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.