Poison is the Wind That Blows, by C.W. Blackwell

 "Poison is the Wind That Blows," by C.W. Blackwell, in On Fire and Under Water, edited by Curtis Ippolito, Rock and a Hard Place Press, 2025.

Fighting forest fires is dangerous work.  Our nameless narrator is volunteered to do it because he is in prison for killing a man who was looting his house, and he wants to be a firefighter when he gets out.

But this conflagration is more dangerous than most because Reed, who is in charge of the prisoners, is looting houses.  He wants our hero to join his gang.  If he gets caught, he's due for a longer sentence and no career.  If he refuses, well, "Tragedies happen all the time."

Nicely suspenseful story. 

This Time Oughta Go Different, by Robert Mangeot

 

"This Time Oughta Go Different," by Robert Mangeot, in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, September/October 2025.

 This is the sixth appearance in this space by my fellow SleuthSayer.

Mangeot's stories are mostly about character and language.  For example, glom onto this opening paragraph. 

In need of his five o'clock Tanqueray and tonic, a dire need after an all-day mandatory ethics seminar, Vernon took his chances at the Hotel DeLuxa.  Nashville had gone hotter than hell's boiler room, and the DeLuxa offered the lone walkable glimmer of refinement in this South of Broadway wasteland.  A glimmer only.  The DeLuxa was sterile and grayed over, with not one velour cushion to ease Vernon's trick back moaning from the seminar's unforgiving stackable chair.  He'd been non-chargable all week, sidelined, and without much glimmer there on that turning around, either. 

 From this we know the location, the season, the tone, and mostly we know that our protagonist is an ethically-challenged lawyer  down on his luck.   

But wait! The bartender has a mild pain which Vernon is convinced can be stretched into a profitable workman's comp case.  The only problems are that the hotel seems to be mobbed up, the bartender isn't interested in suing, and, uh, she has disappeared.   

Okay, those issues might worry a lesser man than Vernon.  Or a less desperate one. 

Very funny story. 

What Ned Said, by Gary Phillips

 

"What Ned Said," by Gary Phillips, in Hollywood Kills, edited by Adam Meyer and Alan Orloff, Level Short, 2025.

Thanks to Kevin Tipple for catching some typos. 

This is the third time my friend Gary Phillips has appeared in this blog. 

I have said before that stories I like best tend to have at least one of four characteristics: great characters, twist ending, heightened language, or great premise.  We will go back to that.

I learned a new term from this story: grief tech.  As the British would say it is exactly what it says on the tin, meaning it is the use of advanced  technology to help with the mourning process. 

In this story it refers to Ethereal Essence, a company  which uses videos, text messages, and other mementos to create a virtual reality experience between the mourner and the deceased.  The mourner here is Clayton and the deceased is his old friend Ned.  They have a terrific session together - right up to the end when Ned tells his pal that he had been murdered.

And that, my friends, is what I call a great concept. A very enjoyable story.

 

Murder in F Sharp, by Stephen Ross

"Murder in F Sharp," by Stephen Ross, in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, September/October 2025.

This is the fourth appearance here for my fellow SleuthSayer Stephen Ross. 

There are plenty of cliche plots, or if you prefer tropes, that show up in mystery short stories.  I think I read two or three stories a year about a child - usually a boy - discovering a dead body and deciding to investigate.

That's how we start here but as always the question is what you do with the material. Ross uses it in highly original ways.

My name is Thomas Phipps, and I discovered a dead body today.

Thomas is sixteen and he doesn't have to investigate the murder because he has a strong suspicion about who did it.  And anyway, he has a bigger problem: his father wants him to keep taking classical piano lessons but Thomas wants to learn jazz.  Now that's an important issue.

As I have said before, sometimes I read the first sentence of a story and find myself hoping the author can keep up that quality to the end and be my best-of-the-week.  But this story belongs to the other extreme: I didn't know it was my Best until the next morning when I woke up, still thinking about it.  Fine work.

The Cutting Room Floor, by Eric Beetner

"The Cutting Room Floor," by Eric Beetner, in Hollywood Kills, edited by Adam Meyer and Alan Orloff, Level Short, 2005.

This is the third appearance in my blog by Eric Beetner. There are lots of crime stories about Hollywood but this book has a clever gimmick: each story is written by someone who has done the same work in The Industry as their protagonist. For example, Beetner has been nominated eight times for Emmys for editing.

Scott is editing episodes of a reality show.  Its success has been based on one of the contestants: Violet.

She was blunt, rude, short-tempered. She "didn't come here to make friends." She was "a bad bitch and I know it, honey." She was ratings gold. 

But all bad things come to an end and she was getting kicked off the show. Who would have guessed that she wouldn't take the news well? 

Violet finds Scott in his editing room and demands to know why he is making let look like a bitch.  The obvious answer is not going to make her happy. Did I mention that she has a razor and she's not afraid to use it? And that they are locked in the little room together?

Nice use of suspense and a real Hollywood feel, speaking of reality shows. 

Well-Known Gun, by Sam Wiebe

"Well-Known Gun," by Sam Wiebe, in Better Off Dead, vol. 1, edited by D.M. Barr, Down and Out Books, 2025. 

I have a story in this book. 

This is the third story I have reviewed here by Wiebe and, except for quality,  they couldn't be more different. 

 Of the seventeen persons I am accused of killing, I acknowledge all but three. 

This story is the final confession of Joshua Calhoun, former Confederate soldier, now ruthless gunman.  In the hours before he hangs he takes us through his remarkable life and the killing of fourteen men.

But when he gets to the three people he denies killing, well, that's when things get truly surprisingly.  An eloquently written little tale.  

A reminder: Down and Out Books is going out of business, so if you want a copy of this book, grab it. 

 

Hitchcock Blondes Have More Fun, by Lily Samson

 

"Hitchcock Blondes Have More Fun," by Lily Samson, in Birds, Strangers, and Psychos, edited by Maxim Jakubowski, Titan Books, 2025.

As I have said before one of the fun things about themed anthologies is seeing how different authors play with the theme.  In a few cases in this book, I don't see the connection to Hitchcock.  That's not a problem with this one.  

It was written in the stars, my collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock.  We met when we were both young and unknown, yet to be appreciated by the public.

Quite an opening paragraph.  We soon learn that the narrator, Rebecca (hah) is a bored English housewife.  Her big introduction to the Master of Suspense came in 1926 when she was roped in as a last-minute extra in The Lodger. She becomes convinced that she was his favorite extra, as crucial to his movies as his own cameo appearances.  

What we're talking about here is obsession about a person, and that is a theme of both Hitch's work and his life, so it is highly appropriate for the book.  A very neat story with a lovely bit of foreshadowing (because the Master believed in suspense, not surprise).

Take Me To The Pilot, by dbschlosser

 "Take Me To The Pilot," by dbschlosser, in Better Off Dead, vol. 1, edited by D.M. Barr, Down and Out Books, 2025. 

I have a story in this book.

This is the second tale by my friend dbschlosser to make my list. 

Apex (pronounced ahh-pecks, and no "Mister" in front, please) is a security guy in Kansas City.  When a top legal defense firm wants to hire him he jumps at the chance, but it is a pretty strange assignment.  Chuy Lopez is a top member of a criminal motorcycle gang. He is in prison, awaiting trial, and he wants Apex to find his lost dog.

Well, that seems a bit of overkill.

What complicate the matter is that Piloto the pooch is in the possession of Lopez's ex and she is in the Witness Protection Program.

Apex makes it clear he is not interested in letting the gangsters know where a protected witness is being held but Lopez assures him he doesn't care about her at all, just the doggie.  

This is a good private eye procedural with plenty of interesting twists.

  

Two Sentimental Gentlemen, by Gabriel Valjan

"Two Sentimental Gentlemen," by Gabriel Valjan, in Blood on the Bayou: Case Closed, edited by Don Bruns, Down and Out, 2025. 

I have a story in this book.

This is the third story by Valjan to grace my blog.

My favorite piece of writing advice from E.B. White is this: Be obscure clearly. This tale is a good demonstration of that principle.

It is New Orleans during Prohibition.  Fawcett and Angel have arrived and are looking for trouble.  Just for starters they are two men checking into a room with one bed, and worse, one of the men is suspiciously dark in color.  (The mayor has a quota, the hotel clerk explains.)  And they deliberately attract the attention of the richest industrialists in the city.

What are they up to?  Well, that's the puzzle, of course, but it isn't what I mean by being obscure clearly. Here we see them entering their hotel room:

The room, dark and carpeted, appeared undisturbed.  There was a large window, curtained, and His and Hers chairs that framed it like brackets.  There was a closet nearest them, a desk next, and the bed with a nightstand to their right.  Another door was ajar, and a dull light illuminated the ceramic tiles in the bathroom, the subway tiles of the wall there, white as Ahab's whale.

See? Nice and clear, with the lovely little metaphor tossed in at the end. But we immediately learn that something unexpected has happened in the room and we won't find out what until much later.  The precision of the description makes it clear that the obscurity that follows is intentional.

A nice historical tale of suspense.

Paradise by the Dashboard Light, by C. J. Kudlacz

 "Paradise by the Dashboard Light," by C. J. Kudlacz, in Bat Out of Hell, edited by Don Bruns, 2025.

I listened to an audiobook version of this story, so apologies for any inaccurate quotes. 

Someone said that what an author of fiction is supposed to do is chase the protagonist into a tree and throw rocks at them.  Big tree in this story, tons of rocks. 

 Jacob Mills, age 17, has not had an easy life.  After his father died in the war his mother hit the bottle, moved them to northern Maine, and married an abusive creep named Clint.  Part of Jacob's reaction  to all this earned him a term in juvenile prison.  

Now he's out but this is a specially bad day: 

Ten miles to Canada and Jacob Mills had an empty gas tank, a flat tire, and his stepfather's body in the trunk.

Oh, it's also snowing.   And he's vague about who killed Clint, largely because of his concussion.

 So yeah, bad day.

 But all he has to do is somehow fix the tire without opening the trunk, slip across the border, get to his grandfather's house, and bury the corpse, all without being spotted by the cops who know him all too well.

This is a suspense story that turns out to be about more than suspense.  It's gripping and very clever.

 

 

The Far End of Bourbon Street, by Larry S. Evans II.

 "The Far End of Bourbon Street," by Larry S. Evans II, in Blood on the Bayou: Case Closed, edited by Don Bruns, Down and Out, 2025.

I have a story in this book.

Townsend is a bestselling author of thrillers.  Unfortunately he leads the life he thinks his readers expect which means a lot of drinking and other chicanery.

Allison, his publicist and long-suffering wife, is barely willing to suffer it anymore.  

But everything changes after an event at a New Orleans bookstore/speakeasy, when Town finds himself under arrest for murder.  Did he lose control in a drunken rage, or is he being framed?

The rest of the story appears in short flashes, the way I imagine waking up after a blackout might be.  It is cleverly written and satisfying.

Ash Tuesday, by M.S. Greene

 

"Ash Tuesday," by M.S. Greene, in Malice Domestic: Mystery Most Humorous, edited by John Betancourt, Michael Bracken, and Carla Coupe, Wildside Press, 2025.

My job here is to review  the best mystery story I read each week.  So: what's a mystery story?  Otto Penzler defined it as a story in which crime or the threat of crime is a major element.

By that definition this story doesn't count.  Oh, you could split hairs and point to some laws being broken or bent, but it is hardly the point of the tale.  But this is a story of detection, so I decree that it qualifies.

Trent, Colin, and Ray are roommates and Trent is having troubles. First of all, he is struggling with the LSAT exams. Second, he has an unrequited crush on Ray. And third, there's the corpse on the hall table.

Well, not a corpse exactly.  A box containing a bag of cremated remains. It was mailed to their apartment by persons unknown for reasons unknown.  And so the detection begins.  This is a convoluted tale that seems like it should fall apart in a flurry of coincidences, but Greene connects the dots in a satisfying manner.

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.

Fancy Car Lover, by Ed Teja

 "Fancy Car Lover," by Ed Teja, in Crimeucopia: A Load of Balls, edited by John Connor, Murderous Ink Press, 2025.

This is Ed Teja's second appearance in this blog.

Jimmy just got out of the army and he knows just where to look for work: a garage that used to pay his brother to steal cars to order, for parts.   

 But let's take a moment to enjoy the language here.

"I went in [the army] and they taught me how to fight and then kicked me out for using what they taught me. Go figure." 

"I think the issue was probably it matters who you fight," Eddie said.

"Yeah, well, they could have said that earlier." 

Nice. 

Jimmy has a strategy for finding and swiping those cars and  it works fine, although not so fine for the car owners who sometimes get a bit damaged in the process.  His sweet deal with crooked Eddie gets complicated when  he meets Kathy, who gets interested in his job.  Maybe a little too interested...

A lovely noir tale with a nice twist. 

The Temporary Murder of Thomas Monroe, by Tia Tashiro

 

"The Temporary Murder of Thomas Monroe," by Tia Tashiro, in Clarkesworld, #220, January 2025.

I have reviewed science fiction stories at this blog before but this may be the first one from a science fiction magazine.  But the important question is: is it a mystery?  The answer is, you bet.

College student Tom Monroe has just been murdered, and he finds it very inconvenient.  Is he a ghost?  Not at all.  His parents are very rich and have supplied him with a medtag which alerts the authorities when he dies and they have the money to have him revived.

(Now I can't help by here Billy Crystal saying:"You're friend is only mostly dead."  But this is not a funny story.)

 Someone killed Tom in order to steal his money which is protected by voice and fingerprints.  His memories of the previous two months are cloudy, due to the revival process.  Can he figure out how this happened?

Meanwhile, we are also following a woman named Jay who was hired to befriend Tom as part of the robbery scheme. Whose side is she on? For that matter whose side is anyone on?  This novella is well-written and delightfully complicated.  

Never Bet Against Death, by J.F. Benedetto

"Never Bet Against Death," by J.F. Benedetto, in Crimeucopia: A Load of Balls, edited by John Connor, Murderous Ink Press, 2025.

We are in Tien-Tsin, China in 1901. The Boxer Rebellion has failed and Europeans and Americans have the run of the place. One of those Americans is Hezekiah Sauer, ex-cowboy, retired Marine, now a traveling man. 

An Englishman, a baronet no less, invites Sauer to watch a game of Ts'uchu or cuju, a ball game played by - gasp - women. The game is interrupted by the murder of a Russian consul and the Russian army officers who arrive to investigate enlist Sauer's aid.

This story is an excellent example of the historical mystery, providing plenty of interesting historical detail without drowning you in it.  As a bonus, there is a perfectly logical way of disposing of a murder weapon that I have never come across before. 

Abreast Schwarztonnensand, by Zöe Beck

 "Abreast Schwarztonnensand," by Zöe Beck, in Hamburg Noir, edited by Jan Karsten, Akashic Press, 2025.

Boy, I hope I spelled that title right.  The publisher sent me a free copy of this book.

This is the third story by Beck to make my list, although calling it a story may be inaccurate. It is written as a film script, dialog with occasional description. If the movie is ever made I assume it will begin with the very dramatic scene that we only hear about.

Kai-Uwe is a billionaire and the owner of a Hamburg family business. He has been cruising on the Elbe River in his yacht and has run over a man in a sailboat.  The story consists of  the man and his cronies discussing ways to avoid all responsibility, legal and financial, for the accident.

So this is political, even polemic, fiction, but it is very good. We watch the characters coldly manipulating the system without a thought of right and wrong and we think, yeah, this is probably how it works.

It is not a funny story, but there are flashes of grim, acerbic wit.  Here is Kai-Uwe's lawyer strategizing about his client's actions:

He was observing the prescribed speed for yachts along this stretch of the Elbe. Find out how fast that is.

A clever and compelling piece of writing.