“Making Amends” by Julian Grant

FICTION: “And then nothing…. I explained to them the importance of making amends, the value of a rigorous moral inventory and doing the right thing….”

“Kitty at the Window” by Barry Gifford

NOVEL EXCERPT: “You like her, huh?”….“Just looking,” he said. “Do you know her?”

“Boilermaker” by Susan Hammerman

FICTION: “Delores didn’t want to think about what she was. Her job was done now, anyway….”

“Death Takes a Byline: the Interview” by D.S. Lliteras

The below was excerpted from Death Takes a Byline (Book One, Chapters 1-3) by D.S. Lliteras (Rainbow Ridge Books, 2020; Copyright © 2020 by D. S. Lliteras). She reached into a canvas bag that hung from her shoulder, pulled out a notepad, and studied him. He walked as if he was being followed; he was afraid […]

“All You Need is a Gun and a Girl” by Jim Towns

He leaned across the seat and opened the door, watching every inch of her…. I. Bare trees clung to the snow-frosted hills around the ravine, and the girl who walked along the railroad tracks was tall and beautiful. She wore mirrored sunglasses, long coat, tall boots. An old surplus army bag swung on a leather […]

“The World Out There: from the Book Purgatory” by John Talbird

It has been a week since the first murders…. he looks slowly around the store, dark, still, and empty. Usually, William parks near the back of the lot in the Westabout strip mall so customers can have spaces closer to the door. In his four years of managing Book Purgatory, he has waged a never-ending […]

“Night Shoot” by Nat Segaloff

Sad news to report. Little Steffi Batchelder is dead….A beam of sunlight struck her and she turned into ash. From the book Hollywood and Venal by Nat Segaloff, illustrated by Thomas Warming. Text © 2020 Nat Segaloff; Illustrations ©2020 Thomas Warming; from BearManor Media. Sometimes you have to lie in order to get to the […]

“Bakersfield: Kern River, June 13” by Pierre Ouellette

The following is excerpted from Bakersfield: a Crime Novel by Pierre Ouellette (Jorvik Press, 2018). “You ever meet Hitchcock?” “Yep.” “I hear he hates cops. That right?” “Wouldn’t know. Never asked him.” “What about Bogart? Is he really an asshole?” “Hard to say. He didn’t talk much.” “I bet he drove a Cord or something […]

“Sugar Water” by Charles Willeford

I. It was Sunday dinner at Saint Catherine’s Military Academy and, as usual, I was sitting next to Robbie. It must have been some kind of a Big Deal that Sunday, because in addition to the watery soup, roast beef and mashed potatoes, there were two desserts: bread pudding and two pieces of hard candy. […]

“A Question of Execution” by Basil Rosa

I’d heard Tiny Aria say a million times that in Fortuna, if you scratched beneath the surface, you’d only find more surface. He laid this on me again when he phoned about the Reno Morelli kidnapping. Reno managed The Gutterball, a dive where mooks, con-men, and low-level operatives met to figure out which cops weren’t […]