A Plethora of Pulse-Pounding Pages as the Short Mystery Fiction Society Enters a New Age!

As we turn the corner into the final quarter of 2026, the multi-talented writers of the Short Mystery Fiction Society are continuing to give readers their best. Check out these fantastic recent releases!

• SMFS recently celebrated its thirtieth anniversary, so what better way to start our next thirty than with the launch of SMFS Mystery Magazine? The first issue is available now, from editor John Connor and Murderous Ink Press. Get in on the ground floor of this exciting new publication, with stories, interviews and essays from SMFS members like Ginny Swart, Mat Coward, Eve Fisher, S. B. Watson, Gerald Elias, Jim Guigli, Ed Teja, N. M. Cedeňo, Kevin R. Tipple, Me. Proctor, June Lorraine Roberts, Vinnie Hansen, and Nikki Knight. A powerhouse gang of scribes, and look for more issues coming in 2027!
  
  
  
  
• It's that time of year again, with the release of The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2026--and as always, SMFS is well represented, with stories from Richard Helms ("The Twenty-Fourth Canterbury"), Christina Hoag ("No Evidence"), Billie Livingston ("The Headache"), and Tom Milani ("Mill Mountain"). As always, not to be missed!
  
  
  
• From Level Best Books, editors Peter W. J. Hayes and Deborah Well bring us Crime Before Our Time: Crime Fiction and Mystery Inspired by History, with stories ranging across thousands of years and multiple cultures. Among the SMFS stalwarts on hand are Shari Held ("Women's Rites"), Robert Lopresti ("The Crossing"), Roberta Gibson ("On the Road to Honzhou") donalee Moulton ("Le Pain"), and K. C. Selby ("An Apprentice in Paris"). Forget the woes of the present in these yarns of the past!
  
  
  
• If you like crime stories based on history, you'll love crime stories based on urban legends (they're sort of history, right?)! That's what you'll find in Hooked on Urban Legends--and Murder! from editors Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley. We all know urban legends--those things that happened to a cousin's best friend's roommate, we swear! Here they're turned into riveting stories of crime and suspense by authors including SMFS's Joseph S. Walker ("The Things We Remember"), Jane Limprecht ("Every Dog Has Her Day"), Alan Orloff ("Face to Face"), Shari Held ("The House of Blue Lights Revisited"), Shannon Taft ("The Cave Man"), Kathryn Holland ("A Knocking at Fairweather Hall") and Barb Goffman ("Into the Woods"). Leave the lights on for this one!
  
  
  
• For years, Black Cat Weekly has given lovers of crime, sci fi, and pulp hundreds of pages of new and classic stories every week. The magazine is its final stretch (though look for news of the new Black Cat Mysteries coming soon!), but there's still time to check out what you've been missing, including stellar recent contributions from the likes of Marcelle Dube, Shari Held, and John Floyd. They'll be talking about BCW's legendary run for years, so don't miss out!
  
  
  
• And of course, SMFS writers continue to dazzle in magazines and websites every single month. Looking for examples? The latest issue of Thrill Ride Magazine features fast-paced stories of capers, including "Lay Down your Money, Play Your Part" from SMFS's Robert J. Binney!
  
  
  
• Woman's World proves every week that short mysteries can pack a powerful punch, most recently with K. C. Selby's "The Blank Space"!
  
  
  
• Kings River Life brings us Stephen M. Pierce's "Rattle the Gates of Your Cell!"
  
  
  
• Neon and Smoke offers Raymond J' Brash's "Flower Girl"!
  
  
  
• Literary Garage has M. E.Proctor's "A Drive in Marion County"!
  
  
  
• New Myths hosts "Jumpin' Jack" from the modern master of the mystery short, John M. Floyd!
  
  
  
• House of Long Shadows is where you'll find S. B. Watson's "Don Cosme's Gold," an unforgettable story of greed and curses!
  
  
  
• And finally, for those who like their thrills in audio form, the podcast Mysteries to Die For has fair-play fun with Robert J. Binney's "Ping"!
  

That wraps up another exciting month! Remember, the Short Mystery Fiction Society is always free to join, and welcomes writers, readers, editors, and anyone else who loves mysteries and the short story form. We're saving a place for you!

Fall into Great Reading with the Short Mystery Fiction Society!

Absurdly unseasonal heat waves notwithstanding, summer is winding down and autumn is hurtling in. Whether you're sheltering in the AC or taking in the breezes in a backyard hammock, there's no better companion than great reading--so check out these recent releases from the talented scribes of the Short Mystery Fiction Society!

• From Crippen and Landru, editors Gigi Pandian and Tom Mead bring us All the Crime in the World: Locked Room Mysteries and Impossible Puzzles from Across the Globe. Authors from North and South America, Australia, Asia and Europe come together with new tales celebrating one of the classic forms of the mystery tale, the locked room puzzle. SMFS Golden Derringer winner Josh Pachter joins the fun with "The Allegory of the Five Senses," set in 1859 Belgium. Sure to be one of the year's best anthologies!
  
  
  
• Sticking with the international theme, the latest edition of the award-winning Crimeucopia anthology series is Canadian Chronicles, chock full of dynamite tales from writers north of the border. SMFS is well represented, with contributions from Judy Penz Sheluk, Karen Keeley, donalee Moulton, Merrilee Robson and Abe Margel. With Bouchercon Calgary coming up, what better time to get to know some of the top Canadian writers?
  
  
  
• Abe Margel is also among the contributors to Legends: Monsters that Go Bump in the Night, a collection of spine-tingling tales of creatures from myth and legend. In Margel's "It Was No Stroll in the Park," we encounter the obscure Jewish notion of gigul, the reincarnation of souls, in a most surprising way.
  
  
  
• SMFS's Rob Lopresti brings us "Catch as Cat Can" in Midnight Mousers: 12 Original Cat Tales. Is there any better pairing than cats and mystery fiction?
  
  
  
• Now available for your digital pleasure and coming soon to physical shelves, the Sept/Oct issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine is the 85th anniversary issue of the flagship periodical for short crime fiction. Absolutely not to be missed! Josh Pachter is here, collaborating with the late great William Bankier on a new story and and sharing his EQ memories in an essay as well. Also present are SMFS members David Dean, Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier, Anna Scotti and Dave Zeltserman. Sure to be a collector's item!
  
  
  
• Not to be outdone, the Sept/Oct Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine has offerings from a bevy of today's finest writers, including SMFS's Kevin Egan and Rob Lopresti. They'd look great on the shelf together!
  
  
  
• Black Cat Weekly continues to bring its readers the best value in fiction today, with hundreds of pages week of mystery, sci-fi, and pulp goodness. Highlights of recent issues include stories by Shannon Taft, Paula Messina, Josh Pachter and Jennifer Slee. Don't let a single issue get by you--it's a highlight of every week!
  
  
  
• More great value comes in the 27th issue of Mystery, Crime and Mayhem! Among the contributors to this spring break themed issue are donalee Moulton and David H. Hendrickson. As the temps fall, you'll be brought back to the beach!
  
  
  
• Turning to online reads, the prolific Terena Elizabeth Bell has two recent stories sure to please: "Mall of America" at Turn & Work and "As We Go Along" at Americana UK. You'll come away wondering how somebody can write this much and make everything this good!
  
  
  
• Sometimes petty theft has serious consequences. For proof, just check out Gregory Meece's "Take a Penny" at Literary Garage!
  
  
  
• More thrills in another small package come with Tom Milani's "The Nice Garage" at Pistol Jim. The read is fast, but the memory will last!
  
  
  

And that's another terrific month of reads from the Short Mystery Fiction Society! Remember, membership is free and open to all writers, readers, editors and others interested in short crime and mystery fiction. We're saving a place for you!

More Sizzling Summer Reads from the Short Mystery Fiction Society!

It's time for another roundup of recent publications from the outstanding writers of the Short Mystery Fiction Society. Human stories from human writers for human readers--your surefire cure to the barrage of AI slop. For the best in mystery and crime fiction today, look no further!

• It won't be hitting the shelves for a few months yet, but the big news in the world of the Short Mystery Fiction Society in recent weeks is undoubtedly the launch of SMFS Mystery Magazine! Coming from Murderous Ink Press and editor John Connor, SMFSMM will feature fiction, essays, reviews and interviews, all centered on the world of short crime fiction and offering only the best to discriminating readers. The first issue will be out in October, so stand by for more details soon!
  
  
  
• Meanwhile, among existing periodicals, Black Cat Weekly continues to be the best value on the virtual shelves, with hundreds of pages every week of mystery, sci-fi, and pulp adventure to get your pulse pounding! The last few issues have included SMFS stalwarts James Patrick Focarile ("Last Kiss"), Paula Messina ("A Little Help"), Tom Milani ("Andrea Gutierrez"), Kevin R. Tipple ("A Plan Comes Together") and Terena Elizabeth Bell ("Preliminary Investigation"). Every story a winner!
  
  
  
• And speaking of Terena Elizabeth Bell, don't miss the essay "Terena Elizabeth Bell on Writing Her First Novel" over at the Ellery Queen blog. Her novel Recursion will be making its way to your shelves next year, so this is a great way to whet your appetite!
• Be sure to check out issue #8 of Starlite Pulp Review, another great publication covering a range of genre fiction from exciting new writers--including SMFS's Mark Coggins, with "Liverjack"!
  
  
  
• Remember the days before cell phones? Abe Margel will give you a reminder in his thriller "Pay Phone" at Literary Garage!
• Of course, the scribes of SMFS are too talented to confine themselves to fiction alone! The prolific donalee Moulton has advice for writers at Killer Nashville Magazine with "The Infamous Info Dump--and How to Avoid the Scrap Heap" and advice for everyone dealing with our fast-paced world in her book Shift Happens: Lead The Change Your People Need.
  
  
  
• The pages of the venerable Saturday Evening Post are graced by James Patrick Focarile in his masterful crime yarn "What Whiskey Won't Cure."
  
  
  
• Sticking with the drinking theme, Gregory Meece enlivens the latest edition of The Genre Society with "Last Call"!
• A legendary periodical returns to the stands in a new issue of Von Stray's Crimestalker Casebook, with contributions from many of today's top writers, including SMFS's John Floyd ("Unthinkable"), Stephen D. Rogers ("Sins of the Family") and O'Neil De Noux ("Buttonholed")--three writers who always deliver the best!
  
  
  
• The North Dallas chapter of Sisters in Crime has been putting out top-notch anthologies for years, and they deliver again with Boots, BBQ, and Bloodshed, edited by Michael Bracken and including contributions from, among many other talented writers, Shannon Taft ("Consequences"), M. E. Proctor ("Five-Pointed Stars") and Karen Harrington ("We Have Lost the Plot"). Collect them all!
  
  
  
• The recent trend of music-based anthologies gets a worthy new addition in Bad Intentions: A Crime Fiction Anthology Based on the Music of Warren Zevon, himself a writer who knew more than a little about lawyers, guns, and money. Among those paying homage is Zakariah Johnson with "Bad Road, Wretched Road." The road may be bad, but the fiction is superb!
  
  
  
• Finally, on the novel front, look for hardboiled action of the highest caliber from Gary Phillips in The Haul, a heist novel on the cutting edge, about a professional thief targeting a tech billionaire's secret bunker. This one will have you up all night!
  
  
  

And there you have it--all the quality reads a crime fan could hope for! Or is it? Stay tuned for our next pulse-pounding update!

Make Mine Mystery: Great Recent Reads For Fans of Fierce Fiction!

Hard to believe we're halfway through 2026 already! As we round the bend into the second half of the year, the crime and mystery thrills keep on coming from the stellar talents of the Short Mystery Fiction Society. Looking for a riveting tale to distract you from the punishing heat? Look no further, readers!

• Disney may have tried to clean them up, but savvy readers know that the classic fairy tales of old feature enough dark elements to rival the toughest noir. Those elements are highlighted in the new Level Best Books collection WISH UPON A CRIME: CRIME FICTION INSPIRED BY FAIRY TALES, edited by Michael Bracken and Stacy Woodson. Familiar stories are brought into the present day and given a gritty makeover by a host of today's top crafters of criminal capers, including SMFS members Joseph S. Walker ("Hansel and Gretel"), John M. Floyd ("Goldilocks and the Three Bears"), Josh Pachter ("The Frog Prince"), Andrew Welsh-Huggins ("Jack and the Beanstalk"), Barb Goffman ("Little Red Riding Hood"), Tom Milani ("The Briar Patch") and newly-minted Golden Derringer winner David Dean ("King O' The Cats"). This is certain to be one of the year's best anthologies--don't miss it!
  
  
  
• A new issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine always means excitement from SMFS authors! Present in the July/August issue are Dave Zeltserman ("A Lost Dream"), Terena Elizabeth Bell ("Good Fences"), and Joseph S. Walker ("Hunters"). Still the world's leading mystery magazine after all these years!
  
  
  
• Not to be outdone, the July/August Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine is highlighted by contributions from SMFS's own S.B. Watson ("Tricks on the Table") and, pulling the double play, Dave Zeltserman ("Alfred & Hitchcock").
  
  
  
• And of course, Black Cat Weekly continues to offer fans of mystery, science fiction and pulp the best deal on the market, with hundreds of pages of thrills every week. Among the SMFS contributors to recent issues are Joseph S. Walker ("It's Flag Day on Fairview"), Steve Liskow ("Pictures at an Execution"), Robert Lopresti ("The Grudge") and the endlessly prolific John M. Floyd ("Ship Island").
  
  
  
• SMFS all-star Abe Margel pulls a hat trick this month, with stories in The Yard Crime Blog ("Travis' Benefit"), Academy of the Heart and Mind ("Redside Ride"), and Yellow Mama ("Exit Through the Back Door"). You can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him!
  
  
  
• Thrill Ride Magazine dedicates its latest issue to Assassins and Vigilantes, and taking you along for the ride are SMFS members Robert J. Binney ("Moms Pack Snacks") and David H. Hendrickson ("Apt Pupil")!
  
  
  
• Proving that he has a soft side after all, the multitalented Hendrickson is also featured in the anthology ROMANCE FOR ALL SEASONS: SUNKISSED SUMMER with the wonderfully titled "The Mona Pizza and the Johnny Pesky Wannabe." How could you not want to know what that title means?
  
  
  
• The new issue of Blood and Bourbon hits hard, with "Goose" from SMFS's donalee Moulton.
  
  
  
• Flash Flood delivers big emotion in a small package on National Flash Fiction Day with Michael J. Ciaraldi's "Night Shift."
  
  
  
• Going even shorter (and sweeter!) at the X flash fiction page Mythic Picnic is Zachariah Johnson with "Make it Sweet."
• Close to the Bone routinely features some of the hardest-hitting fiction on the web, and they deliver again with Stephen M. Pierce's enthralling "Six Shots for a Sharpshooter."
  
  
  
• Gregory Meece is no slouch in the thrills department either, as he demonstrates in "Ellie" at Shotgun Honey.
• And last but not least, Rock and Hard Place always brings the goods, and their latest issue does it again with Christina Hoag's "Last Night on the Track."
  
  
  

That should be enough edge-of-your-seat mystery and suspense to keep you going for a while--at least until we're back with another update from the Short Mystery Fiction Society, proving month by month that this is a golden age for short crime fiction!

Beat the Heat with these Cool Reads

Summer is heating up, so it's a great time to find a patch of shade, put a chilled beverage at your elbow, and settle into some of these cool new reads from the acclaimed authors of the Short Mystery Fiction Society!

• The award-winning O'Neil De Noux returns to the steamy streets of the Big Easy in Ain't That New Orleans, the eleventh outing in his series featuring former homicide detective turned private eye Dino LaStanza. A slew of challenging cases, a masterfully presented setting--this is as New Orleans as it gets, readers!
  
  
  
• SMFS's Debra Bliss Saenger is among the talented scribes unraveling the fragile lines between truth and delusion in Spilt Ends: A Psychological Thriller Anthology. Fractured identities, hidden motives, steadily building tension--you'll pay for a whole seat, but you'll only need the edge!
  
  
  
• The heartland is never as innocent as it seems, and you'll find evidence aplenty in Scenic and Sinister: An Indiana Landmarks Anthology brought to you by the Speed City chapter of Sisters in Crime. MB Dabney and Shari Held are among the Hoosier highlights in this fast-paced collection of stories bringing crime and mayhem to the best-known sites in the state!
  
  
  
• And here's Shari Held again, alongside Veronica Leigh, Kathleen Marple Kalb, S. B. Watson and others in Detectives, Sleuths, & Nosy Neighbors III. Short mysteries with a bite!
  
  
  
• At the online journal Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Terena Elizabeth Bell puts a delightfully nasty twist on a classic tale in "Hans and Gretchen."
  
  
  
• Over at The People's Friend, Veronica Leigh has another criminal treat for readers when she goes "Behind the Veil"!
• The latest edition of Mystery, Crime and Mayhem is about Copycats--but donalee Moulton and the other authors showing their stuff have decidedly original stories to share!
• And finally, SMFS once again reminds you that with hundreds of pages of mystery, sci fi, and other pulp goodness every single week, there's no better bargain for your reading dollar than Black Cat Weekly, including recent contributions from John Floyd and Shari Held!
  
  
  

Stay tuned for more hot reads from SMFS to keep your summer riveting!