Joseph S. Walker

Joseph S. WalkerJoseph S. WalkerJoseph S. Walker

Joseph S. Walker

Joseph S. WalkerJoseph S. WalkerJoseph S. Walker
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PUBLICATIONS

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.


My first collection, Crime Scenes, was published by Level Best Books in 2026.


In the sections below you'll find a complete list of my published stories, broken up by year.  Click on the story title for purchase links where available.


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!


SLOW MOVIN' OUTLAW

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.


DEADLINE

If we could just find a way to get rid of the body . . . 


A THOUSAND MILES AWAY

It's not every day you meet a hitman.


GIVE OR TAKE A QUARTER INCH

An elite athlete, a kidnapped wife, and a second chance.  Selected by Sara Paretsky as one of the best crime stories of 2021!


THE MAN WHO WOULDN'T

Who's trying to sink the career of a politician on the rise?



A scenic landscape featuring mountains, a river, and a clear blue sky.

2026 fiction

HANSEL AND GRETEL


“Any other leads?” He felt idiotic as soon as he said it.

“Leads? Sure, Mallard. Exotic cigarette ash, tire treads with traces of a distinctive red clay.” Her tone softened. “You know the job, man.  Patrol has their pictures. They’ll turn up or they won’t.”

“But probably they won’t,” Mallard said.  


Wish Upon a Crime: Crime Fiction Inspired by Fairy Tales. Eds. Michael Bracken & Stacy Woodson. Level Best, 2026.


    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).

      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.

        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)

          2022 fiction

          GIVE OR TAKE A QUARTER INCH


          “I fell in with disreputable characters, is how my lawyer said it.    Word of advice, Mr. Vargas.    If you ever commit a felony, don’t do it in Arizona." 


            

          Mysterious Bookshop Presents The Best Mystery Stories of the Year, 2022. Ed. Otto Penzler & Sara Paretsky. Mysterious Press, 2022. (reprint)

            2021 fiction

            ETTA AT THE END OF THE WORLD

              

            Local man Tyler Hession found dead in his home of a single gunshot wound.  Wife, Etta, missing and being actively sought by police as a person of interest. 

            “Holy shit,” Grace hissed. She looked up at Etta. “Did you do that?”

              

            Mysterious Bookshop Presents The Best Mystery Stories of the Year, 2021. Ed. Otto Penzler & Lee Child. Mysterious Press, 2021. (reprint)

              2020 fiction

              CHASING DIAMONDS


              There’s a man named Norton with a storefront on Washington Avenue, downtown, offering both payday loans and bail bondsman services. Grainger says it’s a profitable mix of legal loan sharking and legal kidnapping.  


              Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. September/October 2020. 

                2019 fiction

                BONUS ROUND

                  

                She seems, to me, dazed and exhausted. She’s wearing denim shorts and a black and white patterned top.

                The time stamp on the picture is 11:05 PM, just under eight hours from when the young woman would be found eight blocks away, wearing completely different clothes.


                Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. May/June 2019. 

                  2018 fiction

                  AFTER WE LOST HER

                    

                  The cords in Evans’s neck were starting to stand out. Her hand dropped to the holster clipped to the right side of her belt. “You need to stop playing games with me,” she said. 


                  Mystery Weekly. August 2018. 

                    2017 FICTION

                    AWAITING THE HOUR

                      

                    “Alex took the long view,” Matthew said. “He plotted out the exact course the eclipse would take and found us a house on the center line. He said we would watch it together in our old age.”

                    The water in the pot was beginning to bubble slightly.

                    “He didn’t know he wouldn’t be here." 

                      

                    Day of the Dark: Stories of Eclipse. Ed. Kaye George.  Wildside Press, 2017. 

                      2015 fiction

                      PILLBUG

                        

                      Nothing happened for a moment then, like a mechanical toy catching its gears, Kellner’s arm lifted and he drank half the glass straight down.

                      Nelson sat again. “That’s the boy, Frank. Finish it up.”

                      Kellner’s eyes found him. “I saw the Russians, Adam.” He spoke with the exaggerated correctness of the long-since drunk.


                       Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. March 2015. 



                      2013 fiction

                      CAST UPON THE WATER


                      On the fifth day, an hour before dusk, the raiders came. 


                      Tomorrow: Apocalyptic Short Stories. Ed. Karen Henderson. Australia: Kayelle Press, 2013. 

                      2012 FICTION

                      CINNAMON'S SOLACE


                      When the flight from Berlin turned out to be half empty Cinnamon moved to a first class window seat, a courtesy the airline was happy to extend to a Marine heading home. They would have been less happy if they’d known about the ceramic switchblade in the sole of her boot or the telescoping steel baton in the frame of her backpack. 


                       Pulp Modern III (Spring/Summer 2012). 

                        2011 FICTION

                        DEAD CONNECTIONS


                        To the dead, it seemed, the living world was a pathetic place awash in missed opportunities and signs of decay and decline. 


                        Absolute Visions: Anthology of Speculative Fiction. Ed. MacAllister Stone. Written in Stone, 2011. 

                          deep cuts: academic publications

                          SO YOU WANT TO WRITE FICTION?


                          Discourse of the Inquisitive.  Eds. Jaclyn Maria Fowler and Bjorn Mercer.  Westphalia Press, 2023.

                            Copyright © 2026 Joseph S. Walker - All Rights Reserved.

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