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!

Ain't That Good News? Hot New Reads from the Short Mystery Fiction Society!

As spring turns the corner into summer, 2026 continues to heat up with a wealth of exciting offerings from the writers of the Short Mystery Fiction Society. SMFS means quality! And remember, if you read something you enjoy--from this list or anywhere else--support the writers with ratings and reviews at your favorite websites. Help other readers find the stories you love--stories like these!

• The Derringer Awards, given annually by the members of SMFS, have been recognizing excellence in short mystery stories for almost three decades. Now, Level Best Books has released a volume destined to be a milestone! HOT SHOTS: CELEBRATING THIRTY YEARS OF THE SHORT MYSTERY FICTION SOCIETY, edited by Golden Derringer recipient Josh Pachter, gathers one Derringer-winning story for every year from 1998, when the Derringers were first given, through 2025. You'll find many of the top writers in the field today represented in these pages, including a number of masters who are no longer with us, but who are richly deserving of continued admiration. HOT SHOTS isn't just a collection; it's proof that short crime fiction is as vibrant, entertaining and accomplished as it's ever been, and a compelling snapshot of what the field looks like today. Don't miss this one!
  
  
  
• Speaking of the Derringers, don't miss the thrilling announcement of this year's winners. Congratulations to the winners, and to the readers who will find great new reads by seeking them out!
  
  
  
  
• SMFS all-star M.E. Proctor teams with Russell Thayer in KANSAS CITY BREAKDOWN. Thayer's series assassin Gunselle, the mob, and the FBI are on a collision course in 1952, and the stylish cover is just your first hint to the fun ride you'll find in these pages!
  
  
  
• Another SMFS member proves they don't just excel at the short form in Sandra J. Cady's novel A GAME OF LUCK, in which Detroit homicide detective Sam Roma has to deal with the puzzling murder of a popular teacher and a new partner bringing their own baggage to the job.
  
  
  
• Rounding out a trifecta of hard-hitting novels, David H. Hendrickson's PAIN TRAIN is the riveting story of a former football great turned PI whose old teammate's painkiller addiction leads both men down a deadly road. A must for fans of contemporary noir!
  
  
  
• From sprawling novels to the razorblade narratives of flash fiction--SMFS authors cover all the bases! VIRGINIA FANTASTIC is an anthology of speculative flash stories set in the Commonwealth, including a tale of hidden treasure in Jane Limprecht's "The General's Gold."
  
  
  
• As always, SMFS members are well represented in the May/June issue of ELLERY QUEEN'S MYSTERY MAGAZINE. You'll always find the best in contemporary mystery in these pages, with this issue including stellar contributions from DK Snyder, S. B. Watson, Gabriela Giteler, James D.F. Hannah and many more.
  
  
  
• Meanwhile, the new ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S MYSTERY MAGAZINE is highlighted by a new entry in the Julius Katz series by SMFS stalwart Dave Zeltserman--who just won an Edgar Award for a 2025 Katz story. Congratulations, Dave!
  
  
  
• BLACK CAT WEEKLY continues to bring you hundreds of pages of mystery, science fiction and rediscovered pulp treasures every week--the most bang for your buck! Recent issues have featured SMFS authors like Rob Lopresti, Tom Milani and N.M. Cedeňo, alongside many others. BCW is truly a weekly gift for passionate readers!
  
  
  
• The MYSTERIES TO DIE FOR podcast delivers fair-play mysteries for your ears, with this episode featuring Larry M. Keeton's "A Cast of Crabs."
• Short fiction can pack a hell of a punch. For proof, look no further than James Patrick Focarile's "The Cold, Hard Weight of It" at LITERARY GARAGE.
• SMFS members make regular appearances across the pond at the UK periodical THE PEOPLE'S FRIEND, most recently Veronica Leigh with "Learn to Forgive" and Liz Filleul with "A Turn Up For The Books."
  
  
  
• YELLOW MAMA has become one of the web's best sites for gritty crime fiction. Don't miss Bern Sy Moss's "Bragging Rights" and Elizabeth Dearborn's "Lived My Life Too Fast" in the latest issue.
• DARK YONDER is another periodical that's rapidly become a must-read for fans of crime fiction on the noir side of the spectrum The newly released issue #12 includes dynamite work by SMFS members Veronica Leigh, Steve Liskow, Mark Coggins and Christina Hoag. All this and a cocktail recipe, too!
  
  
  
• CURATED BY COSTUIC brings readers a monthly dose of only the best in short crime fiction. This month, the endlessly entertaining John M. Floyd brings us a fateful encounter on a plane in "Creativity."
  
  
  
• THE RANGER'S ALMANAC is an annual collection of stories and art inspired by America's national parks--and by golly, here's John M. Floyd again, bringing Boy Scouts and bank robbers together in "Lewis and Clark."
  
  
  
• Another new player quickly making a mark on the crime fiction scene, COLD CALLER, proudly presents Jessica Slee's "Home Sweet." And for another sample of Slee's powerful work, don't miss "Life's a Peach" at FLASH FICTION MAGAZINE.
  
  
  
• HOUSE OF LONG SHADOWS brings you an unusual tale of Sherlock Holmes and vampires in Mark Coggins's "Adventure of the Baker Street Vampires."
  
  
  
• And finally this month, Terena Elizabeth Bell ventures into the unknown in "Gold-Face" at COSMIC HORROR MONTHLY.

And there you have it--another round-up of fantastic new offerings for readers and fans of some of the best fiction being published today. And remember, if you want to support the writers doing this work, leaving ratings and reviews at places like Amazon and Goodreads is the best way to help promote their work and lead more readers their way. Look for more news coming soon!

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 Mickey Finn Volume 5: 21st Century Noir

This is publication day for the new book, Mickey Finn Volume 5: 21st Century Noir. Edited by SMFS list member Michael Bracken, who also wrote the introduction, the anthology from Down & Out books features short stories from a number of SMFS list members. The read is available from the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors.  The SMFS list members that reported being in the read are:

 

 

K.L. Abrahamson with “Red Dust Express.”

 

Eddie Generous with “Sister.”

 

James A. Hearn with “Gone Fishin'.”

 

Hugh Lessig with “Burned.”

 

Tom Milani with “Barstow.”

 

Alan Orloff with “Solid Six.”

 

Travis Richardson with “No Requests Denied.”

 

Joseph S. Walker with “Ronnie Mercer is Back in Town.”

 

Andrew Welsh-Huggins with “All Apples.”

 

Description

Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir, Volume 5, the fifth entry of the hard-hitting anthology series, is another crime-fiction cocktail that will again knock readers into a literary stupor.

Contributors push hard against the boundaries of crime fiction, driving their work into places short crime fiction doesn’t often go, into a world where the mean streets seem gentrified by comparison and happy endings are the exception rather than the rule. And they do all this in contemporary settings, bringing noir into the 21st century.

Like any good cocktail, Mickey Finn is a heady mix of ingredients that packs a punch, and when you’ve finished reading every story, you’ll know that you’ve been “slipped a Mickey.”

The eighteen contributors, including some of today’s most respected short-story writers and new writers making their mark on the genre, include: K.L. Abrahamson, Alan Barker, Michael Chandos, Caleb Coy, Eddie Generous, Nils Gilbertson, James A. Hearn, Hugh Lessig, Sean McCluskey, Tom Milani, Bill W. Morgan, Alan Orloff, Travis Richardson, Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Robb T. White, Sam Wiebe, Joseph S. Walker, and Stacy Woodson.

 

SMFS Members Published in Crimeucopia - Great Googly Moo!

 

Today is publication day for the anthology, Crimeucopia – Great Googly Moo! Published by Murderous Ink Press, the read is available at Amazon and other vendors. SMFS list members that reported being in the read are:

 

Michael Bracken with “Twink.”

 

Jay Andrew Connor with “Memindip and the Persian Poet.”

 

Wil A. Emerson with “Cracker Jacks and The Granny Case.”

 

 S. B. Watson with “The Five Cent Detective.”

 

Martin Zeigler with “Barely Is Good Enough.”

 

Publisher Description:

I Remember the Dame Well…

…Mainly as she had a laugh that reminded me of two cheese graters energetically fornicating in an iron bathtub. I looked out the open window at the Johnson Memorial, standing upright and resolute in the persistent rain. The clock on it said it was 3:15 in the a.m. and I figured, what-the-Hell, it was time to review the 14 case files scattered across my desk.

They were from:

Daryl Wood Gerber, Don Magin, James Donzella, J. T. Seate, S. B. Watson,

Wil A. Emerson, Michael Bracken, Glenn Francis Faelnar, Michael Thomét,

Jay Andrew Connor, Martin Zeigler, Michael J. Ciaraldi, Jeff Burt,

and L.N. Hunter

I glanced back out across the skyline and wondered: Why is it always raining in Noir City? I got up and moved over to the chess board. I hadn’t see the cat in several hours, so I rearranged the pieces a little to give myself a bit of an advantage…

Just when you thought Private Eye investigations are a deadly serious business, these 14 skilful and talented writers start shaking the Funny Tree, and you’ll be amazed at what falls out.

Because, in the spirit of the Murderous Ink Detective Agency motto:

You never know what you like until you investigate it.

 

Paperback Edition ISBN: 9781909498624

eBook Edition ISBN: 9781909498631

SMFS Members Published/Recognized in The Best American Mystery Stories 2024

Several SMFS list members have stories in or are recognized in The Best American Mystery Stories 2024 edition. Edited by S.A. Cosby and Steph Cha, the read is published by Mariner Books. It is available from the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors. The SMFS list members that reported their presence in the book are:

 

Main Full Story Section: 

Karen Harrington with “The Mysterious Disappearance of Jason Whetstone.” Originally published in Reckless in Texas: Metroplex Mysteries Volume II, published by the Sisters in Crime North Dallas, edited by SMFS list member Barb Goffman. 

Toni L.P. Kelner with “Baby Trap.” Originally published in School of Hard Knox, published by Crippen and Landru. 

Shannon Taft with "Monster." Originally published in Reckless in Texas: Metroplex Mysteries Volume II, published by the Sisters in Crime North Dallas, edited by SMFS list member Barb Goffman. 

 

Recognized: 

C. W. Blackwell with “Hard Rain on Beach Street.” Originally published in Killin’ Time in San Diego: Bouchercon Anthology 2023, published by Down & Out Books.

 

Robert Lopresti with “Memorial.” Originally published in Black Cat Weekly #95, published by Wildside Press.   

 

Gabriela Stiteler with “Two Hours West of Nothing.” Originally published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine: September/October 2023, published by Dell Magazines, Mercury Press.

 

Joseph S. Walker with “Off the Shelf.”  Originally published in Mickey Finn Volume 4: 21st Century Noir. Published by Down & Out Books, edited by SMFS list member Michael Bracken.

 

Amazon Description:

 

A collection of the year’s best mystery and suspense short fiction selected by New York Times bestselling author S. A. Cosby, author of Razorblade Tears, and series editor Steph Cha.

In his introduction, guest editor S. A. Cosby observes that writing short stories is “a special skill that combines brevity with wit and cleverness and the hint of the existential malaise that imbues crime fiction with its gravitas.” The stories in this col-lection overflow with gravitas in the most unexpected ways: a cryptic note left on a windshield, a murder for hire meets a game of Mouse Trap, a swipe right on a dating app goes horribly wrong. From an eleven-year-old drawn to the neighborhood spookhouse to a scholarship kid at an exclusive boarding school, a nefarious Old West gunman to a Florida woman’s struggle against both outer and inner demons, the characters in The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2024 are haunted and haunting, and wholly unforgettable. 

The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2024 includes MEGAN ABBOTT • ALYSSA COLE • TANANARIVE DUE • ABBY GENI • JORDAN HARPER • GAR ANTHONY HAYWOOD •TONI LP KELNER • BOBBY MATHEWS • LISA UNGER • and others

SMFS Member Guest Post: IF YOU JUST HANG ON… by Nikki Knight

Please welcome back Kathleen Marple Kalb to the blog today in her Nikki Knight personae. The book, Live, Local, and Long Dead: A Vermont Radio Mystery has new life through a new publisher and a series commitment. You can get it at the publisher, Wild Rose Press, Amazon, and other vendors. The book comes out Tuesday.

 

IF YOU JUST HANG ON…

            When it comes to writing, I’m a gila monster.

            A large venomous lizard, you ask? Well, kinda. The gila monster kills its prey by hanging on to until it surrenders. (That’s your inspirational weird fact for the day!) I hang on and keep writing characters I love until I convince everyone else to love them too…or at least give them a try.

            It’s why there’s a second Vermont Radio Mystery, LIVE, LOCAL, AND LONG DEAD, coming out this month…and why there are a lot of Vermont short stories out there, too. While I know, and really admire, writers who come up with new characters and a new “world” for each new story, I’m just not that creative.

            The basic idea of a mystery series set at a small radio station in Vermont was my first idea for a book, when I started writing fiction seriously in 2015, after my son started kindergarten. It seemed like a fun way to combine the experience of my first on-air job up there in the Green Mountains with my dark and snarky newsroom sense of humor – and finely honed appreciation for quirky crimes.
            The first version, best described as Stephanie Plum with moose and without Janet Evanovich’s skill, was a great learning experience. It was not, however, saleable, as I learned after my first agent hit a brick wall that had nothing to do with him, and everything to do with the product.

            Fast-forward a couple years, after the first round of my husband’s cancer battle, and successful querying and submission with a new agent who found a home for my first few historical mysteries. And what did I want to do but go back to Vermont? This time, though, with a main character, disc jockey Jaye Jordan, who was a lot more like me: a grownup, a mother, someone who’d seen things, done things, and taken a few hits. But Vermont was still my happy place – and I’m still me, so I kept the farting moose, the snarky humor, and the quirky, diverse cast.

            My agent loved it and sold it…and LIVE, LOCAL, AND DEAD ultimately earned out. Not enough, though, and the series wasn’t picked up.  

            That might have been the end if not for the short stories.

            When I started writing shorts, I gravitated to a setting and characters I knew well, which meant Vermont and Jaye. The shorts started to sell, and every time one of them was published, a copy or two of LIVE, LOCAL, AND DEAD sold, proving to me, and anyone who might consider my work, that there was indeed a market for it.

            Not to mention the fact that I couldn’t let go.

            Gila monster, remember?

That’s why, when Level Best picked up my historical and a new contemporary series, I didn’t do the smart thing and pull everything else that was on submission. And when the Wild Rose Press offered for the second Vermont book, and the only thing I had to say was “Yes, thank you!”

And now, I’d like to invite you to my happy place, a very small radio station in a tiny Vermont town, where weird crimes seem to keep happening, with a (literally) colorful cast of locals, wicked humor, warm family moments, and of course, that flatulent moose.

Not a gila monster in sight. Except, of course, for me.

 

 

LIVE, LOCAL, AND LONG DEAD: Vermont DJ Jaye Jordan's Green-Up Day ends in murder when not one, but two, bodies turn up in an old park -- and one of them was much too close to both her ex and her current man when it was alive and bodacious. Now Jaye, with the help of a colorful (and diverse) cast of townies, will have to clear her men's names, unravel a World War II-era mystery…and get Grandpa Seymour to the Senior Prom on time. 

 

 

Nikki Knight ©2024

 

Nikki Knight is an Author/Anchor/Mom…not in that order. An award-winning weekend anchor at New York’s 1010 WINS Radio, she writes short stories and novels including the Vermont Radio Mystery LIVE, LOCAL, AND LONG DEAD from the Wild Rose Press. As Kathleen Marple Kalb, she writes the Ella Shane and Old Stuff series, both from Level Best Books. A Derringer finalist, she’s had stories in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Weekly, and anthologies including DEVIL’S SNARE: Best New England Crime Stories 2024. She’s Co-VP of the New York/Tri-State Sisters in Crime Chapter and a past VP of the Short Mystery Fiction Society. She, her husband, and son live in a Connecticut house owned by their cat.