"Glass Beach," by Michael Bracken, in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, January/February 2026.
This is the twelfth appearance in this space by my friend and fellow SleuthSayer.
One of my favorite mystery stories is "Witch's Money," by John Collier. In spite of the title it does not involve the supernatural, but tells how a small European village is turned inside out by the arrival of a (relatively) wealthy American. Bracken's story reminds me of Collier's.
The story takes place near Fort Bragg, California in the early 1970s. The witch's money in this case is a strongbox full of cash, the loot from the robbery of a lumber company payroll a decade earlier. It is discovered in a dump by Patrick, our teenage narrator, and his fairly hostile stepfather Cush.
They hope to keep the find secret but, inevitably, the ripples start to spread, involving first Patrick's best friend, whose mother works at a bank and knows how difficult will be to make the money safe to spend. As complications arise and more people get involved our heroes discover just how difficult easy money can be.
Terrific story.
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