Paradise by the Dashboard Light, by C. J. Kudlacz

 "Paradise by the Dashboard Light," by C. J. Kudlacz, in Bat Out of Hell, edited by Don Bruns, 2025.

I listened to an audiobook version of this story, so apologies for any inaccurate quotes. 

Someone said that what an author of fiction is supposed to do is chase the protagonist into a tree and throw rocks at them.  Big tree in this story, tons of rocks. 

 Jacob Mills, age 17, has not had an easy life.  After his father died in the war his mother hit the bottle, moved them to northern Maine, and married an abusive creep named Clint.  Part of Jacob's reaction  to all this earned him a term in juvenile prison.  

Now he's out but this is a specially bad day: 

Ten miles to Canada and Jacob Mills had an empty gas tank, a flat tire, and his stepfather's body in the trunk.

Oh, it's also snowing.   And he's vague about who killed Clint, largely because of his concussion.

 So yeah, bad day.

 But all he has to do is somehow fix the tire without opening the trunk, slip across the border, get to his grandfather's house, and bury the corpse, all without being spotted by the cops who know him all too well.

This is a suspense story that turns out to be about more than suspense.  It's gripping and very clever.

 

 

The Far End of Bourbon Street, by Larry S. Evans II.

 "The Far End of Bourbon Street," by Larry S. Evans II, in Blood on the Bayou: Case Closed, edited by Don Bruns, Down and Out, 2025.

I have a story in this book.

Townsend is a bestselling author of thrillers.  Unfortunately he leads the life he thinks his readers expect which means a lot of drinking and other chicanery.

Allison, his publicist and long-suffering wife, is barely willing to suffer it anymore.  

But everything changes after an event at a New Orleans bookstore/speakeasy, when Town finds himself under arrest for murder.  Did he lose control in a drunken rage, or is he being framed?

The rest of the story appears in short flashes, the way I imagine waking up after a blackout might be.  It is cleverly written and satisfying.

Ash Tuesday, by M.S. Greene

 

"Ash Tuesday," by M.S. Greene, in Malice Domestic: Mystery Most Humorous, edited by John Betancourt, Michael Bracken, and Carla Coupe, Wildside Press, 2025.

My job here is to review  the best mystery story I read each week.  So: what's a mystery story?  Otto Penzler defined it as a story in which crime or the threat of crime is a major element.

By that definition this story doesn't count.  Oh, you could split hairs and point to some laws being broken or bent, but it is hardly the point of the tale.  But this is a story of detection, so I decree that it qualifies.

Trent, Colin, and Ray are roommates and Trent is having troubles. First of all, he is struggling with the LSAT exams. Second, he has an unrequited crush on Ray. And third, there's the corpse on the hall table.

Well, not a corpse exactly.  A box containing a bag of cremated remains. It was mailed to their apartment by persons unknown for reasons unknown.  And so the detection begins.  This is a convoluted tale that seems like it should fall apart in a flurry of coincidences, but Greene connects the dots in a satisfying manner.

Dirty Deeds, by Donna Andrews

"Dirty Deeds," by Donna Andrews, in Malice Domestic: Mystery Most Humorous, edited by John Betancourt, Miochael Bracken, and Carla Coupe, Wildside Press, 2025.

This is Andrews' third appearance in my blog.

The protagonist - if she has a name I didn't catch it - is trying to be a dutiful niece, but Aunt Josephine is not making it easy.  Niece wants her to get rid of most of the stuff that is cluttering her house in a dangerous way. 

So she should be glad when a nosy neighbor tells her a junk removal firm has just arrived at the aunt's house.  Problem is that Dirty Deeds is not any of the companies the niece helpfully researched. Is Josephine being scammed?  Surely something, uh, dirty is going on?  Yes, and I enjoyed finding out what.   

Penalty for Early Withdrawal, by Michael Bracken

 "Penalty for Early Withdrawal," by Michael Bracken, in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, July/August 2025

This is the eleventh appearance in this column by my friend and fellow SleuthSayer.

I have said before: Noir is the American Dream in a funhouse mirror. An unimportant person tries to Make It Big, but they do it through crime.  Things generally don't end well.  (The Great Gatsby is absolutely noir.)

It's 1957 and Jolene Carver is one of the thousands of young women who go to Hollywood to Make It Big in the movies.  When the story opens she is in a bank to close her account which will allow her to cover the rent for another week.  "Then she would have to decide if she would entertain men for money the way her friend Martha did or use the two-shot derringer in her purse to put an end to her dreams."

But fate throws another option into the mix when a man named Buck -- yet another would-be actor -- robs the bank.  Jolene finds a different use for her little purse gun.

I won't tell you the rest of the journey except to say our protagonist thinks fast and decisively.  But that doesn't mean your decisions are always wise and not every movie has a happy ending. 

The Violent Season, by Jessica Van Dessel

 "The Violent Season," by Jessica Van Dessel, in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, July/August 2025

Helen wants a divorce.  Ed is reluctantly willing to go along, so she has "the look of defiant guilt that is displayed by people who are about to get their own way."  (Ooh, that's good.) 

Problem is it is 1956 and in New York the only grounds for divorce are desertion or adultery.  Ed is willing to provide the latter.  Well, he doesn't actually want to commit adultery but he has contacts who will put him in touch with a woman willing to pretend in front of a camera.

Pretty messy stuff but it gets worse when somebody ends up murdered.  And just when Ed thinks he has that problem solved, along comes...

Every time you think you have a handle on this story it shifts in a new direction.   I enjoyed it a lot.

Hours on the Phone, by Greg Fallis

 "Hours on the Phone," by Gregory Fallis, in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July/August 2025.

This is the fourth story by Fallis to make my column, and the third about these characters.  

Clayton Ellicott is a lawyer at a nonprofit who helps artists. Hockney is a  private eye who sometimes works for him. 

Ellicott's client this time is Melly, a successful web comics artist who is, well, a little eccentric.  Actually, a lot eccentric.  Basically a hermit.  She lives in the house she grew up in and only four people are allowed to visit her.  

Someone is sending her harassing email.  Hockney to Ellicott: "I don't know how to tell you this, but almost every woman who's ever gone online gets harassed like that."  

But this is different.  Weird and it seems like the harasser knows her.  And only four people know Melly...

This is a different and convincing story. I believed in Melly in all her pain and frustration.  Nice work.

Fancy Car Lover, by Ed Teja

 "Fancy Car Lover," by Ed Teja, in Crimeucopia: A Load of Balls, edited by John Connor, Murderous Ink Press, 2025.

This is Ed Teja's second appearance in this blog.

Jimmy just got out of the army and he knows just where to look for work: a garage that used to pay his brother to steal cars to order, for parts.   

 But let's take a moment to enjoy the language here.

"I went in [the army] and they taught me how to fight and then kicked me out for using what they taught me. Go figure." 

"I think the issue was probably it matters who you fight," Eddie said.

"Yeah, well, they could have said that earlier." 

Nice. 

Jimmy has a strategy for finding and swiping those cars and  it works fine, although not so fine for the car owners who sometimes get a bit damaged in the process.  His sweet deal with crooked Eddie gets complicated when  he meets Kathy, who gets interested in his job.  Maybe a little too interested...

A lovely noir tale with a nice twist. 

The Temporary Murder of Thomas Monroe, by Tia Tashiro

 

"The Temporary Murder of Thomas Monroe," by Tia Tashiro, in Clarkesworld, #220, January 2025.

I have reviewed science fiction stories at this blog before but this may be the first one from a science fiction magazine.  But the important question is: is it a mystery?  The answer is, you bet.

College student Tom Monroe has just been murdered, and he finds it very inconvenient.  Is he a ghost?  Not at all.  His parents are very rich and have supplied him with a medtag which alerts the authorities when he dies and they have the money to have him revived.

(Now I can't help by here Billy Crystal saying:"You're friend is only mostly dead."  But this is not a funny story.)

 Someone killed Tom in order to steal his money which is protected by voice and fingerprints.  His memories of the previous two months are cloudy, due to the revival process.  Can he figure out how this happened?

Meanwhile, we are also following a woman named Jay who was hired to befriend Tom as part of the robbery scheme. Whose side is she on? For that matter whose side is anyone on?  This novella is well-written and delightfully complicated.  

Never Bet Against Death, by J.F. Benedetto

"Never Bet Against Death," by J.F. Benedetto, in Crimeucopia: A Load of Balls, edited by John Connor, Murderous Ink Press, 2025.

We are in Tien-Tsin, China in 1901. The Boxer Rebellion has failed and Europeans and Americans have the run of the place. One of those Americans is Hezekiah Sauer, ex-cowboy, retired Marine, now a traveling man. 

An Englishman, a baronet no less, invites Sauer to watch a game of Ts'uchu or cuju, a ball game played by - gasp - women. The game is interrupted by the murder of a Russian consul and the Russian army officers who arrive to investigate enlist Sauer's aid.

This story is an excellent example of the historical mystery, providing plenty of interesting historical detail without drowning you in it.  As a bonus, there is a perfectly logical way of disposing of a murder weapon that I have never come across before.