Mystery Magazine : March 2022

At the cutting edge of crime fiction, Mystery Magazine presents original short stories by the world's best-known and emerging mystery writers.

The stories we feature in our monthly issues span every imaginable subgenre, including cozy, police procedural, noir, whodunit, supernatural, hardboiled, humor, and historical mysteries. Evocative writing and a compelling story are the only certainty.

Get ready to be surprised, challenged, and entertained--whether you enjoy the style of the Golden Age of mystery (e.g., Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle), the glorious pulp digests of the early twentieth century (e.g., Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler), or contemporary masters of mystery.

In this issue:

★ Our cover feature, "Orntelladar" by A.L. Sirois, is a sci-fi adventure set in the far future: professional thief and grifter Rali Ribhu seeks to unravel the mystery of a killer who seems to be targeting his relatives. He must team up with his sister Ypstall, an investigator regarded as the black sheep of the family.

"You Must Remember This" by Martin Hill Ortiz gives humorous insight to organized crime as a hitman learns the art behind the kiss of death from a virtuoso.

"The Mapplethorpe Challenge" by Jazz Lawless brings the perfect crime conundrum when an eccentric old millionaire bequeaths his fortune to anyone who can rise to a seemingly impossible challenge: kill him, prove it, and avoid being prosecuted.

"The Secret" by Diane A. Hadac will take an unexpected turn as an unfaithful wife with an unscrupulous lover believes she has committed the perfect crime.

"The Final Nail" by Kyle Decker is a noir investigation introducing Alex, an unlicensed private eye and fixer for the denizens of LA's infamous early 80s punk scene. When a friend's sister goes missing several days after being violently attack, Alex and his righthand man Rad comb the LA underground for her.

"Lily's Story" by John M. Floyd is a Western tale of two newspaper reporters on assignment in the 1890s as they stumble onto a much bigger and more complicated story.

"Death At The Samosa Cafe" by Mehnaz Sahibzada is a cozy mystery that begins when a co-worker is found dead in Saira's mother's Samosa cafe in Sherman Oaks. Saira wonders if someone too close for comfort could be responsible.

"The Path Of Least Resistance" by Josh Taylor set in futuristic space finds the crew of a mining ship falling short of a safety inspector's standards with deadly consequences.

"King Of The Hill" a You-Solve-It by John H. Dromey: Sheriff Foster, with your help, investigates a suspicious car accident.

Cover art (c) Robin Grenville Evans.