Ryan O'Connor's "Agua Fantasma." 
• Jessica Slee also dazzles with a longer story at Shotgun Honey, with her "Lucky Number."  Is losing the lottery the worst thing that can happen?
• And going longer yet, donalee Moulton will grab you in her novel Bind, in which a missing watch at a yoga studio is just the start of the troubles. 

  

  
  
• Ever notice how a great writer can craft a masterful story around a seemingly trivial premise?  David H. Hendrickson demonstrates with "The Floater" at Pulphouse Magazine.  A floater in the eye of a cantankerous, hypochondriac old man is just a floater--or is it?
  
  
  
• David also demonstrates that no one genre can contain him with his new collection of romance stories, Cape Cod Chips, Wiener Dogs, and Swiping Left: Stories of Sweet Romance.  Valentine's Day may be over, but love stories this good are suitable for any time of the year!
  
  
  
• If your Valentine's was less than ideal, you might be interested in the Dark Moon Rising anthology of anti-Valentine's poetry and prose, Piece by Piece, including Michael J. Ciaraldi's "No Killer App."
• Speaking of collections, Debra H. Goldstein delivers a powerhouse assembly of eighteen tales ranging from cozy to dark in With Our Bellies Full and the Fire Dying: Tales of Sinning and Redemption.  Sure to be one of the standout collections of the year (and dig that fantastic title!), this White City Press volume includes a number of stories that won or were nominated for awards including the Agatha, Anthony and Derringer (and while we're on the topic of White City Press and awards, congrats to them for the top-ten finish of (I Just) Died in Your Arms Tonight: Crime Fiction Inspired by One-Hit Wonders in the Critters Workshop poll for best anthologies of 2024).
  
  
  
• In Diana Deverell's clever "Guilt Trip," one of the featured stories in issue 21 of Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem, a gun control advocate hires a security pro--but insists she carry no weapons.
  
  
  
• G. M. Malliet's "Victory Garden" and "Something Blue" were originally published in EQMM, but now these gripping stories of marriages that take wrong turns are available as stand-alone ebooks from this gifted, Agatha-winning writer.
  
  
  
• In issue 13 of Rock and a Hard Place Magazine, Raymond J. Brash has a story of "Doubles" and Gabriela Stiteler's "The Cottage" relates the story of a vacation gone very, very wrong.
  
  
  
• Guilty Crime Story Magazine also released issue 13 in February, with a highlight being M. E. Proctor's "The Ability to Swing," about a boy's involvement in baseball--and crime.  Online, Guilty brings us Vinnie Hansen's unforgettable "Eavesdropper." 
  
  
  
• Yellow Mama brings us Shari Held's "Just Like Old Times," about a "retired" hit man, and James H. Lewis's "The Night Caller," in which a woman is harassed by mysterious calls from her late husband's phone.  Spooky stuff for discerning readers!
  
  
  
• Meanwhile, over at Tough, Shari Held continues her winning streak with "Come Sundown," in which a sheriff with Alzheimer's has one last chance to be a hero.
• Kings River Life celebrated Valentine's Day with Jane Limprecht's "General Delivery," a romance that offers a delightfully unexpected twist.
• Turning back to nonfiction for a moment, SMFS member Mark Coggins, writing at The Rap Sheet, highlights the underappreciated relationship between Raymond Chandler and San Francisco in "Whose Town Is It Anyway?"
• John M. Floyd is one of the most prolific writers in the history of short mystery fiction, so it hardly seems fair that he's also one of the best.  In "The Warden's Game," the cover story from Black Cat Weekly #179, he spins the tale of a mysterious stranger in a remote Alaskan town ruled by fear.
  
  
  
• Just a week later, Black Cat Weekly #180 delivered "Undertoad" by Marcelle Dubé, in which a cryptic message sends a woman on a race to save her granddaughter.
  
  
  
• And in Black Cat Weekly #182, Rob Lopresti gives us "That One Friend," in which a mother gets a late-night phone call that her son is at the police station. 
  
  
  
• At the Mysteries To Die For podcast, Kathleen Marple Kalb offers up the colorful yarn "The Last Diamond," in which the auction of a legendary jewel becomes more complicated than anyone expects.  Great listen for your walks and drives, and be sure to check out other episodes featuring SMFS members!
• And finally, SMFS warmly congratulates the six 2024 crime anthologies which have been named the finalists for our first-ever Best Anthology Derringer Award.  The finalists are Devil's Snare: Best New England Crime Stories 2024 (eds. Susan Oleksiw, Ang Pompano, and Leslie Wheeler), Friend of the Devil: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Grateful Dead (ed. Josh Pachter), Larceny & Last Chances: 22 Stories of Mystery & Suspense (ed. Judy Penz Sheluk), Murder, Neat: A SleuthSayers Anthology (eds. Michael Bracken and Barb Goffman), New York State of Crime: Murder New York Style 6 (ed. D. M. Barr and Joseph R. G. De Marco), and The 13th Letter (ed. Donna Carrick).  Voting will be in April, so there's plenty of time to catch up on this batch of fabulous books.

See you in March, and keep reading!  

January News from the Short Mystery Fiction Society

The weather's been cold, but the members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society got 2025 off to a red-hot start with a plethora of powerful publications! Readers looking for some great stories to curl up with as we wait for spring will find a wealth of terrific options here, as SMFS proudly highlights some of the tremendous work our talented writers turned out in January.

• The anthology GONE FISHIN': CRIME TAKES A HOLIDAY, with stories of crime interrupting vacations, is the eighth in a highly successful series from the Guppy chapter of Sisters in Crime.  SMFS members represented in the anthology include Susan Daly ("Postcards from Loon Lake"), Ann Michelle Harris ("Drive"), Sally Milliken ("Lesson Learned"), Nina Wachsman ("Casanova Takes a Holiday"), Vinnie Hansen ("Downward Dog") and Kate Fellowes ("Pier Pressure").
  
  
  
• Meanwhile, the Los Angeles chapter of Sisters in Crime offers ANGEL CITY BEAT, an anthology of stories highlighting the dark side of the City of Angels, edited by SMFS member Barb Goffman.  Member Aimee Kluck does SMFS proud here with her story "The Missing Mariachi."
  
  
  
• Each month, the good folks at Rock and a Hard Place Press solicit flash stories on specific themes for their Stone's Throw contest, with the best story receiving publication on their website.  STONE'S THROW 2024: A YEAR OF SHORT FICTION FROM ROCK AND A HARD PLACE collects year two of these tales, proving once again that great writers don't need a lot of words to grab you.  SMFS members represented include Sally Millikin ("Canary in the Coal Mine") and Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier ("A Li'l Something Extra").
  
  
  
• With a new movie starring Anthony Mackie on the horizon, the anthology CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE SHIELD OF SAM WILSON offers short stories about the new hero taking up the mantle of Steve Rogers.  SMFS member Gary Phillips sends Sam to the Caribbean in his "Surreptitious."
  
  
  
• In recent years, a number of crime and mystery anthologies have been inspired by the songs of a host of musicians.  One of the first books in this category, and still one of the best, was THE BEAT OF BLACK WINGS: CRIME FICTION INSPIRED BY THE SONGS OF JONI MITCHELL, edited by SMFS member Josh Pachter.  The book, which was a finalist for the Best Anthology Anthony award and includes a Derringer winner and a Thriller finalist, has just received a new Open Road Media edition with terrific new cover art and a new introduction.  This book belongs on your shelf!
  
  
  
• In magazine news, January issues of BLACK CAT WEEKLY include stories by SMFS members Shannon Taft ("Missing"), Veronica Leigh ("Red Summer: A Smith Sisters Mystery") and John M. Floyd ("The Dark Woods").  With hundreds of pages of new and vintage stories every week, BCW offers as much bang for your buck as any fan of genre fiction could ask for!
• If you get to your local newsstand in the near future, keep an eye out for the issue of WOMAN'S WORLD cover-dated February 3, which includes John M. Floyd's Sheriff Jones mystery "Sure as Shootin'."  Writers take note: John's stories in WW are a master class in how to compose a story with vivid characters and a memorable plot in only a few hundred words.  Learn from the best!
• In the new MYSTERY TRIBUNE, SMFS member Kevin Egan delivers "Dart Man," in which a successful couple confronts a dark secret from the past.
  
  
  
• Mysteries can be science fiction, too!  In "The Laws," published at ANDROIDS AND DRAGONS, SMFS member Michael J. Ciaraldi asks what would happen if Asimov's famous Three Laws of Robotics became reality. 
• The online Texas gardening magazine SEEDS dips a toe into fiction with SMFS member Shari Held's story "Perfect Timing"--another example of a powerful narrative masterfully conveyed in a few words.  You'll read this in minutes, but remember it for years!
• Another short but terrific (and free!) read comes from SMFS member Janet Innes with her "It's Almost Like Poetry" at THE BLOOMIN' ONION.  This story of a woman on the edge will richly reward your time!
• Mystery, thriller, and suspense--how do we distinguish between these terms?  Do they really mean different things?  SMFS member Joslyn Chase takes on this question in a thought-provoking column for the online blog TRACE EVIDENCE for Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.

Of course, the members of SMFS don't just write short stories.  We're proud to recognize three members with novels published in January!

• In THE PRICE OF A FUTURE, Jackie Ross Flaum offers a powerful tale of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, with the agents of an organization fighting for civil rights confronting a series of murders and a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of power.
  
  
  
• Elena E. Smith's MAHUENGA is the gripping story of a recovering addict caught up in the disappearance of a teenage sex worker.
  
  
  
• Andrew Welsh-Huggins has written a number of dynamite short stories about Mercury Carter, a freelance courier who will stop at nothing to make his promised deliveries.  In THE MAILMAN, Carter makes his full-length novel debut.  Don't miss this chance to meet your new favorite character!
  
  
  

That's a lot of great reading, and the year is just getting started.  Stay tuned to see what's coming in February!

The Short Mystery Fiction Society is a free group of writers, readers, editors, publishers, and others dedicated to the promotion and celebration of mystery and crime short stories.  Not a member?  Why not join today?  

SMFS Members Published in Santa Rage: A Killer Claus Compendium

SMFS list members are published in the new anthology, Santa Rage: A Killer Claus Compendium. Edited by fellow SMFS list member Jay Hartman, the book is currently available from the publisher, White City Press, and will be available at other vendors soon. The SMFS list members that reported being in the read are:

 

KM Rockwood with “Burn, Baby, Burn.”

 

Kevin R. Tipple with “First Contact.”

 

Publisher Description:

Inspired by a suggestion from legendary book reviewer, author and multi-term Short Mystery Fiction Society President Kevin R. Tipple, here’s the holiday anthology that’s definitely not filled with Christmas cheer. It will, however, be sure to entertain the darker side of your imagination.

Christmastime is a season full of stress. Cooking, decorations, trying to find the perfect gift for people you barely know. It’s enough to make anyone snap. Now, imagine you’re Santa Claus and you’ve got the entire world to take care of.

Yeah, cookies and milk isn’t going to make that kind of pressure go down any easier. Add in flippant reindeer, elves who slack and Mrs. Claus nagging that you never spend enough time with her during the holidays and it’s enough to make your Kris wanna Kringle, if you know what we mean.

Welcome to Santa Rage: A Killer Claus Compendium in which Mr. North Pole himself finally snaps and gets his just desserts…and we’re not talking gingerbread. Within these ten stories Claus dishes out his own brand of justice to nonbelievers, kidnappers, meth and other drug dealers while protecting strippers and doling out some of the best doses of karma Santa ever dealt that did not involve coal.

These ten stories of grindhouse-level revenge, horror, and action come courtesy of Kevin R. Tipple, Alexander Bayliss, KM Rockwood, Dante Bilec, Kurtis Rupé, MJ McClymont, E. Catherine Tobler, Erica Barnes, Justin Hunter and Leon Peter Blanda.

 

SMFS Members Published in Lost and Loaded: a Gun's Tale (the 509 Crime Anthologies)

Today is publication day for the new book, Lost and Loaded: a Gun's Tale (the 509 Crime Anthologies). The anthology from High Speed Creative, LLC, includes short stories by SMFS list members. The read is available from Amazon and other vendors. The SMFS list members that reported being in the read are: 

 

James D.F. Hannah with “Do You See the Light?”

 

Curtis Ippolito with “8-Hour Detour.”

 

Robert Lopresti with “The Book Deal.”

 

Amazon Description:

Taking the revolver was their first mistake. Using it was their second.

Marlin Hattenburg has no idea of the mayhem he’s about to unleash when he discovers an ugly gun while at work. Holding the snub-nose revolver fills him with hope that his marital problems will soon melt away.

He’s dead wrong.

The same pistol soon winds up in the hands of a junkie, followed by a mother, a spy, and even a failed clown. Each of them believes a found revolver to be good fortune or a solution to their problems. They, too, are wrong.

How does one discarded revolver lead to so much trouble? Follow the gun through one Pacific Northwest summer and find out.

Lost and Loaded: a Gun’s Tale is a collection of fourteen stories from crime fiction’s freshest voices. Get your copy today and experience a summer of broken dreams and murder.

SMFS Members Published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine: January/February 2025

SMFS list members are published in the Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine: January/February 2025 issue. The issue is available at the publisher and other vendors. The SMFS members that reported being in the issue are:

 

David Bart with “Going the Distance.”

 

Marcelle Dubé with “No Title, No Clout.”

 

Paul Ryan O'Connor with “As You See The World.”

 

Josh Pachter with a translation of François Bloemhof’s “The Wages of Sin.”

 

Manon Wogahn with “Kanab Noon.”