This issue is packed with goodies.

Our original tales are from Andrew Welsh-Huggins (thanks to Acquiring Editor Michael Bracken), Stephanie Bedwell-Grime, Bud Pharo, and Phyllis Ann Karr. And we also have an original solve-it-yourself mystery from the fiendish imaginations of Hal Charles (the writing team of Hal Blythe and Charlie Sweet). To balance things out, we also have modern classics from Elizabeth Elwood (thanks to Acquiring Editor Barb Goffman) and Nina Kiriki Hoffman, and a rare reprint from British master E.C. Tubb. Our mystery novella is by British master Edgar Wallace.

Here’s the complete lineup—

COVER ART: Ron Miller

NOVELLA

Red Aces, by Edgar Wallace

A lovestruck banker uncovers secrets that may cost him everything.

SOLVE-IT-YOURSELF MYSTERY

“The Case of the Vague Video,” by Hal Charles

Can you solve the mystery before the detective? All the clues are there!

SHORT STORIES

“Last Shot,” by Andrew Welsh-Huggins [Michael Bracken Presents short story]

A mob enforcer plots a hit, but his plan has one fatal flaw…

“The River of My Return,” by Elizabeth Elwood [Barb Goffman Presents short story]

A downtrodden wife takes a life-altering trip into her past.

“Footprints,” by Jeffery Farnol

A murder, a clue—and a detective who never misses the obvious!

“The Quiet Ones,” by Stephanie Bedwell-Grime

Two shocking deaths unravel a truth far stranger than murder.

“The Consequences of Not Having a Safe Word,” by Bud Pharo

A one-night game turns into something dangerously revealing…

“Ancestor Night,” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

A young woman inherits more than blood from her ancestors.

“The Chocolate of the Gods,” by Phyllis Ann Karr

A sweet treat tempts a traveler with divine and deadly secrets.

“Mistaken Identity,” by E.C. Tubb

A fugitive trades faces with another man—but his new life isn’t what it seems!

Bud Pharo

Books