The Briar Patch, by Tom Milani

"The Briar Patch," by Tom Milani, in Wish Upon a Crime: Crime Fiction Inspired by Fairy Tales, edited by Michael Bracken, and Stacy Woodson, Level Best Books, 2026.Michael Bracken sent me a copy of this book.  Some themed anthologies are pretty general - stories about movies, say - and some are very specific.  For example, each of these crime stories uses the title of, and refers to the plot of, a fairy tale.In the original tale Brer Rabbit outsmarts the bigger and dangerous Brer Fox by convincing him to "punish" the bunny by tossing him into the briar patch - exactly where he wants to be. So how does that turn into a modern mystery story?Rabbit is the nickname of a worker at Brothers Salvage, an auto junkyard.  The boss thinks he's reliable but not very bright.  So we're ready for our hero to be underestimated, and he is.The junkyard is being used as a transfer point for drugs and one day Mr. Fox comes to pick some up, but Rabbit has done something with them.  Can Rabbit outsmart the violent Mr. Fox? Can a bunny hop?There are a few nice easter eggs in this fun story, such as the name of the bartender.  



 

Three Billy Goats Gruff, by Michael Bracken

 "Three Billy Goats Gruff," by Michael Bracken, in Wish Upon a Crime: Crime Fiction Inspired by Fairy Tales, edited by Michael Bracken, and Stacy Woodson, Level Best Books, 2026. 

Michael Bracken, friend and fellow SleuthSayer, as well as co-editor of this book, sent me a free copy. And what do you know? His story is the best I have read so far in the book. It also marks his thirteenth appearance in this blog.  

One of the big trends in popular fiction these days is retellings of mythology.  Someone should do an anthology of that, don't you think?  While we wait for that one we have this volume based on fairy tales.  Some are grim (Grimm?). This one, not so much.

Three brothers, Buck, Billy, and Kid Gruff, run a disreputable marijuana dispensary.  When a virus starts destroying their crops they hope to negotiate a deal with their long-time rivals, the Troll family.  But only the patriarch of that family can make such arrangements and to reach him the Gruffs have to cross a Troll (or toll) bridge.  Lot of puns here, naturally...

   

 

 

Glass Beach, by Michael Bracken

 

"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. 

Wax On, Wax Off, by Nina Mansfield

 

"Wax On, Wax Off," by Nina Mansfield, in  Malice Domestic: Mystery Most Humorous, edited by John Betancourt, Michael Bracken, and Carla Coupe, Wildside Press, 2025.

 Hoo-boy.  Not sure what to say about this one.

Mystery story? Check.  Science fiction? Arguably.  Political satire? Undoubtedly.

Our protagonist is "Andrea Kalinski, PTA treasurer, locally known mommy-blogger, and founder of The Ageless Change, a recently launched skin-care line that targeted menopausal women." 

Unfortunately for her the Body Hair Acceptance Movement has moved into power and twenty-eight states have banned "unnatural hair removal for profit."  Mansfield describes the campaign in detail which we need not go into here, although it sounds depressingly realistic.

Andrea is forced to go to an illegal waxing parlor to prepare for her work-and-recreation trip to Brazil, but someone gets killed.  "I hadn't signed up to investigate a murder. I wanted to battle an unjust law and wear a thong at Ipanema Beach."

Funny and thought-provoking. 

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 Right Size of Favor, by Joseph S. Walker

 

"The Right Size of Favor," by Joseph S. Walker, in Sleuths Just Wanna Have Fun, edited by Michael Bracken, Down and Out Books, 2025.

This is the fourteenth story by my friend and fellow SleuthSayer to be reviewed here.  The nearest competitor has twelve.

Hard Line Graham is a legendary private eye of the classical tough guy school.  Unfortunately, he's not the op handling this case.  Instead we have:

"My name is Josh Branson. I'm a seventh-grade English teacher, and I'm married to Hard Line Graham's daughter.  I didn't get a summer school assignment, and Hard Line doesn't like people sitting around, so he told me I'm working for him.  He sent me here because he owes somebody a big enough favor to help Brenda Roman, but not a big enough one to show up himself.  I have precious little idea what I'm doing and I'm frankly terrified."

The Brenda Roman mentioned above is the firm's client, the county coordinator for Hands Across America, a campaign to raise money for charity.  (All the stories in this book are tied to some actual event from the 1980s.)

Someone is demanding a share of the money raised for charity: a protection racket.  Our teacher-turned-P.I. has no trouble finding the gangsters but they may not be so easy to deal with: "Christ, this guy's huge. He looks like he bullies offensive linemen for their lunch money." 

That's good writing, sharp and funny.  You'll find a lot more like it before Josh finds a solution in this delightful story.

You Know What You Did, by Karen Harrington

"You Know What You Did," by Karen Harrington, in Trouble in Texas, edited by Michael Bracken, North Dallas Chapter of Sisters in Crime, 2025.

This is the third story by Harrington to make my list.  By coincidence it is her third story about Dr. Kellog. I say coincidence because this is the first time those two groups have overlapped, if you follow me.

Serena's daughter has been kidnapped.  At least, that's how Serena sees it.  Reasonable people may disagree.   (Is Ava a minor or has she turned eighteen? The story is ambiguous, as far as I can tell.)  

What is clear is that Ava has been collected by the insufferable parents of her boyfriend who won't allow Serena any contact with her.

So Serena goes to the aforementioned Dr. Kellog who runs a Remedy Clinic.  His solutions are, shall we say, not mainstream (and non-violent, by the way).

I won't reveal any more about this charming tale except to say, while it's not a particularly funny story, one line made me laugh out loud.

Burned, by Hugh Lessig

 "Burned," by Hugh Lessig, in Mickey Finn 5, edited by Michael Bracken,  Down & Out Books, 2025.

This is Lessig's second appearance in this column.  That's not so unusual, but it is also his second visit here this month. That''s pretty rare.

Being a single mom can be tough.  Now imagine if your only child is  a teenage boy determined to run off to find his father who vanished years before.  That's the situation Jenna finds herself in.

A new neighbor moves into the apartment complex.  "Brooks Badger. That sounds like a cartoon character, but it really is my name." For a while he seems like a good influence on Jenna's son, Henry.  But she is suspicious (and honestly, so are you, right?)  

Turns out Brooks has a secret or two in his past.  Turns out Jenna does too.  Don't underestimate her.  A nice suspense story with its twists slowly revealed.

Hole in my Soul, by John M. Floyd

  "Hole in my Soul," by John M. Floyd, in Janie's Got a Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Aerosmith, edited by Michael Bracken, White City Press, 2024.

 This is the fourth appearance here by my friend and fellow SleuthSayer.

What can I say about this terrific story? Not much without giving things away.  So let's talk about two different stories I read decades ago.  I don't recall the authors or titles.

The first tale I think I read in Queen or Hitchcock, probably the latter.  We follow a man walking through a city street, doing petty, nasty things.  It was my first encounter with the concept of keying a car.  He meets a young couple with their newborn baby and tells them "He doesn't look like either of you," leaving them in a shouting match.  Then he gets to his office and we realize that he works for the manufacturer of a  headache remedy and we have just seen him doing his job.

I believe I heard a high school teacher read the second story aloud.  I long thought it was by James Thurber, but I have never found it in his work.  We follow a man down a city street as he does minor good deeds, making everyone's life just a little nicer.  He gets home and his wife cheerfully tells him about her day, keying cars, and otherwise making people's lives slightly worse.  They agree that the next day they will change roles.

Okay, now on to Floyd's story.  We follow a man, the narrator, as he strolls down a city street, but first he saves a child from dying in a horrible accident...  And I won't tell you about the rest of his day.

These tales are all variations on what I have named the Unknown Narrator story in which the reader knows nothing about the main character except what he does or what people say about him.  The fun is finding out what he is up to.  And this one was a lot of fun.

Retro Rhapsody by Hugh Lessig

 

"Retro Rhapsody," by Hugh Lessig,   in Scattered, Smothered, Covered & Chunked: Crime Fiction Inspired by Waffle House, edited by Michael Bracken and Stacy Woodson, Down and Out Books, 2024.

Judy manages a diner.  Her problem employee is a fifty-something guy, twice her age, named Doutree who, wrongly, thinks he has a chance with her.

Her new employee is a cook named Army who is dependable, good-looking, and maybe has a secret.  Or a whole lot of secrets. 

Maybe one of these guys can help with the other. Or maybe he can make things much worse.

This is one of those stories where new layers are revealed every few pages.  I enjoyed uncovering them.

Truth or Die, by Austin S. Camacho

 "Truth or Die," by Austin S. Camacho, in Scattered, Smothered, Covered & Chunked: Crime Fiction Inspired by Waffle House, edited by Michael Bracken and Stacy Woodson, Down and Out Books, 2024.

A few pages into this tale I felt awash in a cozy wave of nostalgia, which is odd since it is not a cozy or nostalgic story. Let me explain.

A century ago a staple of Black Mask Magazine was a tale in which a stranger arrived in a corrupt big town or  small city and started clashing with the resident gang of crooks (or competing gangs).  It takes a while for the reader to figure out whether the newcomer is a good guy or a bad guy - or, this being the world of hardboiled, a good bad guy or bad good one. 

This story begins with Skye getting off a bus at 4:25 in the morning.  She quickly finds an injured man in a dumpster and she pulls him out. Does that make her a good guy? Then she arranges to meet up with the head of one of two rival mobs.  Bad guy?

A nice and suspenseful story.  I was left with one question: Where does the first dead body end up? 

Windfall, by Michael Bracken

 "Windfall," by Michael Bracken, in Scattered, Smothered, Covered & Chunked: Crime Fiction Inspired by Waffle House, edited by Michael Bracken and Stacy Woodson, Down and Out Books, 2024.

This is the tenth appearance here by my friend and fellow SleuthSayer Michael Bracken.

Let me begin by saying of all the anthology themes I've run across this might be the most unexpected.  Admittedly, I have never been in a Waffle House.

Mike, Jerry, and Bill, three old pals, go fishing one day and make an unexpected catch: half a million bucks that fall (falls?) out of an armored car when it's robbed. 

But that kind of money is like fairy gold, hard to hold onto.  Mike keeps urging his friends not to spend conspicuously, but as one of them says "What good is having it if we can't spend it?"

You know what they say about the love of money. They could have added that it's the root of a whole lot of trouble.

I admit that what put this story over the top for me is the clever connection between it and the title of the book.  But you will have to figure that out for yourself.

 

Bitter Cold, by Shannon Taft

 

"Bitter Cold," by Shannon Taft, in Notorious in North Texas, edited by Michael Bracken, North Dallas Chapter of Sisters in Crime, 2024.

The big question with historical fiction is: How much is too much? I'm talking about detail. You want the reader to believe you know what you're talking about, but you don't want them thinking they are reading a history book and falling asleep over it.

It may help if you're writing about something the reader knows nothing about, which is certainly the fact in this story - at least with this reader. 

It's January 1918, and the narrator, Major Evans, is the commander of military police at Camp Taliaferro, where American and Canadian pilots are being trained to fight and fly in the World War.  It is one of the coldest winters in Texas history and the troops are not prepared nor equipped for it. That could explain how Canadian Flight Cadet Charlie MacDonald wound up dead in his tent, except there is evidence that he was strangled.

Evans has to investigate the murder quickly while being pressured by the brass to play down a dangerous international incident that could play havoc with the already low morale.  

The story felt very real to me.

Golden Parachute, by Travis Richardson

 

"Golden Parachute," by Travis Richardson, in Murder, Neat, edited by Michael Bracken and Barb Goffman, Level Short Books, 2024

I have a story in this book.

This is the fourth appearance on this page by my friend and fellow Sleuthsayer, and a slick tale it is.

Alex Dorrett, our narrator, founded a tech giant but he has just been kicked out, due to some poor decisions. Keep those last two words in mind because we are going to see a lot more poor decisions before this story wraps up.

He leaves his firm's offices with a dramatic exit I will not spoil for you, goes off drinking, and falls in with bad companions.  Companions who think there must be a way to glom onto some of the billionaire's wealth, if only they are clever enough to think of it.  Which they ain't, but they are violent enough to harm him if he can't find a way to satisfy them.  Which he will.

Here's a sample of our hero:

I talked nonstop, bitching about all the mistreatment and abuse that a billionaire like me had to endure from jerks... who harassed me about crap like ethics and decorum.  It's the kind of BS that kills the innovative freedom necessary for a tech founder to thrive.

Poor baby.  You'll have a lot of fun with this one.

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bled, by Joseph S. D'Agnese

 "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bled," by Joseph S. D'Agnese, in Murder, Neat: A SleuthSayers Anthology, edited by Michael Bracken and Barb Goffman, Level Short, 2024.

I have a story in this book.

This nice historical tale is the third appearance here by my friend and fellow SleuthSayer, Joseph S. D'Agnese.

Greenwich Village has been a magnet for the artistic and the different for a long time.  This story is set in 1859 when such people flocked to Pfaff's a German-owned tavern.  When a theatre critic is murdered there one night it draws unwanted attention to the place. Things go on there that might get the place shut down if the police find out about it.

Clearly what is needed is an amateur sleuth who knows the place and the people and that turns out to be... Walt Whitman.  The poet is a regular, as is his acquaintance the famous illustrator Thomas Nast.  (It would have been cool if Nast could play Watson, but I suppose there was too much Whitman couldn't let him know.) 

Complicating the case is the fact that the critic was stabbed while sitting with a glass of poison.  Was this two attempts at murder, or a botched suicide, or something else?

Fascinating story with great period detail.  

West of the Ashley, by Richard Helms

 

"West  of the Ashley," by Richard Helms, in Prohibition Peepers: Private Eyes During the Noble Experiment, edited by Michael Bracken, Down and Out Books 2023.

This is the ninth appearance in my column by Richard Helms. A perusal of those tales shows that he is one of my favorite current authors of private eye stories. One reason for that is that he finds unusual things for his P.I.s to do.

Take, for instance, Cletus Nobile, a World War I veteran, now doing the gumshoe gig in Charleston. His current assignment? Figure out who is selling unauthorized booze in the segregated section of town. "You can sell all you want west of the Ashley River.  Nobody cares what you do out there.  Try to sell your hooch south of the Citadel and between the rivers, you'll dance with the devil, and he always leads."

Good writing, good plot.

We Are The Stonewall Girls, by Joseph S. Walker

 "We Are The Stonewall Girls," by Joseph S. Walker, in More Groovy Gumshoes: Private Eyes in the Psychedelic Sixties,, edited by Michael Bracken, Down and Out Books, 2023.

This is the eighth appearance in this space by Joseph S. Walker, which puts him near the top of the heap.

Narrator Neil Fell is a gay private eye in New York City in June 1969.  That plus the title should tell you what the story is going to be about.

A wealthy man named Grierson comes to Fell with a problem.  He is not gay but he has made friends with some of the young men in Christopher Park, the ones who call themselves queens.  Now one of them, Alice, has disappeared and Grierson is worried about him. He has approached police and other private eyes but they assume he is interested for sexual reasons and are anything but helpful.

Fell takes on the case and, as you can imagine, winds up involved in the Stonewall Riots.  I thought I knew that subject fairly well but I learned a lot of details.  

The case is interesting as well, and the solution is satisfactory.    

One Night in 1965, by Stacy Woodson

 

"One Night in 1965," by Stacy Woodson, in More Groovy Gumshoes: Private Eyes in the Psychedelic Sixties,, edited by Michael Bracken, Down and Out Books, 2023.

This is the second appearance by Woodson in my column. 

The night in question is August 26, the last opportunity for young men to avoid the draft by getting married.

Jack Taylor is a private eye in Las Vegas.  He is also a Korean War veteran who doesn't appreciate men who are trying to dodge Vietnam.

He is hired by a U.S. senator from Nevada whose son has gone missing.  The senator fears that he is about to make a hasty marriage to avoid induction into the army which is scheduled for the next day.  The truth turns out to be more complicated.

One problem with writing historical fiction  - especially when history is recent enough for readers to remember the time - is the danger of anachronisms.  Did anyone refer to men's abdomens as six-packs in 1965?  And definitely nobody was using the term Ms.

But that's nitpicking. This is an interesting story that takes a different approach to the private eye story.