Death Sentence

BevVincent

My story "Death Sentence" will be published in an upcoming issue of Black Cat Weekly. The story was originally called "A Lie" when I wrote it ten years ago for a themed anthology for which it was not accepted. Heavily rewritten, subbed a bunch of times over the years, and now it has, at last, found a home.

BevVincent

Our 51st issue is another strong one one, with four of our acquiring editors finding tales for us. Michael Bracken has an original Bev Vincent mystery, and Barb Goffman has a winner from R.T. Lawton. Cynthia Ward turns the tables on fellow editor Michael Bracken and selects a haunted house story by him! And too-long-absent editor Paul Di Filippo has picked a powerful story by Sheree R. Thomas. Good stuff.

As if that’s not enough (which it never is for the Black Cat!), we have gone back to the pulps for some historical mystery-adventure tales by Harold Lamb and Philip M. Fisher, and dived even deeper for a collection of mysteries by Dick Donovan called The Chronicles of Michael Danevitch of the Russian Secret Service.

On the science fiction front, we have novellas by Arthur Leo Zagat and George O. Smith, plus Skylark Three, by E.E. “Doc” Smith.

Here’s the complete lineup:

Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure

• “Death Sentence,” by Bev Vincent [Michael Bracken Presents short story]
• “Letter Perfect,” Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery]
• “Tightening of the Bond,” by R.T. Lawton [Barb Goffman Presents short story]
• “The Man Who Measured the Wind,” by Harold Lamb [novella]
• “The Yangtze Horde,” by Philip M. Fisher [short story]
• The Chronicles of Michael Danevitch of the Russian Secret Service, by Dick Donovan [novel]

Science Fiction & Fantasy:

• “Little Spring,” by Michael Bracken [Cynthia Ward Presents short story]
• “Thirteen Year Long Song,” by Sheree R. Thomas [Paul Di Filippo Presents short story]
• “The Faceless Men,” by Arthur Leo Zagat [novella]
• The Kingdom of the Blind, by George O. Smith [novella]
• Skylark Three, by E.E. “Doc” Smith [novel]

Lou_Sytsma

Congrats!  Always sweet to see your name on the cover.  If R.T. Lawton didn't use his initials, you would have been first on the list!  

BevVincent

Editor Michael Bracken let me know that "Death Sentence" is one of the "Other Distinguished Mystery and Suspense" stories mentioned in the 2022 anthology The Best American Mystery and Suspense, edited by Jess Walter and Steph Cha.