Mystery Magazine: May 2022. Mystery Magazine Issues, #81

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 our cover feature, "Reciprocal Privileges" by James Lincoln Warren, Albert Seaton, an Australian visitor to London, checks in to the eccentric Palladium Club in Mayfair, using his reciprocal privileges from his own private club in Sydney.
He's in England on business, and the business includes a sniper rifle. In "On The Road Again" by Wayne J. Gardiner, a man who has spent the last twelve years without venturing outside his house, plans a trip, and begins to discover the reason for his self-imposed home confinement. In "Circling The Drain" by Don McLellan, a small-town newspaperman struggles with the realization a deceased friend might have been be a long-sought-after serial killer. "Return Of The Velvet Noodle" by Arthur Davis brings a comical farce when a brilliant British private detective is forced back into solving mysteries. "Lita's List" by Alan Orloff: Beneath the toes, the sand.
Beneath the sand, who knows? Detectorist Mitch Mitchell combs the sand, biding his time, looking for lost treasures until a helpless friend gets arrested for murder. "Catch And Release" by April Kelly, all this poor homicide detective wants is a little time off and a quiet place to fish, but dead people just keep messing with him. In "Flour Dusted And Pan Glossed" by Robert Mangeot, the bank heist is way off plan.
Easton, the crew's fourth man and a died-in-the-wool bright sider, refuses to let a police stand-off get him down. In "Filthy Looker" by Joseph S. Walker, Tim Chadwick is a former cop just barely keeping a handle on his alcoholism. When a fellow barfly asks him for help recovering stolen property, it leads to encounter with the local gang and their fearsome enforcer. "Pocket Change" is a You-Solve-It by John M.
Floyd where you can help Sheriff Lucy Valentine and her mother, Fran, get to the bottom of the murder mystery. Custom cover art by Robin Grenville Evans.