News Digest

Shadow of Doubt by Mary Wickizer Burgess

The British edition of Mary Wickizer Burgess’ latest Gail Brevard mystery, Shadow of Doubt, is out from Lynford Mystery. Meanwhile, the US version is available from Wildside Press, along with other books in the series.

The Winter 2020 newsletter from Paul D. Marks includes news about his coming novel: The Blues Don’t Care, notice of three new interviews/articles, including his discussion of the Bunker Hill series from Ellery Queen in The Digest Enthusiast No. 11, a little history lesson on La La Land, Noirville with Nat King Cole, What’s Next, and Dog Tails. Subscribe at PaulDMarks.com

Robert Lopresti highlights an intriguing story, “Murderer Bill” by John Grant, in the Jan. 2020 Mystery Weekly Magazine over at Little Big Crimes.

Just out is the new issue of Pulp Adventures, No. 34, with classic pulp fiction by William Decatur and a Hollywood Detective yarn by Robert Leslie Bellem. There’s new pulp fiction by William M. Hope, Logan Robichaud, Charles Burgess, Adam Beau McFarlane, Patti Boeckman & Sharla Wilkins, and Ron Riekki. Plus a Dan Turner comics adventure by Bellem and Adolphe Barreaux. PA is published by Rich Harvey and edited by Audrey Parente from Bold Venture. Print $9.95

Analog interviews Douglas F. Dluzen about his story “Welcome to the New You: Terms and Conditions for the iCRISPR Gene-Editing Kit” in the current issue. The Astounding Analog Companion

Auston Habershaw on “Three Gowns for Clara” F&SF blog.

Matthew X. Gomez reviews Occult Detective Magazine No. 6 at EconoClashReview.com

Michael Bracken exposes his life of crime over at SleuthSayers.com.

Mark SaFranko shares his thoughts “From the Short Story to the Big Screen” over at Something is Going to Happen.

John Boston reviews Amazing Stories March 1965 at GalacticJourney.org

Michael Neno reviews The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells on Goodreads.

Rick McCollum shared his WIP with Ken Meyer, Jr. over at Ink Stains this week. If you only click on one link from this week’s digest, make it this one!

Thanks to Chuck Carter for posting a link to this Forbes article on SF and Fantasy magazines’ readership in 2020.

Pulp Literature February 2020 e-news includes an offer for ARCs of Allaigna’s Song: Aria by J.M. Landels, The Muse Retreats for writers, author news, Contest deadlines, and much more. Read it here.

J.T. Yost announced Birdcage Bottom Books 2020 lineup Kickstarter campaign.

James Reasoner called The Digest Enthusiast No. 11 “a spectacular issue” on Rough Edges this week, and Walker Martin commented he wished “it was bi-monthly.” If you’re not already a regular reader of Reasoner’s blog it’s one of life’s daily pleasures, and Martin often adds to the fun.

Jim Main is launching a new mini comic called Brain Freeze (logo art by Marc Haines). The first issue will include a two-page comic by Bob Vojtko rebooting an adventure of Rocket Roach and Radar. Watch this space for availability.

Readin’ ’n Writin’
Alec Cizak and I have been busy working on the next Pulp Modern. Still no firm publication date, but we’re about one-third through production. Rick McCollum is lined up for the cover and Ran Scott will illustrate the stories. Next submission window will be one day, February 23, 2020. Keep an eye on Pulp Modern’s Facebook page for the official announcement.

One of Birdcage Bottom Books 2019 releases was Rooftop Stew by Max Clotfelter, which I read earlier this week. J.R. Williams’ blurb sez it all: “HA, ha! I just love Clotfelter’s weird, gnarly drawings and sick, twisted stories… enjoy this book now, before the final apocalypse brings a sudden, merciful end to this troubled world…”

Also read the Feb. 1957 issue of Michael Shayne Mystery Magazine. A diverse collection of crime stories: smart, screwball comedy by Veronica P. Johns; three solid deductive procedurals by Lee E. Wells, Jay Carroll, and Robert O’Neil Bristow; the suspense of abduction by Samuel W. Taylor, alternative realities by Henry Slesar, Robert Bloch, and Frank Kane; and the opening salvo of Brett Halliday’s Mike Shayne novel, Weep for a Blond Corpse. I’m reviewing this issue and the two that follow for either Peter Enfantino’s reboot of bare*bones magazine or The Digest Enthusiast No. 13.

From the Vault
True Crime Detective Winter 1953

True Crime Detective Vol. 2 No. 5 Winter 1953
Contents Page
Frank Mullady “The Wanton Murder of Arnold Schuster”
Edmund Pearson “The Day of Floradora”
J. Francis McComas “Until Your are Dead”
F. Tennyson Jesse “Murder in the King’s Household”
H.B. Irving “The Strange Case of Euphrasie Mercier”
Verdict of Two: a book review department by the Editors
Stuart Palmer “Once Aboard the Lugger”
Miriam Allen deFord “The Murderer was a Lady”
Index to Volume One and Two
Ad for The Book of Wit & Humor (Mercury Publications)

Publisher: Lawrence E. Spivak
Editors: Anthony Boucher, J. Francis McComas
General Manager: Joseph W. Ferman
Managing Editor: Robert P. Mills
Advisory Editor: Charles Angoff
Consulting Editor: Edward D. Radin
Art Director: George Salter
Cover: Dirone Photography from “Murder in the King’s Household”
5.5” x 7.75” 128 pages 35¢

The new Mystery Weekly Magazine Feb. 2020 was released on the first. Included are stories by Arthur Davis, Jeff H., Jill Hand, Anthony Lowe, Susan Oleksiw, Eric B. Ruark, and Michael Wells. MWM is edited by Kerry Carter and published by Chuck Carter. Cover by Robin Grenville-Evans. The 82-page print edition is $6.99, Kindle $2.99.

Kieran Shea decides to “Shake It Up” at EQMM’s blog Something is Going to Happen.

A.J. Ward joins Analog’s 90th anniversary celebration with “1942 and the Power of Names” at The Astounding Analog Companion blog.

Alex Irvine discusses his story “Chisel and Crime” with F&SF.

Tough Crime features William R. Soldan’s fiction “King of the Blue Rose” and SleuthSayers features Robert Lopresti’s story “Shot By Your Partner” part one and part two.

J.D. Graves reviews Norco ’80 by Peter Houlahan over at EconoClash Review.

Tony Gleeson and I connected on Facebook, which led to an interview that will be included in The Digest Enthusiast No. 12. He sent a nice collection of scans, so his comments will be well illustrated.

I read the first edition of Amazing Selects this week, featuring Allen Steele’s novella “Captain Future in Love.” It’s the first part of a larger story: The Return of Ul Quorn, which is the follow-on to his novel Avengers of the Moon. Look for my review in TDE12, coming in June 2020.

Also coming up is a piece on Ray Palmer’s Science Stories, an interim title that ran for four issues after he sold his interest in Clark Publishing which had published Other Worlds. It is, in effect, a short-lived continuation of that title.

The mailing of contributor copies of TDE11 wrapped up this week, and Michael Neno gave us a shoutout on Facebook. Michael contributed a beautiful illustration for the late Joe Wehrle, Jr.’s story “Zymurgy for Aliens.”

Collectors of comics and digest magazines may want to check out by storefront in eBay: Arkay37’s Vintage Collectables If I do say so myself, the prices are bargains.

From the Vault
True Crime Detective Fall 1952

The inside front cover features a full-page ad for the magazine with actor Ralph Bellamy extolling it’s virtues.

“The many detective parts I’ve played have naturally made me somewhat of a student of criminology. For a long time I wished for a magazine that would present true crime cases in a straight-forward, exciting way—but without sensationalism and trick photography. When True Crime Detective came along I knew I had my wish!”

True Crime Detective Vol. 2 No. 4 Fall 1952
Contents Page
The Borderlands of Sanity:
—Miriam Allen deFord “1. The Case of Leopold and Loeb”
—Anthony Boucher “2. The Case of Neville Heath”
Joseph Henry Jackson “Give a Man a Horse”
Frank Mullady “Murderers on the Loose”
Edward D. Radin: Here’s the Answer (readers’ crime-related Q&A)
Janet Flanner “The Murder in Le Mans”
Lenore Glen Offord “The Red Barn Revisited”
Edgar Lustgarten “The Trial of William Herbert Wallace”

Publisher: Lawrence E. Spivak
Editors: Anthony Boucher, J. Francis McComas
General Manager: Joseph W. Ferman
Managing Editor: Robert P. Mills
Advisory Editor: Charles Angoff
Consulting Editor: Edward D. Radin
Art Director: George Salter
Cover: Dirone Photography from “The Case of Neville Heath”
5.5” x 7.75” 128 pages 35¢

News Digest Feb. 14, 2020

News Digest Feb. 8, 2020