Short walk #110

This week’s links to what’s fresh, what’s famous, and what’s fiendish in short mystery and crime fiction.

Short sample:

With the third murder, three weeks later, I go into alarm mode. From “On Pacific Beach” by Patti Abbott (In I Bring Sorrow: And Other Stories of Transgression. By Patricia Abbott. Collected in 2018. Polis Books.)

Point of view:

Robert Lopresti reviews the best mystery story he reads each week. Like this one. And this one and this one. And this one too.

New releases, old releases:

The latest issue of The Strand Magazine (June 2020) includes a previously unpublished Louisa May Alcott story.

Switchblade (Issue Twelve, June 2020) features hard luck tales of the human condition, before and after Covid-19.

Thriller Magazine (Volume 3 Issue 1, June 2020) showcases a wide range of tales, from psychological thrillers, to brutal tales of murder, to political thrillers (includes one of my stories, see below).

Tricks of the Trade:

To create stakes for a character in your story, look beyond the plot and brainstorm different ways the stakes might affect the character.

Free Reads:

“Ghost Town” by Lydia Lunch (from Akashic Book’s The Heroin Chronicles).

Check my shorts, please:

The new issue of Thriller Magazine includes my crime-suspense story “They Die in Eight Minutes” (originally published in Shotgun Honey in 2014).

Thanks for visiting.

Peter DiChellis

 

 

Short walk #109

This week’s links to what’s fresh, what’s famous, and what’s fiendish in short mystery and crime fiction.

Short sample:

I figured they’d keep me alive as long as they could, since it would make my body less smelly and therefore more convenient to carry and dump somewhere. From “Rest Stop” by Jeremiah Healy (In Cuddy Plus One. Collected in 2003. By Jeremiah Healy. Crippen & Landru.) For a review see the Point of View section in Short walk #12.

Point of view:

Review: Lockdown: Stories of Crime, Terror, and Hope During a Pandemic is an anthology of crime, suspense, and horror stories highlighting the challenges of lockdown during a major world pandemic.

New releases, old releases:

Heartbreaks & Half-truths: 22 Stories of Mystery & Suspense is a new anthology about lovers and losers (June 2020). For a review see the Point of View section in Short walk #107.

Bibliomysteries (2018) is an anthology of mystery and crime stories set in the world of books. For a review see the Point of View section in Short walk #60.

Tricks of the Trade:

Submission call—a new Mardi Gras Mysteries anthology is open for submissions July 1 through August 31. Check out the details.

Free Reads:

All the latest free-to-read flash fiction from Mystery Tribune.

Check my shorts, please:

My humorous private eye story “With Cunning Wickedness” was reprinted, free to read, at Trigger Warning: Short Fiction With Pictures (originally appeared in the anthology The Shamus Sampler II).

Thanks for visiting.

Peter DiChellis

 

Short walk #108

This week’s links to what’s fresh, what’s famous, and what’s fiendish in short mystery and crime fiction.

Short sample:

She glanced at her arm and the tattoo of an angel wielding a sword. From “Mary Poppins Didn’t Have Tattoos” by Stacy Woodson (in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, July/August 2020, ed. Janet Hutchings, Dell Magazines).

Point of view:

Reviews: Eight Dashiell Hammett Continental Op stories that will make your heart pound. For three of Hammett’s Continental Op stories, free-to-read, see the Free Reads section of Short walk #73.

New releases, old releases:

New issues of AHMM and EQMM (July/August 2020).

Switchblade: Stiletto Heeled (2018) is an anthology of 13 dire and gritty noir tales by women crime writers. For a review see the Point of View section in Short walk #69.

Tricks of the Trade:

A 17-step approach to editing your short story for structure, punctuation, and grammar.

Free Reads:

“Of Mice and Manny” by Todd Robinson (at Beat to a Pulp).

Check my shorts, please:

My crime story “Eternal Love” appeared in Switchblade: Issue 4.

Thanks for visiting.

Peter DiChellis

 

Short walk #107

This week’s links to what’s fresh, what’s famous, and what’s fiendish in short mystery and crime fiction.

Short sample:

Once Boshell finally killed his neighbor he couldn’t seem to quit killing him. He killed him again whenever he felt unloved or blue or simply had empty hours facing him. From “The Echo of Neighborly Bones” by Daniel Woodrell (In The Outlaw Album: Stories. By Daniel Woodrell. Little, Brown and Company. Collected in 2011).

Point of view:

Review: Silver Bullets is a reprint anthology of commemorating publisher Crippen & Landru’s 25th anniversary in publishing.

Review: Trouble & Strife is a themed anthology using Cockney rhyming slang as inspiration for 11 crime stories.

Review: Heartbreaks and Half-truths is an anthology of 22 stories of mystery and suspense.

Review: Crime Travel is an anthology of stories that blend crime and time travel. For two more reviews of this anthology see the Point of View section in Short walk #83.

New releases, old releases:

Black Cat Mystery Magazine (#6) is a new BCMM issue and includes seven original stories and a classic reprint.

The Darkling Halls of Ivy is a new anthology set in and around colleges and universities (2020, edited by Lawrence Block).

Life Is Short and Then You Die: Mystery Writers of America Presents First Encounters with Murder (2019) is a YA anthology focused on teen encounters with murder.

Tricks of the Trade:

A retired homicide detective offers insights about using non-verbal communication when interviewing uncooperative people..

Free Reads:

“Gateway to the Stars” by Matthew McGevna (from Long Island Noir).

“Live for Today” by S.A. Solomon (from New Jersey Noir).

Check my shorts, please:

My crime-horror story “Disaster Adjuster” was reprinted in The Literary Hatchet Issue 21. (The story originally appeared in Kzine in 2017.)

Thanks for visiting.

Peter DiChellis