Bavo Dhooge

Josh Pachter

A serial killer's on the loose in Ostend, Belgium. Nicknamed The Stuffer, the mysterious killer fills his victims full of sand and poses them as public art installations. Rafael Styx, a corrupt, middle-aged cop with a bum hip and ties to the Belgian underworld, is on the case. A chance encounter with The Stuffer leaves Styx dead from a gun shot to the chest--but the afterlife has just begun. Returning as a zombie, Styx has to battle his new hunger for human flesh as he seeks to restore his honor and find his own murderer.

Styx

In this collection, twelve award-winning writers of short crime fiction tackle the Joel catalog, and the result is a journey down life's mean streets with a soundtrack by one of the great singer-songwriters of our time.

Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Billy Joel

Only the Good Die Young

John M. Floyd

Stephen Marlowe

James O. Born

John Shepphird

Arthur Klepchukov

Walter Satterthwait

Jeff Vorzimmer

Don Stoll

Kyle Stout

Ken Luer

Steven Nester

There are a number of noteworthy articles in this issue of The Magazine. We are fortunate to feature some of the correspondence between two legends of crime fiction, Walter Satterthwait and Bill Crider, both of whom recently passed away. For those who knew Walter and Bill, or were just fans of their work, there is a touch of their personalities that comes through in these exchanges and, at least for a moment, gives us an opportunity to experience their unique voices just a little bit, just one more time. Jeff Vorzimmer, editor of last year’s The Best of Manhunt collection, tells us about Stephen Marlowe’s career in the piece leading into his story The Blonde at the Wheel. Jeff also contributed a story of his own and we’re happy to have this opportunity to showcase his many skills. We also have a couple of repeat appearances by writers who have appeared in previous issues. Arthur Klepchukov is back, as is John M. Floyd and John Shepphird. And with original stories by veterans like Josh Pachter and James O. Born, and newer offerings by Michael Cahlin, Steven Nester and Ken Luer, we’re showing the art of the crime fiction short story is still going strong. May it ever be so.

Down & Out: The Magazine Volume 2 Issue 2

Across five studio albums with Art Garfunkel (1964-1970) and fourteen solo albums (1965-2018), Paul Simon’s music and lyrics have inspired generations of listeners. For Paranoia Blues, nineteen masters of contemporary short crime fiction wrote new stories, each inspired by one of Simon’s songs: one from each of the five Simon and Garfunkel studio albums (plus a bonus second story inspired by a song from Bridge Over Troubled Water) and one from each of the fourteen solo studio albums. The contributors include award-winners E.A. Aymar, Martin Edwards, Cheryl A. Head, Edwin Hill, Tom Mead, Raquel V. Reyes, Gabriel Valjan, and a dozen more—plus the first new story by Robert Edward Eckels in more than forty years! This is the fifth “inspired by” anthology edited by Josh Pachter, a recent winner of the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s Golden Derringer Award for Lifetime Achievement; the previous books drew on the music of Jimmy Buffett, Billy Joel, and Joni Mitchell—and the films of the Marx Brothers.

Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Paul Simon

Paranoia Blues

Hilary Davidson

Laura Scott

Nick Mamatas

Alex Segura

William Boyle

Paul D. Marks

Charles Salzberg

Dana Cameron

Gray Basnight

Steve Liskow

Brian Thornton

Matthew Martin

Kevin Burton Smith

From classics like “Werewolves of London,” “Excitable Boy,” and “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” to lesser-known gems across a career spanning nearly four decades, the songs of Warren Zevon are rich with crime and intrigue and suspense—guns and gunners, assassins and drug dealers, a supernatural serial killer, and a heap of hapless losers along the way too. In Lawyers, Guns, and Money, fifteen fantastic writers—avid fans of Zevon’s genius—offer fresh spins on his discography with tales that span the mystery genre: caper, espionage, noir, paranormal, private eye, and more. With new stories by Gray Basnight, William Boyle, Dana Cameron, Libby Cudmore, Hilary Davidson, Steve Liskow, Nick Mamatas, Paul D. Marks, matthew quinn martin, Josh Pachter, Charles Salzberg, Laura Ellen Scott, Alex Segura, Kevin Burton Smith, and Brian Thornton, Zevon’s wry lyrics and unforgettable characters serve as the inspiration for dark crimes and dirty deeds – just the way he liked them.

Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Warren Zevon

Lawyers, Guns, and Money

René Appel

Amsterdam is a very welcome, if long overdue, installment in the Akashic Noir Series.

Amsterdam Noir

Sean Melrose-Aukema

C Flynt

★Mystery Magazine ★ At the cutting edge of crime fiction, Mystery 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. Short Stories In our cover feature, "The Maintainer Of Diaries" by Frank Oreto, a retired police detective wants to solve the one real mystery he ever ran into: a used bookshop, some diaries and the patrons who disappeared without a trace. "The Brimley/Cocoon Line" by Josh Pachter: Competition between childhood friends can be fun. But when the same friend wins time after time, the fun of it can fade ... "The Intersection" by Sean Melrose-Aukema warns to be careful whom you trust with the stash. "Going To The Dogs" by C. Flynt: Being a private eye in this town is a dog's life. In "Breastman" by T.T. Trestle, a giant man who collects for a loan shark wakes up one morning and discovers he has somehow grown breasts and, to quote Seinfeld, they are spectacular. In "The Misanthropist" by Con Thornbury, a man disappears off the west coast of Ireland while on a solo fishing trip. He is presumed dead. The family are looking forward to spending the inheritance but is everything as it seems? "Wet Work" by Davin Ireland: Shane Decker and two of his criminal cohorts sit in a darkened van parked in the dead space between streetlights, watching a large Victorian property and waiting for the moment they can break in and rob the place. But there's a surprise in store. "Dress Rehearsal" by Edward Lodi: Death rewrites the script when a group of actors rehearse before opening night. "Everybody's Business" by Ken Teutsch: Pulling off a crime is tough anywhere. In a small town it can be downright dangerous. A You-Solve-It, "Smoke Signals," by John M. Floyd: To small-town sheriff Lucy Valentine, the loss of a local pawnshop looks like a simple case of arson. To her mother, retired teacher Fran Valentine, this fire smells a little suspicious.

February 2022

Mystery Magazine

Isabella Maldonado

Alison McMahan

Robert J. Randisi

Lissa Marie Redmond

Michael Bracken

Elaine Viets

Bruce Robert Coffin

Rick Ollerman

Jeffery Hess

Don Bruns

Leigh Lundin

Laura Oles

Neil Plakcy

M.E. Browning

Jimmy Buffett is one of the great contemporary singer/songwriters, and it’s hard to imagine a citizen of Planet Earth unfamiliar with such classic hits as “Margaritaville.” Jimmy has also written novels, children’s books, memoirs, and a stage musical based on Herman Wouk’s Don’t Stop the Carnival, and his family-friendly concerts almost always sell out to audiences comprised of a mix of dedicated Parrotheads, casual fans, and newbies. In The Great Filling Station Holdup, editor Josh Pachter presents sixteen short crime stories by sixteen popular and up-and-coming crime writers, each story based on a song from one of the twenty-nine studio albums Jimmy has released over the last half century, from Leigh Lundin’s take on “Truckstop Salvation” (which appeared on Jimmy’s first LP, 1970’s Down to Earth) to M.E. Browning’s interpretation of “Einstein Was a Surfer” (from 2013’s Songs from St. Somewhere). If you love Jimmy’s music or crime fiction or both, you’ll love The Great Filling Station Holdup. Mix yourself a boat drink, ask Alexa to put on a buffet of Buffett tunes, kick back, and enjoy! Table of Contents Introduction by Josh Pachter Down to Earth (1970) “Truckstop Salvation” by Leigh Lundin A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (1973) “The Great Filling Station Holdup” by Josh Pachter A1A (1974) “A Pirate Looks at Forty” by Rick Ollerman Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes (1977) “Tampico Trauma” by Michael Bracken Son of a Son of a Sailor (1978) “Cheeseburger in Paradise” by Don Bruns Volcano (1979) “Volcano” by Alison McMahan Coconut Telegraph (1981) “Incommunicado” by Bruce Robert Coffin Somewhere Over China (1981) “If I Could Just Get It On Paper” by Lissa Marie Redmond One Particular Harbour (1983) “We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us About” by Elaine Viets Riddles in the Sand (1984) “Who’s the Blonde Stranger?” by Robert J. Randisi Last Mango in Paris (1985) “Everybody’s on the Run” by Laura Oles Hot Water (1988) “Smart Woman (in a Real Short Skirt)” by Isabella Maldonado Off to See the Lizard (1989) “The Pascagoula Run” by Jeffery Hess Don’t Stop the Carnival (1998) “Public Relations” by Neil Plakcy Beach House on the Moon (1999) “Spending Money” by John M. Floyd Songs From St. Somewhere (2013) “Einstein Was a Surfer” by M.E. Browning

Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Jimmy Buffett

The Great Filling Station Holdup

Dale C. Andrews

This volume assembles 16 stories by a wide variety of authors, all written (sometimes tongue-in-cheek) as homages to, and parodies and pastiches of, the character -- and writing team -- known as "Ellery Queen."

The Misadventures of Ellery Queen

Dale C Andrews

﻿The editors of The Misadventures of Ellery Queen return with a new volume of Queen pastiches, parodies, and tributes by a stellar lineup of writers--including one by Ellery himself! Here are... THE ADVENTURE OF THE LOGICAL SUCCESSOR, by J. Randolph Cox ONCE UPON A CRIME, by Maxwell E. Siegel Chapter 11 from MURDER IN PASTICHE, by Marion Mainwaring THE CIRCLE OF INK, by Edward D. Hoch THE JAPANESE ARMOR MYSTERY, by Mǎ Tiān THE MAD HATTER'S RIDDLE, by Dale C. Andrews CHANGE OF SCENE, by Janet Hutchings THE INDIAN DIAMOND MYSTERY, by Arthur Porges THE LITHUANIAN ERASER MYSTERY, by Jon L. Breen THE LITTLE SISTER IN CRIME, by Theodore B. Hertel, Jr. THE GERMAN COLOGNE MYSTERY, by Jon L. Breen and Josh Pachter THE POLISH CHICKEN MYSTERY, by Rand B. Lee E.Q. GRIFFEN'S SECOND CASE, by Josh Pachter THE MISTAKE ON THE COVER OF EQMM #1, by Arthur Vidro THE PINK PIG MYSTERY, by Jeffrey Marks THE MISADVENTURES OF ELLERY QUEEN, by Ellery Queen

The Further Misadventures of Ellery Queen

"When his hand reappeared, he was holding neither cigarettes nor keys. He was holding a small black revolver that glittered evilly in the diffused light admitted by the curtains, and his hand was steady as he touched it to the temple of the sleeping man in the bed..." Murder, kidnapping, robbery, smuggling, industrial sabotage and international terrorism -- Mahboob Chaudri, a Pakistani native working as a police officer in the Middle Eastern island emirate of Bahrain, tackles all these crimes and more...and solves them with a charming mixture of logic, wisdom, wit, and heart. From 1984 to 1986, seven short Chaudri stories by Josh Pachter appeared in the pages of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and three more were later published in other places. In his classic anthology, "The Ethnic Detectives," noted author/critic Bill Pronzini called Chaudri "one of crime fiction's most delightful new detectives," and the Chaudri stories have been reprinted in several "Year's Best" collections and other anthologies. In The Mahboob Chaudri Mystery MEGAPACKTM (published in paperback as "The Tree of Life"), all 10 of the Chaudri stories are gathered together in a single volume for the first time, complete with a new introduction and new afterwords for each story by the author.

The Mahboob Chaudri Mystery MEGAPACK TM: The Complete Mystery Series

Josh Pachter

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