THE LOST OASIS by James Lincoln Warren Today the United States is speckled with so-called convenience stores, the most famous of which is 7-11, but including Circle-K, Stop’n’Go, and of course, the fictional Kwik-E Mart of “The Simpsons” fame. A couple blocks away from my condo in L.A., there’s a convenience store called the K7 […]

WHOREABLE MISTAKE by Leigh Lundin Mrs. Spitzer By now, even Osama bin Ladin in the mountains of Afghanistan knows about the unfortunate Eliot Spitzer. It’s not my intention to constantly play the contrarian, but once again, I find myself at variance with public opinion. For days on end, I’ve listened to television, radio, and newspapers […]

I LIKE SHORT SHORTS by John M. Floyd I recently sent in a third-person bio that contained the words “short story writer John Floyd.” After hitting the SEND key, it occurred to me that I probably should have included a hyphen: At six feet four, I’m not a short story writer, I’m a short-story writer. […]

THE DETECTIVE STORY DECALOGUE by Steven Steinbock (with a little help from Ronald A. Knox) As some of you know, in my other life, I teach and write about Jewish stuff. When explaining my two careers, I sometimes joke that I tried to leave religion for a life of crime. I sometimes get strange reactions […]

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? Deborah Elliott-Upton In her Tuesday column, Melodie touched on how each of the Criminal Briefers were different in their pacing practices. The same goes to another vital distinction among writers: our voice. Voice can be defined as personality on the page. As a Personality Trainer with CLASServices, I am fascinated […]

Readers may notice that the “Log in” page has changed from featuring the Criminal Brief visual theme to the generic WordPress login screen. This is because as a countermeasure against spambots, I have now made it a requirement for new users to provide a first and last name when they register, and I haven’t yet […]

DEPARTMENT OF ODDER SOCKS by Robert Lopresti If you read only one federal court appellate decision this month (yeah, I know, you forgot your new year resolution to read two a week, didn’t you?) make it this one. It tells the fascinating story of four college students who came up with the caper of a […]