COLD CALL by Rob Lopresti Hello? Hello. This is Namehere Publisher Service. We’re calling on behalf of Your Favorite Magazine. No, you’re not. It’s time to renew —Excuse me? I said you don’t work for the magazine. You got hold of their mailing list somehow, probably illegally, and now you’re calling up their subscribers, trying […]

UGG! by Melodie Johnson Howe I am trying to finish a short story before I leave for Vermont next week when the phone rings. It’s Lenore whom I’ll be visiting in Vermont. We have known each other since we were thirteen years old. She has called me every day with a weather report. It’s snowing, […]

CORPUS DELICTI by James Lincoln Warren A few years ago I attended Malice Domestic, the fan convention dedicated to traditional detective fiction held every year in Arlington, VA. Linda Landrigan had arranged to have me seated at Alfred Hitchcock‘s table at the awards banquet. The other guests were wonderful: I had the pleasure of being […]

COURTING DISASTER by Leigh Lundin Late one Sunday, I had been remodeling an apartment off Orlando’s South Trail which has, to put it delicately, a colorful reputation for hookers and strip clubs. Working for me was a neighborhood kid, a reprobate Jinx who has a way of attracting disasters. A little after nine that night, […]

Barry will be with us for another few weeks. We are delighted to have him! READING THE CORNERSTONES by Barry T. Zeman Last installment time I promised to outline some of the H-Q titles that are underappreciated books you will definitely want to read. They do not have the notoriety or popularity of the literary […]