A Word From the Editor
JANUARY 2015 Frigid temps. Who needs 'em? This weather is not my favorite, though I know people who love the change in seasons and can't wait for temperatures to drop. They're all certifiable. But that's another story. We're coming up on a couple of anniversaries: March will mark the tenth …
Stories
Heartache. Josie knew what that was, and she'd been trying to avoid it for two years now. Two years, four months and twenty-seven days. Then he walked back into her life. She hadn't known that her heart could hurt any more than it already did. Not only hurt, but pick …
Stories
Some people deserve to die. I know first hand after watching my sister and her kids get beat up by that deadbeat husband of hers. I remember arresting him a few days after the fire. They didn’t want me involved, but there was no way they were going to keep …
Stories
When the Fun Fades to Black I'm writing this column a few days after USA Network's announcement it was canceling spy series Covert Affairs after five seasons. Meanwhile, White Collar, starring Tim DeKay and Matt Bomer as an FBI agent-informant pairing, ended with a six-episode sixth season. The cable networks …
Stories
“Baby, what are you worried about?” Mickey, in the lounge chair, took a sip of his Bloody Mary, white chest hair peeking from the neck of his lime green golf shirt. The air was like crystal and a breeze raised ripples on the lake that began at the edge of …
Stories
The night, with its streetlights and traffic lights, the tavern neon and bar signs advertising Northern Premium Beer and other vanished brews, was kinder to downtown Superior than daylight. Morning featured a taint throughout the city: a paucity of trees other than winter-hardy conifers; low, empty storefronts with FOR LEASE …
Stories
Episode One in the Copper and Goldie Mysteries It was only the third major case Detective Sam Nahoe had caught since making lieutenant six weeks earlier. His birth name was actually “Kamuela,” Hawaiian for “Samuel.” He appreciated it, but as a police officer he felt it sometimes got in the …
Stories
The willow-oak tree that stood near my side door threw its acorns every other year. And it was during the fall of one of these years that, as I was fixing dinner, the telephone rang. The subsequent conversation was accompanied by the sounds of acorns striking the metal awning. The …
Stories
It was getting along towards nones when there came a knock at the door of Trimalchio’s domus. As his secretary, footman, and general assistant, it fell to me to answer it, especially as Trimalchio would be busy for a while yet. You could never tell who or what you would …
Stories
As a math professor, I never expected to stumble upon a dead body in a department office, to say nothing of the events that have transpired since. But there was no mistaking Gallagher's bloody corpse, lying behind his desk, shot three times in the head and chest. Gallagher and I …
Book Excerpt
NOVEL EXCERPT: Chapter 1 His pretty hands tied a thin nylon rope around her wrists. As her hands came together, he gave an extra pull, knowing it would hurt. Tara Samuels refused to give him the satisfaction of a whimper, but her breath caught in her throat just the same. …
Columns
Celebrating the 10th with 10 New Mysteries! Hard to believe, it’s been 10 years since Joe DeMarco took the helm at Mysterical-E. And sixteen years since it went online to begin with. I haven’t been writing this column that long, but since we’re marking a decade, here are 10 …
Columns
Cats, days, numbers, and all that As I write this, in January of 2015, it is still easy to remember that last month, on the thirteenth day of the month, a number of people did a number of important things (such as marrying) because the day was auspicious, since it …
Columns
When the Fun Fades to Black I'm writing this column a few days after USA Network's announcement it was canceling spy series Covert Affairs after five seasons. Meanwhile, White Collar, starring Tim DeKay and Matt Bomer as an FBI agent-informant pairing, ended with a six-episode sixth season. The cable …
Interviews
R. Lawson Gamble was born in Morristown, New Jersey into a family of pioneers. His grandmother was raised in a sod home a mile from the Laura Ingalls Wilder little house on the prairie, and his grandfather was raised along the Oregon Trail. Rich himself has traveled widely and climbed …
Interviews
Thonie Hevron was born in San Francisco and raised in Marin County. After college, she worked for the San Rafael Police Department. Thonie remained in law enforcement for 35 years, retiring in 2011. She writes thrillers using her experience to create a rich and textured understanding of the life of …
