The Presses Roll On

Just when I thought I was starting to catch up on my magazine, Webzine, and blog reading (if not my consumption of novels), in wing a trio of new publications demanding my attention. First comes the latest issue of Mystery Scene, which contains profiles of Alaskan writer Dana Stabenow (A Deeper Sleep) and Matt Beynon Rees (The Collaborator of Bethlehem), a fascinating feature about the use of maps in mysteries, a Kevin Burton Smith column about crime-fiction-related podcasts, Gary Phillips’ article about reinventing comic-book superheroes, and a retrospective on that beloved old cartoon series Jonny Quest. (Trivia question: Who provided the voice for Jonny? It was Tim Matheson of Animal House and The West Wing fame.) Then there’s the February/March edition of Mystery News, fronted by an interview with Francine Matthews (aka Stephanie Barron), while the inside pages carry a profile of first-timer Henry Chang (Chinatown Beat), a rediscovery of Susan Dunlap (A Single Eye), and a too-brief remembrance of Roy Vickers, who Marv Lachman calls “the best writer of inverted mysteries.”

Meanwhile, the March issue of ThugLit is out, boasting its usual collection of raw-knuckled tales, including work by Anthony Neil Smith (“Cramp”), Alejandro Pena (“My Undoing”), and Daniel Hatadi (“Buddha Behind Bars”). And the 18th issue of Crime and Suspense has been posted, complete with short fiction by Connie A. Ferndon (“Cut to the Chase”), Sunny Frazier (“Plateau 30”), and Jan Christensen (“Rainbow’s End”), plus the third installment of Gary R. Hoffman’s four-part serial, “No Motive for Murder,” and--in honor of St. Patrick’s Day--a classic mystery from Irish writer Wilkie Collins, “The Dream Woman.”

So much for my free time ...