Mystery Magazine: June 2024

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 this issue ★ ✓ In our cover story, “Sky Pirate Of The Golden Age” by Eric Cline, a young boy becomes a unique eyewitness to a legendary crime. The skyjacker Robin Skye was never caught. But one witness saw him, truly saw him in more ways than one. And, more importantly, HEARD him.✓ “Friends” by David Bill and Jason are friends, and one of them dated one of the victims the night she was murdered. But it all works out in the end. At least for one of them.✓ “They Always Took Longer” by Andrew After freelance courier Mercury Carter is hired to escort a climate change whistle-blower with a target on his back across the country, Carter encounters dangerous—but unexpected—complications.✓ In “Death And Deception At The Codwall Inn” by Denise Johnson, a former district attorney, attending a wedding at an Upstate New York venue, finds himself the unwitting investigator of the bride's untimely death.✓ In “Gate Of Hades” by Robert Lopresti, American tourists on a tour of Southern Greece have an unsettling experience at the traditional gate of Hades. A strange death follows.✓ “Swimming With Sharks” by Bond Gordon Stark enlists the help of his third wife’s tennis instructor to ease her out of the picture so he can pursue wife number four. What he eases himself out of is half his fortune.✓ “A Shock To The System,” A You-Solve-It by John M. Frances and Lucy Valentine team up again to solve a food poisoning incident. Can you help decipher the clues?✓ Solution to May’s You-Solve-ItA Failure To Communicate by John H. Dromey Custom Cover Art By Robin Grenville Evans