WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE AN INNOCENT BYSTANDER?

Nine of us explore that question in the new issue of MYSTERY, CRIME, AND MAYHEM, available from February 15, 2025.

Not every crime is perfectly planned or executed. Sometimes, there’s a witness. Who wasn’t supposed to be there. At all.

Or are we seeing something not-quite-right about that bystander on the sidelines? Are they truly innocent?

These nine tales of crimes and those watching them will leave you guessing up to the last moment.

In my story, “Guilt Trip”, a female client hires security pro Bella Hinton to protect her when she speaks at a candlelight vigil in Washington, DC. The client will advocate for stricter gun controls and she insists that Bella carry no weapon on this job. A new challenge for gun-loving Bella! I had fun learning how she deals with it.

Come and have fun with INNOCENT BYSTANDERS, MCM issue 21, starting our sixth year. Available in ebook from most vendors and in paperback from Barnes & Noble.

Get your copy from the publisher or follow this universal link to buy from your favorite online bookseller.

 

 

 

 

JOIN THE ADVENTURE!

The autumn issue of Thrill Ride – The Magazine is on sale now!

Thirteen tales of pure Action-Adventure plus an essay about the genre are waiting for you.

These stories will lead you to places you’ve never been.

Ride along in Finland while security pro Bella Hinton investigates the Russian threat to the country in my story “Sauna Intrigue”.

Move on to make a wildfire your ally.

Tread softly with the French Resistance during WWII.

Extract an informant from the dangers of the Babylonian streets.

Sail the Atlantic, float down a river, or take a fishing boat far out to sea. And you can always fight the Phoenicians with the least lucky Viking ever born.

Join the adventure. Buy your copy of Adventure today from the publisher in ebook, print, or audio or follow this universal link to your favorite online bookseller.

 

MYSTERY, CRIME, AND MAYHEM #18 IS AVAILABLE NOW!

Eleven tales of stolen cars, the thieves behind them, and what these thefts actually represent, are sure to delight readers of all kinds. Plus an essay about the Agatha Christie serial killer.

Click on the cover above to reach the publisher website and choose where online you want to buy your copy. Available in ebook, print, and large-print.

Or follow this universal link to online retailers who carry the book.

I think you’ll enjoy “Cool Ride”, my story in this issue. I had fun writing it. I revisit a character who originally appeared in the magazine’s second year. The theme required us to set the story at least fifty years in the past. Teddy Junior, as he was then known, was five years old and having his first encounter with the juvenile justice system.

In “Cool Ride”, Ted Tarrant is seventy-eight years old, and as the issue title suggests, has not spent all of his years on the right side of the law. So what’s he up to now?

In other stories in this issue, you’ll joyride with a woman desperate to escape her past. Deal with car thieves who keep stealing your car for an ever-increasing ransom. Delve into the mystery of a car that isn’t really stolen–it just disappears for a while. Or get into a rideshare car that appears to be driven by a zombie (if you dare…)

Surprising takes on this theme from the twisted minds of the MCM syndicate.