The short stories take readers across
countries and through time in Mystery Magazine: January 2024. The past
is the primary theme as is deceit in many different ways.
Arend Smith’s tale, “Jake Brown’s Anomalies,”
starts the issue off in a small town in Northwest Nebraska. In this tale
translated from the Dutch by Josh Pachter, Jake Brown is one of those neighbors
who spends his days watching comings and goings of others. He has a good
vantage point to see everyone ad everything they are doing. He keeps detailed
records. Those records and his observational skills will help to help clear him
of murder charges.
The idea was that he would know her
when you see her in “Spinning Monkey Thriller” by Martin Hill Ortiz. The
handler told him he would and not to worry about it. Three spoken words, and
her three-word response, will confirm that she is the right woman. Those three
words should also help him from getting caught.
Rein Werner is having a hard time
staying positive in “Something Like Happiness” by Joslyn Chase. His brother is
dead. His brother’s bar is falling apart. After his brother died, the police
force booted him from the payroll. Now all Rein does is run a slowly dying bar as
the fortunes of others are also declining. But, one night, a bar patron named
Dimas Klossner suggests a high risk business proposition that involves stealing
gold bars from Adolf Hitler.
Phobe and the narrator are locked in
a panic room in a house. The homeowner promised to come back in a few minutes
as “What The Boy Said” by Wynn Quon begins.
The cellmates are waiting for the down payment for a possible job. In the
meantime, things need to be said and clarified.
Lyle and Pooter Floyd had a plan. Go
around, steal stuff, and sell those items for big cash. They used that TV show,
Antiques Roadshow, as inspiration and research. It was a good plan as
far as it went in “Freezer Burn” by April Kelly.
He was her neighbor many years ago.
Now he thinks he has seen her in Berlin. Is it really her? Will she remember
him? Much is going on in “The Good Neighbor” by Martian Rosenstock.
The “You-Solve-It” mystery this month
is “Orange Cones and Alibis” by Kate Fellowes. Grace Chang and her friends are
reporting that several storage locker tubs that they won in m auction the day
before have been broken into and opened. Officer Klieforth is asking questions.
He also suspects one of the ladies. The answer will be revealed in the next
issue next month.
The issue closes with the solution to
the December 2023 “You-Solve-It” story, “Saved By The Belle” by John H. Dromey.
Mystery Magazine: January 2024 is another fun issue of mystery. The tales are complex, the characters interesting, and on occasion, the story ends in a positive note. A fact this reader much appreciated as he worked through these tales set in a variety of locations and time periods. The issue is a good one and continues the long history of this publication and their quality reads.
My Amazon Associate Link https://amzn.to/3UbuQIG
For quite some time now I have been
gifted a subscription by the publisher with no expectation at all of a
review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2024
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