Louie the Mailman, by Jim Fusilli

"Louie the Mailman," by Jim Fusilli, in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, November/December 2026.

This marks Fusilli's third appearance in my blog.

It took me a while to determine that this story was set in the current day because it has an old-fashioned feel to it.  This is a story about mobsters and when you hear "Louie the Mailman" you may think it is the nickname of some Mafiosi.  What exactly does the mailman "deliver?" Money? Dope? Revenge? Corpses?

None of the above. Louie Fava really is the postla delivery guy in Little Italy.  He has been in love, since childhood, with Josie and the good news is her husband has just died.  The bad news is that her husband was a Mafia chieftain whose brother now runs things and has no desire to let his sister-in-law get involved with a peasant like Louie.

Ah, but Louie has high hopes and big plans.  I had no idea whether they were going to work out or not. Will David beat Goliath this time? You will have a good time finding out.