SMFS Members Published in Animals in Mysteries II, Volume 39, No. 4, Winter 2023

Several SMFS list members have published essays in Animals in Mysteries II, Volume 39, No. 4, Winter 2023. Published earlier this week by Mystery Readers International, the read is available at the website. The SMFS list members published in the issue are: 

 

Paul A. Barra with the author essay, “Doggie Partners.”

 

Kaye George with the author essay, "Marshmallow and Babalu."

 

Debra H. Goldstein with the author essay, "Discovering RahRah."

 

Sandra Murphy with the author essay, “Not All Best Friends Are Human.”

 

Merrilee Robson with the author essay, "Mixing Kitties and Conflict in Crime Fiction."

 

 Website Description: 

Animals in Mysteries II

Volume 39, No. 4, Winter 2023

 

Buy this back issue! Available in hardcopy or as a downloadable PDF.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ARTICLES

·                     Canines and Crimes in the Golden Age of Mysteries by Patricia Cook

·                     From Alaska to Maine: Wolf Companions Help Solve Mysteries by Judith Ayn

·                     A Clowder of Cat Mysteries by Aubrey Nye Hamilton

·                     Agatha’s Ark: Animals in Classic Crime Fiction by Kate Jackson

AUTHOR! AUTHOR!

·                     Murder, She Growls… or How Jessica Fletcher Brought Pets Into My Mystery Series by Jinny Alexander

·                     Doggie Partners by Paul A. Barra

·                     Horses? Why Horses? by J. F. Benedetto

·                     Dogs, What They See, What They Know by Rona Bell

·                     The Case For Dogs in Crime Fiction by Valerie Burns

·                     For the Love of Dogs by Tracy Carter

·                     It Was All a Plot to Write about Horses by Celeste Connally

·                     Looking Behind the Curtain of Writing Mysteries With a Dog by DK Coutant

·                     Lobsters, Eels, and Sharks, Oh My! by Charlene D’Avanzo

·                     Why My Mysteries Feature Animals and Yours Should, Too by Debbie De Louise

·                     So, Who’s Feeding the Dog? by Christine Falcone

·                     The Amazing Skills of Dogs by Janet Finsilver

·                     Marshmallow and Babalu by Kaye George

·                     A Most Improbable Amateur Detective by Hal Glatzer

·                     Discovering RahRah by Debra H. Goldstein

·                     Life Is Better With Critters by Carolyn Haines

·                     Absolutely, Positively the Most Awkward Question About Animal Sidekicks by David Handler

·                     The Joy of Animals in Mysteries by Thonie Hevron

·                     Stories and Dogs and Wildlife—Oh, My! by Linda O. Johnston

·                     All Kinds of Kitties by Diane Kelly

·                     Stand Down, The Lido Libretto, and More by Gay Toltl Kinman

·                     A Menagerie of Mayhem by Tim Maleeny

·                     What’s the Mystery About Therapy Dogs? by James L’Etoile

·                     Readers Root for the Vulnerable by Larry Maness

·                     Albert is Gone and Boris is Here by Susan McCormick

·                     A Writer’s Pals by Larry Mild

·                     Send in the Dogs and Cats by Margaret Morse

·                     When Cats Creep Into the Story by Ann Parker

·                     Why My Top Dog Is a Fish by Korina Moss

·                     Not All Best Friends Are Human by Sandra Murphy

·                     The Mysterious Kinship of Animal Lovers by Sandra Parshall

·                     Sniffing Out The Clues by Neil Plakcy

·                     Anaphylaxis Is My Middle Name by Mindy Quigley

·                     Mixing Kitties and Conflict in Crime Fiction by Merrilee Robson

·                     Writing Mysteries and Murders at a Zoo (with Caution and Care for the Animals) by Marcia Rosen

·                     Animals and Books and Life by Philipp Schott

·                     Murder and the Missing (French) Dog by Susan C. Shea

·                     Sheep (and Other Critter) Thrills by Leonie Swann

·                     Paws, Laws, and Probable Cause by Gabriel Valjan

COLUMNS

·                     Mystery in Retrospect: Reviews by Kathy Boone Reel, L.J. Roberts, Lucinda Surber, Lesa Holstine

·                     Crime Seen: Dog Stars by Kate Derie

·                     Animal Criminals and Detectives by Cathy Pickens

·                     From the Editor’s Desk by Janet A. Rudolph

SMFS Member Publishing News: Dandy Joe's Last Buck Off by Larry D. Sweazy

Today is publication day for the new anthology, Made of Rust and Glass, Volume III. Published by Curtis A. Deeter, the read includes SMFS list member Larry D. Sweazy’s short story, Dandy Joe's Last Buck Off. The read is available from the Amazon and other vendors.

 

Amazon Description:

What does it mean to be made of rust and glass? The answer lies somewhere between these pages. It is part grit, part passion. It is a mix of self-deprecation and self-love. No matter what, it is home. Blood and bone, it is who we are. These are real stories about real people, written by linguistic masters across the region. They make no excuses and hold no punches. And why should they? We are proud to be made of rust and glass. We breathe it in, smog and fresh flowers both, and then we breathe out the greatest art and literature in the world.

SMFS Member Publishing News: The Florida Blues by John Floyd

SMFS list member John Floyd’s short story, The Florida Blues, appears in the just released Strand Magazine 25th Anniversary Issue. The issue is available at the website and from other vendors.

 

Description

25th Anniversary Issue: Unpublished Raymond Chandler, PLUS Alexander McCall Smith, Jeffery Deaver & Bob Odenkirk

Our special holiday issues  features a lost poem by none other than the dean of hard-boiled noir, Raymond Chandler. Written around 1955, “Requiem” shows the softer, sensitive side of the man who gave us the ever brusque, wise-cracking PI Philip Marlowe—it’s hard to imagine a more fitting foil. Joining Chandler this issue are a number of modern-day writers who need no introduction. In “Mr. Slope, he fall,” Alexander McCall Smith turns the English country-house mystery on its head when a party of backstabbing academics gathers for a weekend in the Scottish Highlands. In “The Usual Suspect,” Jeffery Deaver blends existential dread with humor as he plays on the latest paranoia concerning the power of artificial intelligence. Turning to pastiche, Mike Adamson sends Holmes and Watson on foot into the mean streets of East London in “King of the Rats.” And bringing it home, John Floyd, a Strand stalwart ever since Issue 2, strikes a karmic chord in his perfect getaway tale “The Florida Blues.”

This issue will be a tough act to follow when it comes to interviews. Here we are lucky to feature conversations with three great talents. Bob Odenkirk has mastered all kinds of mediums, from sketch-comedy (think cult-classic Mr. Show) to dramatic acting (Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad) to memoir (Comedy, Comedy, Comedy, Drama). Last month, he and his daughter Erin—a painter and illustrator—joined me for a thoughtful, wide-ranging discussion about the importance of the written word, art, and what it was like to collaborate on Zilot and Other Important Rhymes, recently released by Little, Brown and Company. Also, on the heels of a new book—Not Forever, But For Now, published by Simon and Schuster—Chuck Palahniuk of Fight Club fame dropped in for a chat, offering some of the real-life inspirations for his debut novel and other minimalist postmodern masterpieces.

For more back issues with works by literary legends follow this link!

SMFS Member Publishing News: Ballad of a Dead Man by Tom Milani

SMFS list member Tom Milani’s short story, Ballad of a Dead Man, is published at Urban Pigs Press. You can read it online for free here.

SMFS Members Published in Mickey Finn Volume 4: 21st Century Noir

This is publication day for the new book, Mickey Finn Volume 4: 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 in digital and print formats from the publisher, Amazon, and other vendors.  The SMFS list members that reported being in the read are:

 

Ann Aptaker with "Home For Dinner."

 

Editor Michael Bracken with "Dogs of War." Cowritten with Stacy Woodson.

 

John M. Floyd with “A Surprise for Digger Wade.”

 

Nils Gilbertson with "A Good Friend."

 

James A. Hearn with "You're the One."

 

Hugh Lessig with "Where The Grass Is Greener."

 

Adam Meyer with "This is My Story."

 

Alan Orloff with "Come A-Knockin'."

 

Josh Pachter with "Lucifer Falls."

 

Stephen D. Rogers with "Sugar and Spice."

 

Bev Vincent with "Gemini."

 

Joseph S. Walker with "Off the Shelf."

 

Andrew Welsh-Huggins with "Our Abraham."

 

Stacy Woodson with "Dogs of War." Cowritten with Editor Michael Bracken.

 

Description

Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir, Volume 4, the fourth 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 nineteen contributors, including some of today’s most respected short-story writers and new writers making their mark on the genre, include: Ann Aptaker, Trey R. Barker, Michael Bracken, John M. Floyd, Nils Gilbertson, David Hagerty, James A. Hearn, Hugh Lessig, Sean McCluskey, Adam Meyer, Gabe Morran, Alan Orloff, Josh Pachter, Stephen D. Rogers, Bev Vincent, Joseph S. Walker, Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Sam Wiebe, and Stacy Woodson.

SMFS Members Published in Black Cat Weekly #119

SMFS list members are published in Black Cat Weekly #119. Published by Wildside Press, the issue is available here in digital format. The members and their stories are:

 

John M. Floyd with “R.I.P., Van Winkler.”

 

Alan Orloff with “A Great Miracle Happened There.”

 

Publisher Description:

This issue, we have a triple-play of original mysteries, with new works by John M. Floyd, Alan Orloff, and Pam Barnsley, plus a winter-themed solve-it-yourself puzzler, and something special: the first English-language appearance of a Raffles story by Theo von Blankensee and Kurt Matull. (See my introduction before the story.) We have more of their Lord Lister—Alias Raffles series coming up soon.

   On the science fiction side, we have Anna Tambour’s “Murder at the Tip,” featuring a wedding and a murder in a Gothic future; a Christmas story by John Stilletto; plus classics by Philip Jose Farmer and James H. Schmitz. Rounding things out is the fourth part of Francis Jarman’s serial novel, The Eagle’s Wing.

   Here’s the complete lineup:

 

Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure:

• “R.I.P., Van Winkler,” by John M. Floyd [Michael Bracken Presents short story]
• “The Winter Festival Thief,” Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery]
• “A Great Miracle Happened There,” by Alan Orloff [Barb Goffman Presents short story]
• “Trouble at the Cannabis Dispensary,” Pam Barnsley [short story]
• The Great Unknown, Theo von Blankensee and Kurt Matull [Lord Lister, Alias Raffles #1]
• “Murder at the Tip,” by Anna Tambour [short story]

 

Science Fiction & Fantasy:

• “Murder at the Tip,” by Anna Tambour [short story]
• “Fairyland Planet,” by John Silletto [novelet]
• “How Deep the Grooves,” by Philip Jose Farmer [short story]
• “Rogue Psi,” by James H. Schmitz [short story]
• The Eagle’s Wing, by Francis Jarman [serial novel, Part 4 of 4]