The seventh volume in the Chesapeake Crimes series presents an impressive set of tales by new and wellestablished authors. Included this time are: INTRODUCTION, by Dana Cameron THE DAME AND THADDEUS BIRDWHISTLE, by Karen Cantwell SECRETS TO THE GRAVE, by K.M. Rockwood THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT THE ESCAPE ROOM, by Leone Ciporin THE DOGOODER, by Adam Meyer THE PROBLEM WITH OPENENDED INVITATIONS, by Cathy Wiley MUGGINS, by Josh Pachter THE KILLING WINDS, by Mary Stojak MAKE NEW FRIENDS, BUT KEEP THE OLD, by Jane Limprecht GOOD MORNING, GREEN LEAF CLASS, by Sarah Cotter THE GREAT BEDBUG INCIDENT AND THE INVITATION OF DOOM, by Eleanor Cawood Jones GUNS AND YOGA, by Maureen Klovers RFP/RIP, by Britt Alan AUMAKUA, by Maddi Davidson THE COLOR OF ENVY, by Joanna Campbell Slan TRUE COLORS, by Robin Templeton ALL TOMORROW’S PARTIES, by Art Taylor SUNNYSIDE, by Stacy Woodson

CRIME TRAVEL features time-travel mysteries by a terrific lineup of authors.Features an introduction by Donna Andrews. Included are: James Blakey Melissa H. Blaine Michael Bracken Anna Castle Brendan DuBois David Dean John M. Floyd Barb Goffman Heidi Hunter Eleanor Cawood Jones Adam Meyer Barbara Monajem Korina Moss Art Taylor Cathy Wiley

First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder features nineteen juicy tales of revenge, betrayal, bad breakups, and a few I dos and some I don’ts. Each short story takes ruthless relationships to an all-new level in all kinds of places like destination weddings, riverboat cruises, wineries, bachelorette parties, creepy stalkers, cheating spouses, and sneaky friends trying for their own version of happily ever after. So, settle in for some love stories with a twist of revenge, infidelity, and murder. Featuring the writing talents of Teresa Inge, Heather Weidner, Debra H. Goldstein, Grace Topping, Maggie King, Ellen Butler, Kristin Kisska, Shawn Reilly Simmons, Marilyn Levinson, Sandra Murphy, Mary Dutta, Diane Fanning, Libby Hall, Frances Aylor, K.L. Murphy, Eleanor Cawood Jones, Leah St. James, Sheryl Jordan and Allie Marie. Nineteen talented authors have lent their pens to whisk you away to a variety of venues in search of who done it. Woe to the man or woman who places the heroes and heroines in harm's way as they solve these mysteries. Clever twists and turns make this a delightful read. What foul means has joined together - let the clever reader unveil the clues. -Nan O'Berry, USA Today's Best Selling Author

The Malice Domestic anthology series returns with a new take on mysteries in the Agatha Christie tradition—original tales with a theatrical bent! Included are: Preface, by Ellen Hart The Rock Star, by Frances Aylor Perfectly Awry, by Anne Louise Bannon The Ghost in Balcony B, by Michele Bazan Reed Drama-Rama Flip Flop, by Cindy Brown It’s Not O.K. Corral, by M. E. Browning Mary-Alice Imagines Her Life as a Movie, by Karen Cantwell The Ghost of Hamnet, by R. M. Chastleton When the Wind is Southerly, by Leone Ciporin Raising Cain, by Carla Coupe Death of Another Hero, by Susan Daly The Stars Are Fire, by Phillip DePoy Death Plays the Palace, by Margaret Dumas The Homicidal Understudy, by Elizabeth Elwood No Final Act, by Daryl Wood Gerber Deus Ex Machina, by B. J. Graf The Nine Deaths in Hamlet?, by A. P. Jamison Heat Wave, by Maureen Jennings Thus With a Kiss, by Margaret Lucke Such Tricks As These, by Jaquelyn Lyman-Thomas Final Curtain, by Sharon Lynn The Mask, by Cheryl Marceau The Ultimate Tie-Breaker, by Deborah Maxey True Crime, by Adam Meyer A Star Goes Dark, by Raquel V. Reyes Not Your Lolita, by Merrilee Robson A Death in Shubert Alley, by Lee Sauer Dance on Fire, by Shawn Reilly Simmons Missed Cue, by Lynn Slaughter You Know How Actresses Are, by C. M. Surrisi Five Words, by Elaine Togneri Ask Fred the Usher, by Arthur Vidro Death Takes a Bow, by Mo Walsh Deal With the Devil, by James Lincoln Warren Method for Murder, by Carol L. Wright

Welcome to Black Cat Weekly #15—enjoy our holiday cat cover! The magazine is coming more sharply into focus, as our acquiring editors spread out through the mystery and science fiction fields and bring new stories to our lineup. This issue, we officially welcome Cynthia M. Ward to the editorial staff. She comes bearing a gift—Nancy Kress’s excellent science fiction story, “The Art of War.” Darrell Schweitzer was supposed to be back with his second acquisition this week (a comical Esther Friesner tale) but there were problems with the text and I’ve made a last-minute executive decision to push it back an issue or two, while it’s being fixed. I’ll slip in a replacement from my own backlist, another entry in my “Slab’s Tavern” series of fantasy bar stories. Barb Goffman and Michael Bracken have acquired a pair of original tales for us. First, Barb presents “The Importance of Being Urnest,” by Eleanor Cawood Jones. Then Michael selects “Romeo and Isabella” by John M. Floyd. Great stories, both. Thanks, everyone! Here’s the complete lineup: Mysteries / Suspense / Westerns “The Writing Workshop,” by Janice Law [short story] “Romeo and Isabelle,” by John M. Floyd [short story] “Secret Santa,” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself mystery] West of Quarantine, by Todhunter Ballard [novel] “The Importance of Being Urnest,” by Eleanor Cawood Jones [short story] “Dr. Kreener’s Last Experiment,” by Sax Rohmer [short story] Science Fiction & Fantasy “Serendipity,” by Larry Tritten [short story] “The Art of War,” by Nancy Kress [short story] “Well Bottled at Slab’s,” by John Gregory Betancourt [short story] Forever We Die! by Stephen Marlowe [short novel]

Steph Cha, a rising star who brings a fresh perspective as series editor, takes the helm of the new The Best American Mystery and Suspense, with best-selling crime novelist Alafair Burke joining her as the first guest editor. "Crime writers, forgive the pun, are killing it right now creatively," writes guest editor Alafair Burke in her introduction. "It was difficult--painful even--to narrow this year's Best American Mystery and Suspense to only twenty stories." Spanning from a mediocre spa in Florida, to New York's gritty East Village, to death row in Alabama, this collection reveals boundless suspense in small, quiet moments, offering startling twists in the least likely of places. From a powerful response to hateful bullying, to a fight for health care, to a gripping desperation to vote, these stories are equal parts shocking, devastating, and enthralling, revealing the tension pulsing through our everyday lives and affirming that mystery and suspense writing is better than ever before. The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021includes JENNY BHATT- GAR ANTHONY HAYWOOD- GABINO IGLESIAS- AYA DE LEÓN- LAURA LIPPMAN DELIA C. PITTS- ALEX SEGURA- FAYE SNOWDEN- LISA UNGER and others

Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning is the latest installment of the Agatha- and Anthony-award-winning Chesapeake Crimes series. This volume features tales by: Donna Andrews Timothy Bentler-Jungr Shaun Taylor Bevins Carla Coupe Maddi Davidson Linda Ensign Barb Goffman Kim Kash Adam Meyer Alan Orloff KM Rockwood Lauren R. Silberman Marianne Wilski Strong Art Taylor Robin Templeton "The diabolical sisters of the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime have raised the stakes: not only asking their astute members to offer up a gem of a short story, but to add a degree of difficulty. It has to be about the weather.... Rain, snowstorms, hurricanes. The glare of the sun. The shrouding fog. Clouds, mist, hail, and icy roads. The Chessies have used their writerly talent to embrace the weather, to relish it, and to provide us with a raft of meteorological (and deadly) delights." -- Hank Phillippi Ryan, bestselling author of the Jane Ryland series

13 writers spin tales crime around the theme of animals. A pet groomer. A pet crow. A dog named Rasputin. Exploding cattle. Even an octopus figures in a mystery. Contributors include: Chris Grabenstein (Introduction), Shari Randall, Carla Coupe, KM Rockwood, Alan Orloff, Eleanor Cawood Jones, Robin Templeton, Barb Goffman, Marianne Wilski Strong, Linda Lombardi, Josh Pachter, Joanna Campbell Slan, Cathy Wiley, and Karen Cantwell.

This book examines how the iconic character Hannibal Lecter has been revised and redeveloped across different screen media texts. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter has become one of Western culture’s most influential and enduring models of monstrosity since his emergence in 1981 in Red Dragon, Thomas Harris’ first Lecter book. Lecter is now at the centre of an extensive cross-mediated mythology, the most recent incarnation of which is Bryan Fuller’s television program, Hannibal (NBC, 2013-2015). This acclaimed series is the focus of Hannibal Lecter’s Forms, Formulations, and Transformations, which examines how Fuller’s program harnesses the iconic character to experiment with traditional boundaries of genre, medium, taste, and narrative form. Featuring chapters from established and emerging screen and popular culture scholars from around the world, the book outlines how the show operates as a striking experiment with televisual form and formula. The book also explores how this experimentation is embodied by the boundary-defying character, the savage cannibalistic serial killer, practicing psychiatrist, and cultured art enthusiast, Hannibal Lecter. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal, Quarterly Review of Film and Video.

Following the sound of a scream, history professor Andrew Stanard comes running. In the nearby departmental bathroom at Chesapeake Bay University, a woman has been murdered. She is quickly identified as Jenny Biggio, a graduate student, and she has quite obviously been strangled. The police are quick to suspect someone in the history departmentmost notably Professor Stanards protg Brendan Healy. Everyone knows Brendan was Jennys boyfriend, but it isnt common knowledge that Jenny checked out three pregnancy books from the university library the day she was murdered. A very public confrontation between Brendan and Jenny early in the day, however, points at the boyfriends guilt, and Brendan does little to defend himself, admitting he once served time in a juvenile correctional facility. Even so, Stanard knows theres more to this case than meets the eye. He understands the cops want to solve the murder quickly to get it off the front page; in order to save Brendan, Stanard does his own digging. He comes upon several overlooked suspects, including a squirrelly pizza deliveryman, a homeless wino with a felony-prone past, and a philandering professor. The deeper he digs, the more dangerous things get; soon Professor Stanard may be the killers next target.