DICTION COP POLICE BLOTTER NEWS by James Lincoln Warren Lake Superior State University is a modest institution of higher learning located in scenic Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, directly across St. Mary’s River (i.e., the channel connecting Lake Superior and Lake Huron) from scenic Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. They inform me that— “Lake Superior State University […]

A SHORT TALE by Leigh Lundin This morning when I planned to shower, an anole arrived before me. I opened the window and there he was, inside the screen, glaring at me. When I reached for him, he scampered up the screen, inside the glass. He was a juvenile, his tiny body less than 1-1/2 […]

SPELLBOUND by John M. Floyd I sometimes agree to help with or conduct projects — workshops, anthologies, classes, contests, etc. — that involve reading other writers’ stories and making decisions based on (or providing feedback about) the quality of their manuscripts. These experiences have served to remind me of a persistent problem some of us […]

A HUNDRED AND NINETY-TWO by Steve Steinbock A Hundred and ninety-two. That’s the number of pages in the current Double Issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (September/ October 2009). I mentioned it last week, only briefly. At the time, with my regular subscription copy a few thousand miles away, I’d just procured a copy at […]

HOURLY RATES? by Deborah Elliott-Upton Chegg rents books for 60 days, by the quarter or semester. When I stumbled upon this website, my interest was piqued. At first, I assumed these were text books only, but in a quick search I found that The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century could be rented for […]

INCIDENT IN TACOMA by Rob Lopresti Here is a sort of mystery story, about a very famous mystery story. I’ll be interested to see if you figure out the destination before we get there. Michael S. Sullivan has a terrific article in the Spring issue of Columbia, a magazine about Northwest history. He tells us […]

My friend David Beckwith is the author of the nonfiction book A New Day in the Delta, released earlier this year by The University of Alabama Press. He and his wife Nancy live in Florida — Vero Beach and Key West — and one of the many things I like about them is that they […]