A Word From the Editor
It's been a while. The pandemic and the concomitant lock-downs took a bite out of our focus and concentration and delayed the publication of this issue. But, as normalcy returns, so does Mysterical-E. This issue has some great stories, some wonderful features and reviews, and finds the prolific, award-winning short …
Stories
Benny surveyed the strip mall in the car's headlights. The jewelry store was straight ahead of him and he could see a novelty toy store next to it and a coin shop on the other side of that. He watched the security guard on the walkway in front of the …
Stories
Sheriff Lucy Valentine exited the post office just in time to see Hubie Johnson stapling a campaign flyer to a park bench on the other side of the street. The sheriff stuffed her mail into a pocket and shouted at him, but Hubie and his stack of flyers were already …
Stories
When Jane Howard found Tomas’s dead body lying in front of the gate leading out of their mooring, she was shocked, of course. You don’t set out on an early morning walk and find one of your neighbours lying flat on his back, rope wrapped tightly around his neck, without …
Stories
Linda and her stepmother glared at each other across the breakfast table. "You're just like Cinderella's stepmother, you know that?" Linda's hands trembled as she set her coffee cup down. She pushed aside her plate with the half-eaten scrambled eggs and toast. "And you're the ugly stepsisters. All combined," Mindy …
Stories
The Third Monkey – A Gil Tanner Mystery
First, let’s dispense with the introductions, if you even care. I’m a private detective in a large city east of the Mississippi. Which one doesn’t matter, unless you’re trying to get out of the place. They look alike when the cold, gray sky can’t seem to decide between darkness and …
Stories
From the air, the high plains of eastern Colorado look flat as a pancake, and mostly they are. But people who live out there know that the place has some major wrinkles. They also know these are places to be avoided when the weather comes down. Deputy George Tanaka had …
Book Excerpt
DRAMA TV (the 13th Nicky and Noah mystery) by JOE COSENTINO Book Blurb: It’s winter break at Treemeadow College, and Theatre professors and spouses Nicky Abbondanza and Noah Oliver, their best friends Martin and Ruben, and their sons Taavi and Ty are starring in a television pilot for the Nicky …
Columns
Mysterical-Eye GETTING BACK TO IT
As the world contended with COVID-19 the past nearly two years, I lost interest in current TV, not wanting to get involved with shows only to be left hanging by COVID-related delays. With vaccination ramping up, my interest has returned, yet I find the new shows I'm interested in are …
Columns
With Winter bearing down on us, it's time to restock your TBR piles and hunker down with some good stories while the cold and snow make the outdoors miserable Author Donald J. Bingle based his Dick Thornby Thriller series on the idea that “spies can be regular people who deal …
Columns
This feature started in February of 2019, so we’ve published a few of these now. I hope you like reading these as much as I do. It’s fun to compile the results and see them side by side. We’re all so different, but we all get to the same place. …
Interviews
Interview with a Reader: Rebecca Gomez
Rebecca Gomez has been an avid reader since early childhood. Books have always been important to her, and they have greatly enhanced her life. She particularly enjoys and celebrate books that reflect a high degree of literary art and whose writers supply inspiration, vision, or knowledge. Rebecca reads a wide …
Interviews
Interview with a Reader: Allen Kohen
Allen Kohen has been reading since he was four and books have always been a significant part of his life. BMH: How important is a book cover to you? AK: Not that much, although now and then I’m drawn to look further when the cover catches my eye. BMH: What …
Reviews
Book Review: One of Us by Lorie Lewis Ham
In this well plotted mystery, children’s book author Roxi Carlucci must start over after her publisher drops her book series. She decides to pack up and, along with her pet rat Merlin, she moves in with her cousin, P.I. Stephen Carlucci, in Fresno, CA. One good thing about her …
Reviews
Justice for All: Murder New York Style 5, recently released by Level Best Books. was conceived during a time of great political, social, and physical turmoil. The United States had just come out of its most contentious election in decades; a global pandemic threatened the lives of the world …
