A Word From the Editor
It's difficult to believe that it's been over ten years since that March 2005 issue. That was the first issue I published after I took the helm at Mysterical-E in 2004 -- it took a while to assemble a staff and solicit stories but we did it in record time. …
Stories
“I want her dead.” He leaned across the expanse of his desk and stared at the man across from him. “She’s a young girl. What could she have possibly done that she deserves to die?” He ran his hand through what remained of his hair. Maybe the next time he …
Stories
Over the relentless clatter of the London-bound train, the conductor said loudly, his voice lacking the deference appropriate to the inquisition of a passenger in a first-class compartment, “Are you Mr. Brownlow?” Oliver, his mind still full of the ancient church silver he’d spent the afternoon appraising down in Basingstoke, …
Stories
It would have been easier just to kill him, but that really isn’t my style. I approached the Bakas Club at the corner of Fort and Brush, right in the heart of Greektown, at around nine. The tall one made me right away and spread the word. Panos was still …
Stories
Peggy Maynard had seen the portrait only once. Her husband, Will, had his back to her and hadn’t seen her come into the basement. He’d been busy cleaning brushes while working in his studio, a euphemism for the grungy basement he’d converted into an artist’s hideout. She’d come downstairs to …
Stories
Episode Two in the Copper and Goldie Mysteries Sam reached out and stroked his lady friend’s long sun-colored hair as she sat across from him in her own spiffy seatbelt harness. His unlikely companion rode along in the passenger seat beside him as he drove taxi fares all over the …
Stories
Poetic Justice (Apologies to E.A.P.)
My guest and I had finished a delicious dinner, and were enjoying our cigars and a fine bottle of wine. He held his glass up to the light and remarked, "This sherry certainly has a unique, deep-amber color and an exceptional bouquet." "Yes, it's a favorite here in Jeréz de …
Stories
At 10:10 a.m., I waddled into the glass Miami government building, tucking my white nylon long-sleeve shirt into my pants, with my file flapping out of my mouth like the beak of a duck. I didn’t always look this pathetic. “Morning, I’m here to see the agents who issued these …
Stories
That woman needs to be dead. Just look at her. She’s so fat her butt hangs over both sides of the chair. Even her elbows look obese. I can’t believe it’s the likes of her that stands between me and my well-deserved promotion. And she’s obviously completely unaware of how …
Stories
“Name.” “Pensinger.” “First name.” “Powell.” “Powell Pensinger?” “You asked.” “Date of birth.” “May six, sixty-three.” “Occupation?” “Baby.” “I mean now.” “Private investigator.” “And you came to see a private investigator?” “Birds of a feather.” “Nature of your visit.” “I lost something.” “And you can't find it yourself?” “More fun this …
Columns
When Mysterical-E editor Joe De Marco mentioned Spring 2015 marks the tenth anniversary of his becoming editor of the site, I decided to take this column to explore character arcs over ten seasons or more on two of my favorite current crime dramas, NCIS and Bones. The first big change …
Columns
From Government Worker to Agatha Nominated Novelist Terrie Farley Moran Congratulations to Terrie for winning the Agatha Award for Best First Mystery! This issue I’m talking to Terrie Farley Moran, author of the “Read ‘Em and Eat” series published by Berkley Prime Crime. Moran also had the honor of having the …
Columns
This is the sixteenth anniversary of Mysterical-E’s existence. Well, sort of, anyhow. Our Editor, Joseph De Marco, stepped in and rescued the web-zine from impending doom when the previous editor, Denise Baton, decided to step down, just over ten years ago at the end of 2004. My first column for …
Interviews
An Interview with: Serita Stevens
Serita Stevens is a psychiatric nurse and published author of over 32 books, stories and screenplays. She has also written two non-fiction books. The Book of Poisons, a how to guide for writers on the art of killing your victims correctly and the Forensic Nurse which shows how nurses help …
Interviews
Tom Coffey was born and raised in Staten Island. He graduated from the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University, and embarked on a career in journalism. He has worked as a writer and editor at some of America's leading newspapers, the Miami Herald, the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner and New …
Reviews
Boystown 7: Bloodlines by Marshall Thornton This is the seventh in the Boystown Mystery series. It’s the 1980s and P.I. Nick Nowak finds himself simultaneously working two cases for his new client, law firm Cooke, Babcock and Lackerby. After a dentist is convicted of murdering her adulterous husband, Nick is …
