Mystery Magazine: February 2023

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 story, "The Nightingale's Heart" by Mark Mrozinski: Phillipe, who lives alone in the Canadian wilderness, must come to terms with the violence of his past as he helps a man mauled by a bear.

"The Palooka" by Pete Barnstrom is a tragedy in three acts: an ex-fighter is recruited to rescue a damsel; discovers he's been deceived; exacts his horrible revenge-all in the comfort of a neighborhood drinking establishment.

In "Father Michael" by Kevin Egan, a boy discovers that his family's sudden move to a rural community may have been to escape the mobsters who employed his father as an accountant. When a hit man disguised as a priest visits, the boy acts to save his family.

"In Harry's Footsteps" by Edward Lodi: A man's search for his missing brother leads him to a seedy rural diner, a femme fatale, and a cemetery at night, where not all the dead bodies have headstones to mark their graves, and there's always room for more.

"The Masterpiece Murders" by E Senteio is a small town mindboggler that finally ends with the artful murderer unintentionally exposed.

In "Lesson Plan" by Douglas Soesbe, a high school English teacher, caught stealing school funds, murders his accuser, then disposes of the body in a clever way, but things go horribly wrong.

"The Snake" by Mike McHone: After hiring a man to kill his wife, things are finally looking up for David Rosten, but after a police detective pays him a visit one quiet morning, the retiree soon finds himself on the business end of a bizarre double-cross.

"Blake's Bad Day" by Michael Allan Mallory: Blake had a perfect life until a financial audit threatens to expose his embezzlement. Murder is his best solution, but it doesn't turn out the way he hoped.

In "You, Thin!" by Jessica Hwang, a young woman goes undercover to find her sister-gone-missing at a weight-loss retreat.

"The Braidy Bunch," a You-Solve-It by John H. Dromey, finds a teen in a sticky situation. Accused of having sticky fingers, can Julie keep her wits about her and prove her hands are clean? Can you figure out how?

★ Custom cover art by Robin Grenville Evans