Short Fiction
All the short stories immediately below (the small icons) are available as individual eBooks, from Amazon.com:
The Unwanted Guest, an historical short story featuring Bess of Hardwick and Mary, Queen of Scots.
EQMM March / April 2025
January / February 2025: "Cold Cases" in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine
"Pride of Cucamonga," September 2024 in Friend of the Devil, ed. Josh Pachter.
My story, "Pride of Cucamonga," appears in the Grateful Dead anthology Friend of the Devil edited by Josh Pachter. Publication date: September 2024.
UPDATE May 2025: Friend of the Devil is nominated for a 2025 Anthony Award for Best Anthology.
A further Magdalene Duchateau story, "The Get-Well Gift," is coming from EQMM in September / October 2025. Magdalene is a sleuth generally "at large" in 1930s London, with the help of her son-in-law, Hewitt. Learn more about Magdalene and Hewitt at the EQMM blog, "Something is Going to Happen."
"Fear of Missing Out" appeared August 2024 in the Midsummer Mysteries anthology from the Crime Writers Association, edited by Martin Edwards.
"One of the most riveting stories in the collection" ~ KRISTOPHER ZGORSKI
Nominated for a 2023 Derringer and EQMM Readers Award, "Something Blue," the story of a destination wedding gone wrong, is featured on the cover of the November / December 2022 issue of EQMM.
On the cover of the May / June 2023 issue of EQMM: "The Pact," a Magdalene Duchateau mystery. This story was shortlisted for the 2024 EQMM Readers Award.
A traditional novella mystery set in between-the-wars London, starring amateur sleuth Magdalene Duchateau.
A ski holiday turns deadly in Whiteout, finalist for the Macavity and Ellery Queen Readers Awards.
The Bartender, a short tale of greed.
A brief tale of murder, set in Santa Fe.
"The White Star," a Magdalene Duchateau story, appears in the July/Aug 2021 issue of EQMM. It was a 2022 Macavity Award nominee.
May/June 2021 EQMM issue with announcement of 2020 Readers Choice Awards, a list which includes my Magdalene novella, A Murder at Morehead Mews.
There are more short stories to come. In addition to Amazon's "Agony Aunt" and three other stories (see linked images above), look for "Something Blue" in November/December 2022 and "The Pact" in May/June 2023, both from Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.
July/August 2021: My short story "The White Star" appears in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. It's a Magdalene Duchateau story. Magdalene, an amateur sleuth, is a widow living in England between the wars.
April 2022 update: "The White Star" made the shortlist for Dell Publishing's Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine 2021 Readers Award. In July 2022 it was nominated for a Macavity Award.
May/June 2021: My 2020 novella "A Murder at Morehead Mews" made the shortlist in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine's Readers Choice Awards.
April 1, 2021: My short story was nominated for a Derringer Award in the Best Novelette category. "A Murder at Morehead Mews" appeared in the July/August 2020 edition of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.
November 2020: "Blunt Cake" was one of three winners of the Flashwords short-short story competition at the New England Crimebake conference.
September 2020: Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine will publish my new short story, "The White Star," in an upcoming issue, continuing the adventures of famed amateur sleuth Magdalene Duchateau. Magdalene, a widow from France, lived in Great Britain between the wars. This marks the fourth Magdalene story; a fifth is underway. She will eventually star in her own collection or full-length novel.
April 2020: My short story “Whiteout” came in third place in the 2019 Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Award poll. It is the story of a man who sees more than may be good for him when he's sidelined by a skiing accident. In July 2020 it was nominated for a Macavity Award for Best Short Story.
The authors of the top-ranked stories gave their Readers Award acceptance speeches virtually this year. Here is a YouTube link to remarks from Janet Hutchings, Linda Landrigan, Jackie Sherbow, and Dell Magazines publisher Peter Kanter, along with the winners' acceptance speeches. The ceremony was virtual since the coronavirus prevented us from gathering in New York at the Edgar Awards.
 EQMM July/August 2020 edition with cover story, "A Murder at Morehead Mews."
"A Murder at Morehead Mews" appears in the July/August 2020 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. This cover story continues the adventures of amateur sleuth Magdalene Duchateau, who made her debut in The Strand Magazine (see below).
Magdalene's saga continues in a just-completed fifth story.  EQMM March/April 2018 editiion with "Victory Garden"
"Whiteout," January/February 2019, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Shortlisted in the EQMM Readers Award poll and nominated for a Macavity Award.
"Maui: The Road to Hana," September/October 2018, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. "Victory Garden," March/April 2018, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.  "Mad About You" in the
13th Malice Domestic anthology.
"Mad About You," in which an American couple on a "roots search" in England witness a crime, appears in the 2018 short story anthology Mystery Most Geographical.
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 Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March/April 2017
My short story "The Oxford Tarts," set at the University of Oxford in the early 20th century, appears in the March/April 2017 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Below is the EQMM podcast of me reading the story.
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Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, January 2014
Two of my short stories were published during the winter of 2013-2014: "Yuletide," in The Strand Magazine (October 2013--see image below) and "Home for the Holidays," in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (January 2014).
My story, "The Bartender," appears in the mystery anthology CHESAPEAKE CRIMES II. Editors: Donna Andrews and Maria Lima. The anthology received four nominations for Agatha awards.
"The Lockbox," appears in CHESAPEAKE CRIMES 3 with a forward by Sujata Massey.
And my story, "Bookworm," appears in CHESAPEAKE CRIMES 4: They Had It Comin' with a forward by Katherine Neville. "Bookworm" was nominated for a 2011 Macavity Award for best short story.
My story, "The Bartender," appears in the mystery anthology CHESAPEAKE CRIMES II. Editors: Donna Andrews and Maria Lima. The anthology received four nominations for Agatha awards.
"The Lockbox," appears in CHESAPEAKE CRIMES 3 with a forward by Sujata Massey.
And my story, "Bookworm," appears in CHESAPEAKE CRIMES 4: They Had It Comin' with a forward by Katherine Neville. "Bookworm" was nominated for a 2011 Macavity Award for best short story.
The Strand Magazine, Oct. 2013
"Yuletide," the debut of amateur sleuth Magdalene Duchateau, is a cover story in The Strand Magazine, October 2013 issue.