The Cutting Room Floor, by Eric Beetner

"The Cutting Room Floor," by Eric Beetner, in Hollywood Kills, edited by Adam Meyer and Alan Orloff, Level Short, 2005.

This is the third appearance in my blog by Eric Beetner. There are lots of crime stories about Hollywood but this book has a clever gimmick: each story is written by someone who has done the same work in The Industry as their protagonist. For example, Beetner has been nominated eight times for Emmys for editing.

Scott is editing episodes of a reality show.  Its success has been based on one of the contestants: Violet.

She was blunt, rude, short-tempered. She "didn't come here to make friends." She was "a bad bitch and I know it, honey." She was ratings gold. 

But all bad things come to an end and she was getting kicked off the show. Who would have guessed that she wouldn't take the news well? 

Violet finds Scott in his editing room and demands to know why he is making let look like a bitch.  The obvious answer is not going to make her happy. Did I mention that she has a razor and she's not afraid to use it? And that they are locked in the little room together?

Nice use of suspense and a real Hollywood feel, speaking of reality shows. 

Well-Known Gun, by Sam Wiebe

"Well-Known Gun," by Sam Wiebe, in Better Off Dead, vol. 1, edited by D.M. Barr, Down and Out Books, 2025. 

I have a story in this book. 

This is the third story I have reviewed here by Wiebe and, except for quality,  they couldn't be more different. 

 Of the seventeen persons I am accused of killing, I acknowledge all but three. 

This story is the final confession of Joshua Calhoun, former Confederate soldier, now ruthless gunman.  In the hours before he hangs he takes us through his remarkable life and the killing of fourteen men.

But when he gets to the three people he denies killing, well, that's when things get truly surprisingly.  An eloquently written little tale.  

A reminder: Down and Out Books is going out of business, so if you want a copy of this book, grab it. 

 

Hitchcock Blondes Have More Fun, by Lily Samson

 

"Hitchcock Blondes Have More Fun," by Lily Samson, in Birds, Strangers, and Psychos, edited by Maxim Jakubowski, Titan Books, 2025.

As I have said before one of the fun things about themed anthologies is seeing how different authors play with the theme.  In a few cases in this book, I don't see the connection to Hitchcock.  That's not a problem with this one.  

It was written in the stars, my collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock.  We met when we were both young and unknown, yet to be appreciated by the public.

Quite an opening paragraph.  We soon learn that the narrator, Rebecca (hah) is a bored English housewife.  Her big introduction to the Master of Suspense came in 1926 when she was roped in as a last-minute extra in The Lodger. She becomes convinced that she was his favorite extra, as crucial to his movies as his own cameo appearances.  

What we're talking about here is obsession about a person, and that is a theme of both Hitch's work and his life, so it is highly appropriate for the book.  A very neat story with a lovely bit of foreshadowing (because the Master believed in suspense, not surprise).

Take Me To The Pilot, by dbschlosser

 "Take Me To The Pilot," by dbschlosser, in Better Off Dead, vol. 1, edited by D.M. Barr, Down and Out Books, 2025. 

I have a story in this book.

This is the second tale by my friend dbschlosser to make my list. 

Apex (pronounced ahh-pecks, and no "Mister" in front, please) is a security guy in Kansas City.  When a top legal defense firm wants to hire him he jumps at the chance, but it is a pretty strange assignment.  Chuy Lopez is a top member of a criminal motorcycle gang. He is in prison, awaiting trial, and he wants Apex to find his lost dog.

Well, that seems a bit of overkill.

What complicate the matter is that Piloto the pooch is in the possession of Lopez's ex and she is in the Witness Protection Program.

Apex makes it clear he is not interested in letting the gangsters know where a protected witness is being held but Lopez assures him he doesn't care about her at all, just the doggie.  

This is a good private eye procedural with plenty of interesting twists.

  

Two Sentimental Gentlemen, by Gabriel Valjan

"Two Sentimental Gentlemen," by Gabriel Valjan, in Blood on the Bayou: Case Closed, edited by Don Bruns, Down and Out, 2025. 

I have a story in this book.

This is the third story by Valjan to grace my blog.

My favorite piece of writing advice from E.B. White is this: Be obscure clearly. This tale is a good demonstration of that principle.

It is New Orleans during Prohibition.  Fawcett and Angel have arrived and are looking for trouble.  Just for starters they are two men checking into a room with one bed, and worse, one of the men is suspiciously dark in color.  (The mayor has a quota, the hotel clerk explains.)  And they deliberately attract the attention of the richest industrialists in the city.

What are they up to?  Well, that's the puzzle, of course, but it isn't what I mean by being obscure clearly. Here we see them entering their hotel room:

The room, dark and carpeted, appeared undisturbed.  There was a large window, curtained, and His and Hers chairs that framed it like brackets.  There was a closet nearest them, a desk next, and the bed with a nightstand to their right.  Another door was ajar, and a dull light illuminated the ceramic tiles in the bathroom, the subway tiles of the wall there, white as Ahab's whale.

See? Nice and clear, with the lovely little metaphor tossed in at the end. But we immediately learn that something unexpected has happened in the room and we won't find out what until much later.  The precision of the description makes it clear that the obscurity that follows is intentional.

A nice historical tale of suspense.

Wax On, Wax Off, by Nina Mansfield

 

"Wax On, Wax Off," by Nina Mansfield, in  Malice Domestic: Mystery Most Humorous, edited by John Betancourt, Michael Bracken, and Carla Coupe, Wildside Press, 2025.

 Hoo-boy.  Not sure what to say about this one.

Mystery story? Check.  Science fiction? Arguably.  Political satire? Undoubtedly.

Our protagonist is "Andrea Kalinski, PTA treasurer, locally known mommy-blogger, and founder of The Ageless Change, a recently launched skin-care line that targeted menopausal women." 

Unfortunately for her the Body Hair Acceptance Movement has moved into power and twenty-eight states have banned "unnatural hair removal for profit."  Mansfield describes the campaign in detail which we need not go into here, although it sounds depressingly realistic.

Andrea is forced to go to an illegal waxing parlor to prepare for her work-and-recreation trip to Brazil, but someone gets killed.  "I hadn't signed up to investigate a murder. I wanted to battle an unjust law and wear a thong at Ipanema Beach."

Funny and thought-provoking. 

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.