Welcome to Black Cat Weekly #23. Lots of good stuff this time—highlighted by a novel by Golden Age mystery author Rufus King, Duenna for a Murder. Plus a few novellas, and lots of great short stories, a solve-it-yourself mystery from Hal Charles, and great selections from Michael Bracken (Laird Long’s “Taken for a Ride”—which also fits in the fantasy category neatly) and Barb Goffman (Michael Allan Mallory’s “Random Harvest”).
On the science fiction side, the Cynthia Ward Presents story is missing this week, but that’s only because we have a fantastic alternate-history story from Cynthia herself! Check out her “On Stony Ground.” Plus an epic disaster story from Allan Danzig, a fantasy from Unknown by Lester del Rey and James H. Beard, a space-based tale by Richard Wilson, and a miniature military SF story from Larry Tritten.
Here’s the complete lineup:
Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure
“Soul Searching,” by Laird Long [short story]
“A Fine Kettle of Fish,” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery]
“Dead Wrong,” by Frank Kane [short story]
“Taken for a Ride,” by Hulbert Footner [short novel]
“Random Harvest,” by Michael Allan Mallory [Barb Goffman Presents short story]
Duenna to a Murder, by Rufus King [novel]
Science Fiction & Fantasy
“Soul Searching,” by Laird Long [short story]
“On Stony Ground,” by Cynthia Ward [short story]
“Corrigan’s Homunculi,” by Larry Tritten [short story]
“Carillon of Skulls,” by Lester del Rey and James H. Beard [short story]
“Abel Baker Camel,” by Richard Wilson [short story]
“The Great Nebraska Sea,” by Allan Danzig [short story]
