Skeleton Crew, by V.G. Burke

 

"Skeleton Crew," by V.G. Burke, in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, January/February 2026.

First stories seldom make this list but Burke's did.  

Our protagonist is a guy named Road, a veteran who saw too much and isn't sure he can live with it.  Or that he wants to.  A fellow vet named Sophie tries to keep him from taking a permanent way out, and Road owes her something.  

In Savannah, Georgia he meets a cop, another veteran, who tells Road that what he needs to keep him going  is a mission.  He finds one in a bar: HAVE YOU SEEN DAVID GRANT? A popular habitue of the joint, a genuine nice guy, has vanished.  And Road may still have the skills to track him.  

The story gets pretty brutal.    If it wasn't in EQMM's Department of First Stories it could have worked in their Black Mask Department.

I wish the story had been more tightly edited.  For example, there were a few spots where I couldn't tell who was speaking.  But it's a very enjoyable tale.