Front Desk Staff, by Bethany Maines

 

 "Front Desk Staff," by Bethany Maines, in Midnight Schemers & Daydream Believers, edited by Judy Penz Sheluk,, Superior Shores Press, 2025.

The publisher sent me a copy of this book.

Camila, our narrator, works the front desk of a fancy spa hotel.  She's not too pleased with her co-workers, especially Zack, who is trying to cheat her out of a big tip.  "Zack's sexual orientation was money. And he would code switch to the language of whatever got him cash the fastest."

And don't get her started on the customers: "The next guest was a typical Wall-Street-Suit-Bro. The kind of fifty-ish guy with an ex-wife he met in college, a trophy wife he met somewhere cooler, and a girlfriend he met at the strip club." 

Camila has a nasty tongue in her head and that's the best part of the story.  When she finds out a guest is up to no good she has to figure out a way to save the day - hopefully without ruining the hotel's reputation or cutting into her own money-making schemes.

A funny story that is a lot of fun.

Ant Street, by Nora Luttmer

 "Ant Street," by Nora Luttmer, in Hamburg Noir, edited by Jan Karsten, Akashic Press, 2025.

The publisher sent me a free copy of this book.

Lien is an older woman who moved from Vietnam to Germany many years ago. Now she works alone, running her pho restaurant in a bad neighborhood.  On top of the troubles that come with age and managing a small business there are some nasty men running a protection racket.  

"You owe me eight hundred euros, for last month," he rasped, his voice harsh, raw. You could hear that he smoked too much.

"Oh, so you're Erik's partner?"  she replied, speaking as though Erik was a friend.

"Partner?" the man snorted. "I'm Erik's boss."

"I gave Erik the money," Lien said. "Just last week." She smiled the way she thought the man might expect her to.  Asian women were always smiling like that, weren't they? Even when an extortionist showed up. What bullshit.

Maybe the old woman isn't as vulnerable as she seems.  This story has several nice surprises.

The Artist, by Linda Bennett

 "The Artist," by Linda Bennett, in Midnight Schemers & Daydream Believers, edited by Judy Penz Sheluk,, Superior Shores Press, 2025.

The publisher sent me a copy of this book.

Nick and his boys are a team of pickpockets and they are about to test  their newest recruit.  Frankie is so good he claims to be an artist of the profession  Michael, our protagonist ,is not so sure about Frankie, and he has good instincts.  I can't say much more without spoiling things so let's just say the story is cleverly plotted and satisfactory.   

Tarzan Must Die!, by Loren D. Estleman

 "Tarzan Must Die!," by Loren D. Estleman, in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, May/June 2025.

I am astonished that this is only the third time Estleman has made my Best of the Week list.  He writes so many great short story series: Amos Walker, the Four Horsemen, Claudius Lyon... and in today's adventure, Valentino.

Valentino works for the film school at UCLA and his job is searching for missing movies.  This suits him since he a cinema fanatic.  In today's story he meets his match, Darrien Bix, a former child star, now appearing in a dreadful cheapo Tarzan movie.  Turns out Bix is obsessed with the Lord of the Jungle and has a bit of film history Valentino would love to get his hands on. 

But this being a mystery Bix dies - and in a bizarre manner.  Clever puzzle, sharp writing, interesting characters. 

 

Home to Roost, by Holly Schofield

 

"Home to Roost," by Holly Schofield, in Black Cat Weekly, #195.

I admit to a little bias on this choice.  The story would have fit perfectly in the anthology I edited last year, Crimes Against Nature: New Stories of Environmental Villainy.  The theme resonates with me.

Kate and Rob are the RCMP constables operating on a small island off the coast of British Columbia, an island suffering from an assortment of environmental crises. They are investigating the death of Bert McCandless, who is an ecological disaster all on his lonesome. He's the sort of guy who would cut down protected trees with a chainsaw - during a period of high wildfire risk.  

But now Bert is dead, in a bizarre incident that might be murder, accident, or even suicide.  There are plenty of possible clues but can Kate tie them together?

I won't say more except that the story is well-written and cleverly plotted.

The Right Size of Favor, by Joseph S. Walker

 

"The Right Size of Favor," by Joseph S. Walker, in Sleuths Just Wanna Have Fun, edited by Michael Bracken, Down and Out Books, 2025.

This is the fourteenth story by my friend and fellow SleuthSayer to be reviewed here.  The nearest competitor has twelve.

Hard Line Graham is a legendary private eye of the classical tough guy school.  Unfortunately, he's not the op handling this case.  Instead we have:

"My name is Josh Branson. I'm a seventh-grade English teacher, and I'm married to Hard Line Graham's daughter.  I didn't get a summer school assignment, and Hard Line doesn't like people sitting around, so he told me I'm working for him.  He sent me here because he owes somebody a big enough favor to help Brenda Roman, but not a big enough one to show up himself.  I have precious little idea what I'm doing and I'm frankly terrified."

The Brenda Roman mentioned above is the firm's client, the county coordinator for Hands Across America, a campaign to raise money for charity.  (All the stories in this book are tied to some actual event from the 1980s.)

Someone is demanding a share of the money raised for charity: a protection racket.  Our teacher-turned-P.I. has no trouble finding the gangsters but they may not be so easy to deal with: "Christ, this guy's huge. He looks like he bullies offensive linemen for their lunch money." 

That's good writing, sharp and funny.  You'll find a lot more like it before Josh finds a solution in this delightful story.

Hiding in Plain Sight, by Tom Larsen

 "Hiding in Plain Sight," by Tom Larsen, in Black Cat Weekly, 193.

Most of Larsen's stories are set in Ecuador. Some feature a cop but this is from his other series about private eye Wilson Salinas.  

Our hero explains that a big part of his job is hunting down gringos who have come to Ecuador to hide from governments or other agencies.  

All my clients wanted from me was a location where they could find the subject of their search. "We'll take it from here," was the common response when I located someone.  I had a standard disclaimer that I gave all my clients stating that if they were after someone to beat them down or kill them, I wouldn't help. I doubt if any of them even read it. 

Now he's looking for John McIntyre who ran a jazz club in New Orleans that laundered money for the mob.  Finding him is easy; surviving an encounter with the man's bodyguard is harder.  But then it turns out that nothing about the case is as it appears.

A twisty and satisfactory tale.

You Know What You Did, by Karen Harrington

"You Know What You Did," by Karen Harrington, in Trouble in Texas, edited by Michael Bracken, North Dallas Chapter of Sisters in Crime, 2025.

This is the third story by Harrington to make my list.  By coincidence it is her third story about Dr. Kellog. I say coincidence because this is the first time those two groups have overlapped, if you follow me.

Serena's daughter has been kidnapped.  At least, that's how Serena sees it.  Reasonable people may disagree.   (Is Ava a minor or has she turned eighteen? The story is ambiguous, as far as I can tell.)  

What is clear is that Ava has been collected by the insufferable parents of her boyfriend who won't allow Serena any contact with her.

So Serena goes to the aforementioned Dr. Kellog who runs a Remedy Clinic.  His solutions are, shall we say, not mainstream (and non-violent, by the way).

I won't reveal any more about this charming tale except to say, while it's not a particularly funny story, one line made me laugh out loud.

Above Suspicion, by Victoria Weisfeld

 

"Above Suspicion," by Victoria Weisfeld, in Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, #26, 2025.

This is a caper story, inspired by an actual crime.  (And, interestingly enough, the second mystery I have read based on that crime.)

We watch Amit Madoor carefully recruiting a couple of unlikely accomplices for a crime.  Why does he want to hire two young surgeons?  What characteristics do surgeons have that would make them good candidates?  And what is he offering them a million dollars each to do? No violence, he promises; just one simple felony.

I won't spoil the story by revealing the secrets.  But it is a satisfying read.

  

The Advantages of Floating in the Middle of the Sea, by David Spencer

 "The Advantages of Floating in the Middle of the Sea," by David Spencer, in Every Day A Little Death: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Song of Stephen Sondheim, edited by Josh Pachter, Level Best Books, 2025.

Last week John Floyd wrote an excellent piece at SleuthSayers about some plotting tricks.  One was plot reversal: "Everyone talks about twist endings, but this kind of thing is effective anywhere in the storyline."

Indeed it can be, and in this story, it is

Teaser is a master thief and he has scuba dived to a private island to steal an ancient Japanese artifact.  His backup team, Pran and Gadge, are following him on radio.  In a story like this the reader usually contemplates one question: Will the gang triumph or will things fall apart at the last moment?

But in this case, halfway through the story: plot reversal.  And suddenly the action is quite different and so are the stakes.  It makes sense and holds together beautifully.  I would do a disservice if I said more.  But the writing sparkles and the dialog is as good as the plot.