Mystery Magazine August 2023

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. ★ In this issue ★ In our cover feature, "Down To The Bear Bone" by C. L. Cobb, stories of loyalty are nothing new. But it's still frightening what a mother will do. In "Every Fire Wants To Kill" by David Krugler, an arsonist-for-hire is burning down vacant homes in a 1970s Chicago slum for a crooked landlord, who pockets insurance checks. The landlord's assistant, exposes the scheme to the fire department. But is he really trying to stop the fire? "Quelle Horreur!" by William Burton Mccormick: When Dubois can find no other free room on a stormy night in Odessa, he must lodge at a shadowed rooming house where few last the night. "Letter To The Archivist" by Arendse Lund: A letter arrives for the Archivist, espousing the virtues of the incredible collection in intricate and alarmingly intimate detail. "Murder Over Easy" by Ewan A. Dougall is a noir story investigating a murder scene as two partners become increasingly suspicious of one another. "A Diagnosis At Dinner" by Barton Paul Levenson: One of three men at a dinner at Winston Churchill's wartime retreat is a Nazi spy. But which one? "The Containment Spell" by Pablo Patiño is a ghost story with a spell-binding twist. "Cousin Ronald And The Dead Man" by Ryan Micheal Hines: A bootlegger in 1940s Appalachia runs moonshine to support his young orphan cousin, but the appearance of a strange and dangerous criminal known as the Dead Man threatens to destroy everything and unearth an old secret. "A Deceased In The Dumpster" by Linda Norlander: Greta of Greta's Green Clean is asked to investigate after a body is found in the dumpster of a trailer court "The Felonious Feline," A You-Solve-It, by John H. Dromey: Is a cat living one of its nine lives as a criminal? Or is the feline perhaps an unwitting accomplice in a caper that includes a home invasion? Custom Cover Art By Robin Grenville Evans