Short Story Wednesday Review: Flash And Bang: A Short Mystery Fiction Society Anthology Edited by J. Alan Hartman

From the massive archive…

 

After watching the success of anthologies from other writers groups have had in recent months, the members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society embarked on their own anthology. Over three hundred entries were whittled down to the final nineteen tales showcased in the book. Variety is the key in Flash And Bang: A Short Mystery Fiction Society Anthology. Edited by J. Alan Hartman, the read features tales that cross time as well as space in terms of geographic locations.

 

After a short introduction by current SMFS President Jan Christensen, it is on to the stories. Herschel Cozine leads things off with his flash tale “The Perfect Crime.”  Imagine, if you will, all of the great fictional detectives gathered together to discuss one case.

 

Bobbie A. Chukran comes next with “The Conflagration at the Nameless Cotton Gin.” The title easily enough explains what happened, but the why of the event is a bit more complicated.

 

“Murder on Elm Street” by Su Kopil comes next with a tale where a power outage on a brutally cold night drives nearby neighbors to the one house that has power. It is fitting on a night such as this that it is time for a twenty-two year old cold case to be finally solved.

 

P. A. Devoe takes readers back in time to a China of long ago in “Fireworks (From Judge Lu’s Ming Dynasty Case Files)". During the annual celebration of the monk Li Tian and his invention of fireworks, Lu is informed there has been a death at the nearby shop of the Lie brothers out on Xiao Di Road. The accident requires the immediate attention and investigation by Judge Lu.

 

Receiving unwanted attention from a bag lady is not a good thing. Even if she does give good advice in “The Bag Lady” by Laurie Stevens.

 

The chaos of a rapidly moving wildfire might be the perfect time to murder someone and get away with it. Tim Wohlforth examines the possibilities in “Sierra Noir.”

 

The Vikings have harnessed steam power in this alternative history mystery titled “Thor’s Breath” by Suzanne Berube Rorhus. It is the year of the Christian Lord 627, and this small area of coastal Norway has one mechanical healer by the name of Hamarr. He is possession of a magical new material from the Far East that has wonderfully intriguing possibilities if it can be harnessed.

 

Debbie and her companion, Arthur, have a job to do at Detweiller Industries. “Arthur” by Sandra Murphy is a clever and fun story that takes a little while to figure out.

 

The morning after is rough for Keith in “Fractured Memories” by Julie Tollefson. Andrea’s latest Fourth of July party was a real blast and Keith is paying the price. Somebody else paid a far bigger price due to last night’s events in this complicated tale.

 

A hostage situation that is gradually getting worse is at work in “Don’t Let the Cop into the House” by O’Neil De Noux. The small brick home in Lakeview was flooded during Katrina and was put back together. Somehow the police now have to save homeowner Mike Agrippa, who is drowning in his own way.

 

When men want protection money the elderly grandmother has few choices in “Rosie’s Choice” by John M. Floyd. These are not the kind of customers she needs in the store the day before Independence Day.

 

Readers again go back in time in the next story. “Don’t Be Cruel” by Joanne Lucas takes readers to June 1957 in Fresno, California where Homicide Detective Frank Ransom has a new case. Ransom thinks of movies quite a lot and sees the world as a movie scenario. Before he can make it all fade to black he needs to figure out who killed the woman in the diner and why.

 

Brigid Morgan is the client and she claims somebody is blackmailing her over some very adult pictures that were taken 15 years ago. As the new CEO of an internet search engine company she knows that once she starts paying it will never end in “A Simple Job” by Andrew MacRae. She has a plan and first she needs the identity of the blackmailer.

 

Twenty years later, Carly is back to the Quick ‘N Slow Diner located close to the nearby cabins. As a child, she came there with her family when they rented out one of the cabins. In trying to find herself, Carly unwittingly finds much more about others in “Beautiful Killer” by Judy Penz Sheluk.

 

Being a hooker is a tough job, but finding your client dead in a bed is a real problem. So too is the female already in the room in “The Fruit of Thy Loins” by Albert Tucher. Good thing Diana can fight and knows at least one good cop.

 

The small town of Sentry, Texas is the location for “The Raymond Chandler Con” by Earl Staggs. Murder is not supposed to happen in a small town such as Sentry, which is why Police Chief Harry Phillips left the job in Dallas and came here. The murder victim’s best friend, Martha Robinson, has no police experience, but she reads a lot of mysteries. She has an idea how to solve the case with or without Harry’s help.

 

No one ever takes notice of the janitor as he or she goes about doing a very necessary job. The person doing the cleaning blends into the background. Such is the case here in “The Wrong Girl” by Barb Goffman, where the janitor overhears a plot by three teens at an elite private school.

 

It has been three weeks, the ransom was paid quite some time ago, and the child still has not been returned in “Silent Measures” by BV Lawson. Scott Drayco, a private consultant, has been brought in to help find the boy who vanished from his boarding school.

 

A tale translated by Willem Verhulst is the final entry in the anthology. “A Day Like No Other” by Walter A. P. Soethoudt follows a Lieutenant Belloc as he goes through his day in Antwerp while thinking about the past and the many changes in the city.

 

Short author bios for the contributors bring the read to a close.

 

While not every story in the book is an actual obvious mystery, all of the stories have a mystery at the core. Some are more mysteries of the mind where characters think about their past actions and the resulting ramifications, while other tales are very much in the moment where one can smell the blood on the floor and the cordite in the air. Filled with interesting tales of complicated characters dealing with events in their lives, Flash And Bang: A Short Mystery Fiction Society Anthology brings a pleasant read by way of a variety of stories. As in other anthologies, each reader will have his or her own personal favorites among the 170 pages, but all the tales presented are good ones in their own way.

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4ipEuAl

 

While I am a writer as well as a member of the Short Mystery Fiction Society, I did not submit a story for this anthology. Material supplied by the publisher in exchange for my objective review.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2015, 2022

FFB Review: Flash And Bang: A Short Mystery Fiction Society Anthology Edited by J. Alan Hartman

From the massive archive…

 

After watching the success of anthologies from other writers groups have had in recent months, the members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society embarked on their own anthology. Over three hundred entries were whittled down to the final nineteen tales showcased in the book. Variety is the key in Flash And Bang: A Short Mystery Fiction Society Anthology. Edited by J. Alan Hartman, the read features tales that cross time as well as space in terms of geographic locations.

 

After a short introduction by current SMFS President Jan Christensen, it is on to the stories. Herschel Cozine leads things off with his flash tale “The Perfect Crime.”  Imagine, if you will, all of the great fictional detectives gathered together to discuss one case.

 

Bobbie A. Chukran comes next with “The Conflagration at the Nameless Cotton Gin.” The title easily enough explains what happened, but the why of the event is a bit more complicated.

 

“Murder on Elm Street” by Su Kopil comes next with a tale where a power outage on a brutally cold night drives nearby neighbors to the one house that has power. It is fitting on a night such as this that it is time for a twenty-two year old cold case to be finally solved.

 

P. A. Devoe takes readers back in time to a China of long ago in “Fireworks (From Judge Lu’s Ming Dynasty Case Files)". During the annual celebration of the monk Li Tian and his invention of fireworks, Lu is informed there has been a death at the nearby shop of the Lie brothers out on Xiao Di Road. The accident requires the immediate attention and investigation by Judge Lu.

 

Receiving unwanted attention from a bag lady is not a good thing. Even if she does give good advice in “The Bag Lady” by Laurie Stevens.

 

The chaos of a rapidly moving wildfire might be the perfect time to murder someone and get away with it. Tim Wohlforth examines the possibilities in “Sierra Noir.”

 

The Vikings have harnessed steam power in this alternative history mystery titled “Thor’s Breath” by Suzanne Berube Rorhus. It is the year of the Christian Lord 627, and this small area of coastal Norway has one mechanical healer by the name of Hamarr. He is possession of a magical new material from the Far East that has wonderfully intriguing possibilities if it can be harnessed.

 

Debbie and her companion, Arthur, have a job to do at Detweiller Industries. “Arthur” by Sandra Murphy is a clever and fun story that takes a little while to figure out.

 

The morning after is rough for Keith in “Fractured Memories” by Julie Tollefson. Andrea’s latest Fourth of July party was a real blast and Keith is paying the price. Somebody else paid a far bigger price due to last night’s events in this complicated tale.

 

A hostage situation that is gradually getting worse is at work in “Don’t Let the Cop into the House” by O’Neil De Noux. The small brick home in Lakeview was flooded during Katrina and was put back together. Somehow the police now have to save homeowner Mike Agrippa, who is drowning in his own way.

 

When men want protection money the elderly grandmother has few choices in “Rosie’s Choice” by John M. Floyd. These are not the kind of customers she needs in the store the day before Independence Day.

 

Readers again go back in time in the next story. “Don’t Be Cruel” by Joanne Lucas takes readers to June 1957 in Fresno, California where Homicide Detective Frank Ransom has a new case. Ransom thinks of movies quite a lot and sees the world as a movie scenario. Before he can make it all fade to black he needs to figure out who killed the woman in the diner and why.

 

Brigid Morgan is the client and she claims somebody is blackmailing her over some very adult pictures that were taken 15 years ago. As the new CEO of an internet search engine company she knows that once she starts paying it will never end in “A Simple Job” by Andrew MacRae. She has a plan and first she needs the identity of the blackmailer.

 

Twenty years later, Carly is back to the Quick ‘N Slow Diner located close to the nearby cabins. As a child, she came there with her family when they rented out one of the cabins. In trying to find herself, Carly unwittingly finds much more about others in “Beautiful Killer” by Judy Penz Sheluk.

 

Being a hooker is a tough job, but finding your client dead in a bed is a real problem. So too is the female already in the room in “The Fruit of Thy Loins” by Albert Tucher. Good thing Diana can fight and knows at least one good cop.

 

The small town of Sentry, Texas, is the location for “The Raymond Chandler Con” by Earl Staggs. Murder is not supposed to happen in a small town such as Sentry, which is why Police Chief Harry Phillips left the job in Dallas and came here. The murder victim’s best friend, Martha Robinson, has no police experience, but she reads a lot of mysteries. She has an idea how to solve the case with or without Harry’s help.

 

No one ever takes notice of the janitor as he or she goes about doing a very necessary job. The person doing the cleaning blends into the background. Such is the case here in “The Wrong Girl” by Barb Goffman, where the janitor overhears a plot by three teens at an elite private school.

 

It has been three weeks, the ransom was paid quite some time ago, and the child still has not been returned in “Silent Measures” by BV Lawson. Scott Drayco, a private consultant, has been brought in to help find the boy who vanished from his boarding school.

 

A tale translated by Willem Verhulst is the final entry in the anthology. “A Day Like No Other” by Walter A. P. Soethoudt follows a Lieutenant Belloc as he goes through his day in Antwerp while thinking about the past and the many changes in the city.

 

Short author bios for the contributors bring the read to a close.

 

While not every story in the book is an actual obvious mystery, all of the stories have a mystery at the core. Some are more mysteries of the mind where characters think about their past actions and the resulting ramifications, while other tales are very much in the moment where one can smell the blood on the floor and the cordite in the air. Filled with interesting tales of complicated characters dealing with events in their lives, Flash And Bang: A Short Mystery Fiction Society Anthology brings a pleasant read by way of a variety of stories. As in other anthologies, each reader will have his or her own personal favorites among the 170 pages, but all the tales presented are good ones in their own way.

 

 

  

While I am a writer as well as a member of the Short Mystery Fiction Society I did not submit a story for this anthology. Material supplied by the publisher in exchange for my objective review.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2015, 2021

FREE Book Alert-- "Live Free or Tri: A collection of three short mystery stories" by Judy Penz Sheluk

Last month Live Free or Tri: A collection of three short mystery stories by Judy Penz Sheluk was free and I grabbed a copy to read and review. That resulted in my review of the highly entertaining book here.

The book is FREE again and you should pick it up today.

Amazon synopsis:

"A collection of three short mystery stories by Judy Penz Sheluk, author of the critically acclaimed debut mystery novel, THE HANGED MAN’S NOOSE: A GLASS DOLPHIN MYSTERY (Barking Rain Press, July 2015).

Death and Deception

Appearances are often deceiving and that is the underlying premise in this collection of short crime fiction:

In “Live Free or Die,” naive 21-year-old Emmy falls hard for 31-year-old Jack, an efficiency expert from New Hampshire who is not all that he seems.

In “Murder in the Marsh,” cyclist Carrie Anne Camack discovers more than she bargained for in the fertile farmlands of Ontario’s Holland Marsh.

In the final story, “The Cycopaths,” a triathlon team’s open-water swim training in Collingwood, Ontario, has deadly consequences.

Judy's short crime fiction has appeared in THE WHOLE SHE-BANG 2 (Toronto Sisters in Crime, Nov. 2014), WORLD ENOUGH AND CRIME (Carrick Publishing, Oct. 2014), and FLASH AND BANG: the first anthology by members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society (Untreed Reads, Nov. 2015). Her literary fiction has been published in THEMA, a New Orleans-based literary journal, on three occasions. LIVE FREE OR TRI is Judy's first independently published collection."

 

Guest Post: Judy Penz Sheluk--- When More Needs Less: The Story Behind BEAUTIFUL KILLER

Please welcome back author Judy Penz Sheluk with another insightful column regarding one of her recently published short stories…..

When More Needs Less: The Story Behind BEAUTIFUL KILLER

In my previous post on Kevin’s Corner, I wrote about When Less Needs More, the story behind my debut mystery novel, The Hanged Man’s Noose. But sometimes, I found out, More Needs Less.

I’d been working and reworking “Beautiful Killer” for the past five years under a few different titles. Oh, not constantly, but once every few months I’d trot it out, expand on the story, realize that something about it still wasn’t working, and file it back in my unfinished short story folder. In truth, I’d never had so much difficulty with a story. Even my novel was less problematic.

There were many times I wanted to just give up on it. But the main character, Carly, continued to haunt me, and while a lot of the story didn’t work, I continued to like the beginning:

“The whole of the Quick River is about three miles long and a few yards wide, an insignificant tributary that cuts through the heart of Quick County. Billy used to call it Speedy Creek.

It’s been twenty years since I’ve been back, and at first glance not much has changed.

The cluster of clapboard cabins dotting the Quick’s rocky shoreline still needs a good coat of fire, and the public dock still leans haphazardly to the left. Even the Quick ’n Slow Diner seems stuck in time, its chinked logs weather-beaten to a dull gray, the tables inside scarred by decades of hot plates and hard times.”

And so I kept on tinkering, until one day, fate in the form of J. Alan Hartman, the publisher at Untreed Reads, intervened. Jay decided it was time for the Short Mystery Fiction Society (SMFS) to release an anthology with stories written by its members. In September 2014, the call came out for submissions to Flash and Bang. The criteria: Flash stories needed to be between 300 and 1000 words. Short stories needed to be between 1500 and 3000 words. Furthermore, each story had to contain either a “flash” or a “bang,” although the interpretation could be loosely drawn.

Hmm, I thought. Carly’s story is told with a flashback to her past. That could count as a flash. But could I get my unmanageable short story, which had ranged anywhere from 1,200 to 2,500 words depending on the incarnation, down to 1000 words or less? And would that, at long last, make it work?

I started by removing any unnecessary adjectives. No more green grass when grass would do. I tightened up the dialogue between Carly and Danny Porter, the owner of the aforementioned Quick ’n Slow Diner. Finally, I edited down the backstory to just a hint of what it once was. Satisfied, I checked the word count: 993 excluding the title. Voila!

But did it work? I decided to leave it for a couple of months when I could reread it with fresh eyes.

It was January 2015, about three weeks ahead of submission deadline, when I revisited Beautiful Killer. And for the first time since I’d started writing it, I still liked it. Liked it enough, in fact, to submit it to Jay for consideration in Flash and Bang. Receiving the email from him with a “yes” was a welcome validation. Not just validation for the story and the honor I felt at being part of something truly special, but validation for the process, the patience that is so often required in our craft, and for finally understanding that sometimes more really does need to be less.

Judy Penz Sheluk ©2015

Bio

Judy Penz Sheluk’s debut mystery, The Hanged Man’s Noose, was published July 2015. Her short crime fiction is included in The Whole She-Bang 2, World Enough and Crime, and most recently, Flash and Bang, the first anthology by members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society.

Judy is a member of Sisters in Crime, Crime Writers of Canada, International Thriller Writers and the Short Mystery Fiction Society. Find Judy at www.judypenzsheluk.com  where she blogs about the writing life and interviews other authors.

Buy Links

The Hanged Man’s Noose is available in print and eBook at http://www.barkingrainpress.org/dd-product/hanged-mans-noose/,  and all the usual suspects including Amazon http://authl.it/3jg.

Flash and Bang is available in print and eBook from Untreed Reads http://store.untreedreads.com, as well as all the usual suspects, including Amazon http://authl.it/3wb.    

Social Media Links

Website: http://www.judypenzsheluk.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JudyPenzSheluk

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8602696.Judy_Penz_Sheluk

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JudyPenzSheluk  @JudyPenzSheluk

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/judypenzsheluk

Triberr: http://triberr.com/JudyPenzSheluk

Amazon: amazon.com/author/judypenzsheluk

Review: "Flash And Bang: A Short Mystery Fiction Society Anthology" Edited by J. Alan Hartman

After watching the success of anthologies from other writers groups have had in recent months, the members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society embarked on their own anthology. Over three hundred entries were whittled down to the final nineteen tales showcased in the book. Variety is the key in Flash And Bang: A Short Mystery Fiction Society Anthology. Edited by J. Alan Hartman, the read features tales that cross time as well as space in terms of geographic locations.

After a short introduction by current SMFS President Jan Christensen, it is on to the stories. Herschel Cozine leads things off with his flash tale “The Perfect Crime.”  Imagine, if you will, all of the great fictional detectives gathered together to discuss one case.

Bobbie A. Chukran comes next with “The Conflagration at the Nameless Cotton Gin.” The title easily

enough explains what happened, but the why of the event is a bit more complicated.

“Murder on Elm Street” by Su Kopil comes next with a tale where a power outage on a brutally cold night drives nearby neighbors to the one house that has power. It is fitting on a night such as this that it is time for a twenty-two year old cold case to be finally solved.

P. A. Devoe takes readers back in time to a China of long ago in “Fireworks (From Judge Lu’s Ming Dynasty Case Files)". During the annual celebration of the monk Li Tian and his invention of fireworks, Lu is informed there has been a death at the nearby shop of the Lie brothers out on Xiao Di Road. The accident requires the immediate attention and investigation by Judge Lu.

Receiving unwanted attention from a bag lady is not a good thing. Even if she does give good advice in “The Bag Lady” by Laurie Stevens.

The chaos of a rapidly moving wildfire might be the perfect time to murder someone and get away with it. Tim Wohlforth examines the possibilities in “Sierra Noir.”

The Vikings have harnessed steam power in this alternative history mystery titled “Thor’s Breath” by Suzanne Berube Rorhus. It is the year of the Christian Lord 627, and this small area of coastal Norway has one mechanical healer by the name of Hamarr. He is possession of a magical new material from the Far East that has wonderfully intriguing possibilities if it can be harnessed.

Debbie and her companion, Arthur, have a job to do at Detweiller Industries. “Arthur” by Sandra Murphy is a clever and fun story that takes a little while to figure out.

The morning after is rough for Keith in “Fractured Memories” by Julie Tollefson. Andrea’s latest Fourth of July party was a real blast and Keith is paying the price. Somebody else paid a far bigger price due to last night’s events in this complicated tale.

A hostage situation that is gradually getting worse is at work in “Don’t Let the Cop into the House” by O’Neil De Noux. The small brick home in Lakeview was flooded during Katrina and was put back together. Somehow the police now have to save homeowner Mike Agrippa, who is drowning in his own way.

When men want protection money the elderly grandmother has few choices in “Rosie’s Choice” by John M. Floyd. These are not the kind of customers she needs in the store the day before Independence Day.

Readers again go back in time in the next story. “Don’t Be Cruel” by Joanne Lucas takes readers to June 1957 in Fresno, California where Homicide Detective Frank Ransom has a new case. Ransom thinks of movies quite a lot and sees the world as a movie scenario. Before he can make it all fade to black he needs to figure out who killed the woman in the diner and why.

Brigid Morgan is the client and she claims somebody is blackmailing her over some very adult pictures that were taken 15 years ago. As the new CEO of an internet search engine company she knows that once she starts paying it will never end in “A Simple Job” by Andrew MacRae. She has a plan and first she needs the identity of the blackmailer.

Twenty years later, Carly is back to the Quick ‘N Slow Diner located close to the nearby cabins. As a child, she came there with her family when they rented out one of the cabins. In trying to find herself, Carly unwittingly finds much more about others in “Beautiful Killer” by Judy Penz Sheluk.

Being a hooker is a tough job, but finding your client dead in a bed is a real problem. So too is the female already in the room in “The Fruit of Thy Loins” by Albert Tucher. Good thing Diana can fight and knows at least one good cop.

The small town of Sentry, Texas is the location for “The Raymond Chandler Con” by Earl Staggs. Murder is not supposed to happen in a small town such as Sentry, which is why Police Chief Harry Phillips left the job in Dallas and came here. The murder victim’s best friend, Martha Robinson, has no police experience, but she reads a lot of mysteries. She has an idea how to solve the case with or without Harry’s help.

No one ever takes notice of the janitor as he or she goes about doing a very necessary job. The person doing the cleaning blends into the background. Such is the case here in “The Wrong Girl” by Barb Goffman, where the janitor overhears a plot by three teens at an elite private school.

It has been three weeks, the ransom was paid quite some time ago, and the child still has not been returned in “Silent Measures” by BV Lawson. Scott Drayco, a private consultant, has been brought in to help find the boy who vanished from his boarding school.

A tale translated by Willem Verhulst is the final entry in the anthology. “A Day Like No Other” by Walter A. P. Soethoudt follows a Lieutenant Belloc as he goes through his day in Antwerp while thinking about the past and the many changes in the city.

Short author bios for the contributors bring the read to a close.

While not every story in the book is an actual obvious mystery, all of the stories have a mystery at the core. Some are more mysteries of the mind where characters think about their past actions and the resulting ramifications, while other tales are very much in the moment where one can smell the blood on the floor and the cordite in the air. Filled with interesting tales of complicated characters dealing with events in their lives, Flash And Bang: A Short Mystery Fiction Society Anthology brings a pleasant read by way of a variety of stories. As in other anthologies, each reader will have his or her own personal favorites among the 170 pages, but all the tales presented are good ones in their own way. 

Flash And Bang: A Short Mystery Fiction Society Anthology

Edited by J. Alan Hartman

Untreed Reads Publishing

http://www.untreedreads.com

October 8, 2015

ASIN: B015QEPVDA

E-Book

170 Pages

$4.99

While I am a writer as well as a member of the Short Mystery Fiction Society I did not submit a story for this anthology. Material supplied by the publisher in exchange for my objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2015