I grew up voraciously reading Nancy Drew novels and absorbed the values of independence and grit embodied by the teenage “sleuth.” Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sona Sotomayor have both said that they were profoundly influenced by reading Nancy Drew in childhood. Memories of the books helped me to cope with...
Read Issue Nº14
Short fiction by Lori Roy, Brendan DuBois, Reed Farrel Coleman, Brian Silverman, Charles Salzberg, Chris Knopf, Duncan Birmingham, David Berger, Robert Kostanczuk, and Emily Ruth Verona.
Interviews, Essay and Reviews by Tobias Carroll, Scott Adlerberg, Dana Robbins, William Ryan, and MJ McGrath.
Art and Photography by Vyacheslav Ivanov.
A preview of the new graphic novel Rivers of London Volume 8.
Santo Next Door By Lori Roy
Santo Giordano never thought he’d live in a house like this. 3,000 square feet. Five bedrooms. Three bathrooms. Mediterranean, they call it. Mrs. Giordano, God rest, picked it out. She had been unnerved by the idea of living on an island, and she insisted they buy a house that was high and dry.
Existential Roulette By Chris Knopf
“I’m thinking of killing myself,” he said to his friend over the phone. “I was hoping you’d talk me out out it.”
Lamp Genies By Reed Farrel Coleman
The rubber fetus I'd retrieved from Dr. Ellington's lawn was on the floor of the Crown Vic's backseat.
A Victim of Circumstances By Charles Salzberg
“People are so damn predictable," Eddie says. “Really? Everyone?” I say, my eyebrows raised about as high as they’ll go.
The Storyteller By Brendan DuBois
As he's in the middle of figuring out why Chapter Twelve in his current novel --- working title, Untitled Sean Glenn Thriller ...
Cow Foot By Brian Silverman
I started to lose business at the bar I own on Windy Hill Road on the Caribbean island of St. Pierre almost immediately after...
The Hungry Detective By Duncan Birmingham
I'm at my usual spot at the bar at El Toro, finishing a spicy michelada and my latest review for...
Lost at the Corner Bar By Robert Kostanczuk
In this endurance test called life, freebies are to be treasured, especially the older you get. Mickey Quatrik appreciated the...
What Else is There to Say? By Emily Verona
There’s a gun in the lockbox above the refrigerator. Don’t expect it to go off though. This ain’t one of those stories, where a pistol is mentioned at the very start...
Four Questions By David Berger
My Uncle Jake was a murderer. Oy, was he a murderer! I don’t usually make jokes about this sort of thing, but after a while, even the cops in the neighborhood called him, “Jake Bernstein the Murderer.”