Monday, April 6, 2020

SMFS Members Published in Mystery Weekly Magazine: April 2020


Two SMFS list members have works appearing in Mystery Weekly Magazine: April 2020 issue. The read is available from the publisher in both print and digital formats as well as Amazon and other vendors. The two SMFS members in this issue are:


Martin Roy Hill with “The Last Mission.”

Josh Pachter with “The Pig Is Committed.”


Synopsis:

At the cutting edge of crime fiction, Mystery Weekly Magazine presents original short stories by the world’s best-known and emerging mystery writers.
The stories we feature in our monthly issues span every imaginable subgenre, including cozy, police procedural, noir, whodunit, supernatural, hardboiled, humor, and historical mysteries. Evocative writing and a compelling story are the only certainty.
Get ready to be surprised, challenged, and entertained--whether you enjoy the style of the Golden Age of mystery (e.g., Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle), the glorious pulp digests of the early twentieth century (e.g., Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler), or contemporary masters of mystery.

In this issue:

“The Roaring Twenties Revisited” by John H. Dromey: can a mature amateur sleuth go undercover and match wits with an alleged criminal kingpin, or will she only be fooling herself?
“The Mystery Of The Egyptian Biscuit” by Jeffery Scott Sims: wheat from an eons old Egyptian Tomb? It was found by the curiously damaged mummy of the sorcerer Artocris. Professor Vorchek seeks the link between the ancient food, the fate of Artocris, and more recent deaths.
“Mixed Identities” by Martin Hill Ortiz: when a bleeding stranger breaks into a cabin after midnight, the house-sitter is mistaken for a private eye. No one is who they say they are.
“Flashgun” by Bruce W. Most: 1930s tabloid crime photographer Weegee prides himself at being first on a murder scene. But when a big-time gangster is gunned down, he’s shocked to find photographers already there. Discovering why leads to more than a front-page photo.
“The Case Of The Disappearing Diamonds” by Benjamin Mark: diamonds have been mysteriously disappearing from their parcels. Blunt and Sharpe have been assigned to discover the methodology use to steal those diamonds. How they do that is the story behind the case.
“The Pig Is Committed” by Josh Pachter: to produce a bacon-and-eggs breakfast, the chicken is involved, but the pig is committed …
“One Night At Clancy's” by Chris Wheatley: PI Joe Larrone thinks he's got the goods on crime boss Harry Ruddock, but is there another rat in the city smarter than them both?
“The Last Mission” by Martin Roy Hill: sometimes what you do in war comes back to haunt you, no matter that you did it for good reasons.

SMFS Members Published in The Mystery Readers Journal: Environmental Mysteries


Several SMFS list members have published works in The Mystery Readers Journal: Environmental Mysteries (Volume 36, No. 1, Spring 2020) published and available from Mystery Readers International. The read is available in print and pdf formats on the website. The SMFS list members published in the issue are:


Vinnie Hansen with “Fruit of the Devil.”

Robert Lopresti with “Saving the Planet, One Novel at a Time.”

Michael Allan Mallory with “Wolf Man.”

Josh Pachter with Stork Trek’—The Story Behind the Story.”


Website Synopsis:

TABLE OF CONTENTS
AUTHOR! AUTHOR!
§  Can Snakes Be Heroes? by Glynn Marsh Alam
§  We Are the Wild by Sandi Ault
§  Toss in a Bear or a Snake by Pamela Beeson
§  Environmental Mysteries and Public Debate: Can One Enhance the Other? by Dave Butler
§  Wild and Commanding Settings: Striking the Right Balance for Readers by Christine Carbo
§  Calypso Saves the Climate by D. Z. Church
§  From Addiction to Fiction—in the African Bush by Jenny Carless
§  Why the Road Is Dark by Philip Cioffari
§  A Background in the Birding World by Ann Cleeves
§  The Man in the Doorway and Other Writing Mysteries by Donna Cousins
§  Mysteries With A Climate Change Message by Charlene D’Avanzo
§  The Old-Fashioned Way by William Deverell
§  Write What You Know: Wilderness Thrillers by Karen Dionne
§  Natural Crimes by Janet Dawson
§  It’s All About the Birds… and Murder by Jan Dunlap
§  The Mystery of the Missing Mountain by Toni Dwiggins
§  Natural Inspiration by Gerald Elias
§  The Common Threat by Kate Fellowes
§  The Heart of the Matter by Christine Goff
§  Murder and Mayhem For Our National Parks by Scott Graham
§  Fruit of the Devil by Vinnie Hansen
§  Boots in Dirt: Protecting Wildlife and Natural Resources by Joseph Heywood
§  Wildfire and Murder in the Woods by Dave Hugelschaffer
§  Shark Allure by Sara Johnson
§  A Captivating Story by Diane Kelly
§  The Mystery as Environmental Soapbox by William Kent Krueger
§  Does the Message Overshadow the Murder? by Stephen Legault
§  Saving the Planet, One Novel at a Time by Robert Lopresti
§  Wolf Man by Michael Allan Mallory
§  Burying the Evidence by Larry Maness
§  Novels from the Garden of Good and Evil by Keith McCafferty
§  The Bright Side of Environmental Devastation by Jon McGoran
§  A Caution on Environmental Research by Skye Moody
§  I Never Intended to Write Environmental Mysteries, But… by Michael Norman
§  “Stork Trek”—The Story Behind the Story by Josh Pachter
§  A Thrilling Environment by Katherine Prairie
§  Murder in a Damaged Environment by Kwei Quartey
§  Resolving to Write Novel by Ben Rehder
§  Off Road by Kirk Russell
§  Is Any Refuge Certain? by Carolyn J. Rose
§  On the Trail of a New Environment by Mark Stevens
§  Finding My Voice in Wildlife by Jessica Speart
§  Writing from the African Bush: What a Pleasure! by Stanley Trollip
§  Writing About the Environment in the West by Judith Van Gieson
§  When Cozies Can’t Be All That Cozy by Betty Webb
§  The House of the Monk’s Spring by Robert Wilson
§  Partners in Crime: My Link to the EPA by Kenneth Wishnia
§  Interesting Times for Mystery Writers by John Yunker
§  Nature and Mystery by Gregory Zeigler
§   
COLUMNS
§  Mystery in Retrospect: Reviews by L.J. Roberts
§  Real Environmental and Wildlife Crimes by Cathy Pickens
§  From the Editor’s Desk by Janet A. Rudolph

Sunday, April 5, 2020

A Short Walk Down A Dark Street: Issue 98


As posted by Peter DiChellis to our list…
This week’s blog dishes the straight dope on short mystery and crime fiction with links to a dangerous dose of reviews, releases, free reads, and more.
Includes five free stories from Beat to a Pulp and Tough.
Plus, Tricks of the Trade: Submission call—Switchblade Magazine will be open for submissions April 15-25. Check out the details.
And two-dozen anthologies of original private eye stories (1984-2019).
A short walk down a dark street (#98). Celebrating short mystery and crime fiction.
Best wishes,
Peter

Little Big Crimes Review: Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire by Donna Andrews

Little Big Crimes: Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire, by Donna Andrews: "Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire," by Donna Andrews, in The Beat of Black Wings, edited by Josh Pachter, Untreed Reads, 2020. A...

2020 Derringer Finalists and Publication Data

List member Robert Lopresti compiled and posted the below information regarding publishing history for the Derringer finalists to our list. I asked his permission to post the information he collected to our SMFS blog for those who wished to know the background of the nominated stories. Robert agreed. Below is his data exactly as posted to our SMFS list:


FLASH
Chan
Chris
The Six Year Old Serial Killer
Mondays are Murder, December
Dowell
Trey
Lucky
Close2TheBone December 19
Pachter
Josh
Two-Body Problem
Mystery Weekly Magazine October
Redmond
Lissa Marie
2 Percent
Mystery Tribune
Verburg
CJ
Birdbrain
Fault Lines


SHORT

Bracken
Michael
Love or Something Like It
Crime Travel
Floyd
John
On the Road with Mary Jo
EQMM Jan/Feb
Goldstein
Debra H
Pig Lickin' Good
Malice Domestic: Murder Most Edible
Guthrie
CC
A Sure Thing
The Best Laid Plans








LONG
Budewitz
Leslie
Miss Starr’s Good-bye
AHMM Nov-Dec 2019
Hayes
Peter
Pretty Dreams
Seascape:The Best New England Crime Stories
Helms
Rick
See Humble and Die
The Eyes of Texas
Murphy
Sandra
Lucy's Tree
The Eyes of Texas
Warsh
Sylvia M.
None Shall Sleep
In the Key of 13
NOVELETTE
Allyn
Doug
The Dutchy
EQMM Nov/Dec
DuBois
Brendan
Her Sister's Secrets
EQMM July/August
Greco
Stephen
I Called To Say You're Dead
The Society of Misfit Stories
Helms
Rick
The Cripplegate Apprehension
EQMM July/August
Zafiro
Frank
The Concrete Smile
The Concrete Smile