Hey, Kids! Free Stories!
I've been publishing short fiction since 2011, mostly in the field of mystery and crime. My stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly, Tough, and a number of other magazines and anthologies. I have been a finalist for for the Edgar Award, the Shamus Award, the Thriller Award, and the Derringer Award, and have won the Bill Crider Prize for Short Fiction. I also won the Al Blanchard Award in 2019 and 2021.
In the sections below you'll find a complete list of my published stories (click on the images for purchase links!), broken up by year.
To get started, here are some of my stories that can be read free on the web. If you enjoy them, I'd love to hear from you!
What happens when the baddest outlaw in town needs a hip replacement?
THE TRUNCATED REIGN OF MELVIN, PRINCE OF THE ENVELOPING DARKNESS
A practitioner of the dark arts is found murdered in his occult bookshop. A cozy mystery.
If we could just find a way to get rid of the body . . .
It's not every day you meet a hitman.
An elite athlete, a kidnapped wife, and a second chance. Selected by Sara Paretsky as one of the best crime stories of 2021!
Who's trying to sink the career of a politician on the rise?
2025 fiction
POWER TO THE MEEK
“I don’t want anything.” Harl took a long, slow breath, filling his massive chest with gallons of air, and let it out slowly. “Desire is the source of all suffering.”
“Harl, you’re supposed to be the source of all suffering. That’s kind of the point, remember?”
Dark Yonder Issue 11 (November 2025).
RUN AND GUN
“Have you ever been shot?” she asked after twenty minutes of silence.
Mulaney sighed theatrically. “Yeah, Luisa. I’ve been shot.”
“Was it bad?”
“It’s never good.”
The Best Mystery Stories of the Year, 2025. Ed. John Grisham & Otto Penzler. Mysterious Press, 2025.
WHAT WE TALK LIKE WHEN WE TALK LIKE A PIRATE
"We saw a thing that said Blackbeard used to stick lit fuses in his beard so he’d look like a devil.”
“Warning people you’re coming and setting yourself on fire,” Altman said. “Sounds like those pirates were some tactical masterminds, all right.”
Black Cat Weekly #211 (September 13, 2025)
FINAL EDIT
The kid at reception had more colors in his hair than a box of crayons. The big box, with the sharpener on the back. The neon hues clashed with an indecipherable black tattoo climbing halfway up his cheek.
It must be exhausting trying to scare old people these days.
Blood on the Bayou: Case Closed. Ed. Don Bruns. Down & Out, 2025.
ALL THE YOUNG GIRLS LOVE ALICE
We had husbands we married to shield them from the draft, or boyfriends who disappeared for weeks and came back with the clap. We had toddlers who were bottomless wells of need.
Better off Dead: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Ed. D. M. Barr. Down & Out Books, 2025.
HIGH IN THAT IVORY TOWER
"You’ve got to be wondering right now just what Kent told me.”
“Told you?”
“About your little experiment in blackmail. You might even be wondering what’s in the envelope in my inner pocket.”
Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, September/October 2025
2024 fiction
RUN AND GUN
“My life just burned to the ground. I have to run, and thanks to you, I don’t have two fucking dimes to run with. The one and only thing I have now is the video. There’s still a miniscule chance of coming out of this with some money.”
Chop Shop Volume One. Ed. Michael Bracken. Down & Out Books, 2024.
RONNIE MERCER IS BACK IN TOWN
“So that’s it? Just tell him to leave you alone? There’s no threat?”
“Lynn,” he said. “Having you tell him? That’s the threat.”
Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir, Volume 5. Ed. Michael Bracken. Down & Out Books, 2024.
DINNER WITH THE KING
Pickpockets generally thrive on being unnoticed. King Louis could make himself stand out like a peacock and still relieve people of their wallets and purses.
Black Cat Weekly #168 (November 17, 2024)
RUBY WANTS TO WATCH
My face felt warm as I stared. “Is this legal?”
Carmen kissed the side of my neck. “Do you care?”
Sex & Violins: An Erotic Crime Anthology. Ed. Sandra Murphy. White City Press, 2024.
JANIE'S GOT A GUN
“Janie was sure right about one thing.” Bradley put his hand in the pocket of his sport coat and pulled out a small, flat automatic. “You don’t really know what you’re going to do with one of these until you’ve got it in your hand.”
Janie's Got a Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Aerosmith. Ed. Michael Bracken. Misti Media, 2024.
THE MUSIC NEVER STOPPED
Franklin was spooky enough that he never actually had to get physical with anyone, which suited him. He didn’t want to open that door again and let the dark things loose.
Friend of the Devil: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Grateful Dead. Ed. Josh Pachter. Down & Out Books, 2024.
2023 FICTION
A RIGHT JOLLY OLD ELF
Colm looked at his reflection in the silver elevator door. “Your cut?”
“Yeah. Of the job.”
“Take a really deep breath,” Colm said. “Feels good, right? Invigorating? Your cut is, you get to keep doing it.”
Black Cat Weekly #120 (December 17, 2023)
OFF THE SHELF
Calloway kept his arms crossed and his mouth closed until the hour was up, wondering what the kid would do if he ripped one of the metal rings out of his face. On the way back to his cell, he asked a guard what the fuck a podcast was.
Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir, Volume 4. Ed. Michael Bracken. Down & Out Books, 2023.
DENIM
The blond man stood for a moment, uncertain, then took a stool a few feet to the cop’s right. He swiveled and looked straight at Helen. His smile was broad, taunting. He took a toothpick from the dispenser on the counter and stuck it in the corner of his mouth.
Put Out the Lights and Cry: A Dine Noir Anthology. Ed. Craig Clevenger. Outcast Press, 2023.
CRIME SCENE
Adler saw at least fifty people, most of them young men, stroll out into the road to take a selfie on an X, usually with the Oswald window in the frame behind them. They seemed oblivious to active traffic on the street, and he wondered how many got hit over the course of a year.
The Best American Mystery and Suspense, 2023. Eds. Steph Cha and Lisa Unger. Mariner Press, 2023.
CRIME SCENE
Adler had done a lot of jobs in fields of work where nobody writes a résumé.
The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year, 2023. Eds. Otto Penzler and Amor Towles. Mysterious Press, 2023. (reprint)
BABY, YOU'RE A RICH MAN
My name is Eddie Dillon. My business card reads “Edward M. Dillon, Security, Blunt Enterprises,” because you can’t put words like “fixer” and “bagman” on org charts. It confuses the people in HR.
Happiness is a Warm Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Beatles. Ed. Josh Pachter. Down & Out Books, 2023.