"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.
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