Mystery Weekly Magazine: December 2016 (Mystery Weekly Magazine Issues)

The stories in December’s issue of Mystery Weekly Magazine couldn’t cover more of the time/space continuum if it had a Flux capacitor. You'll be transported from the not-too-distant eighties all the way back to ancient Egypt. Along the way you’ll stop in ancient Rome, and meet a hundred year old ghost who solves crimes. In “The Body In The Backyard,” retired LAPD detective-turned-PI Jack Stover gets a second crack at solving an old missing persons case, when evidence resurfaces after having being buried for thirty years. This clever mystery by Robert S. Levinson is a snappy LA procedural with realistic characters sketched in a confident, breezy writing style; a story guaranteed to satisfy fans of all mystery genres. Micki Browning, who first appeared in our November 2015 issue with “String Theory”, returns with a merry hardboiled caper entitled “Sleighed”, in which a hitman travels to the North Pole to find a guy named Nick. Unfortunately for him, wise men and short guys keep getting in his way. A nut-cracking Christmas yarn which will have special appeal for those who like their eggnog spiked and don’t mind a few cracks in their ornaments. “The Ghost Of Billy The Kid,” by Scott Merrow, is one of the more original stories to grace our pages. A hundred years after his death, the legendary gunslinger returns to the mortal plane as a ghost who, like a guardian angel, helps people in need. This time, it's to help an incompetent sheriff solve a murder, which he accomplishes in humorous style by moving overlooked evidence around the room. The standout features of this story are both the unique premise and the interesting voice of Billy The Kid. This entertaining story could certainly lend itself well to future instalments, if not to an entire series of novels. Jumping back in time a few millennia, we have “Death, Honor And The Ordovices,” by Mark C. Harwell. In this historical whodunit, a Roman soldier's gruesome murder threatens the legion's honor and a precarious peace with a conquered Celtic tribe. A Roman prefect must sort through lies and truths to avoid a blood bath. In “A Death In The House Of Imhotep,” by A.L. Sirois, a young Egyptian student named Anitepsut helps her cousin unravel the murder of Lord Imhotep’s cook. No one is above suspicion, and the investigation uncovers many secrets. And what happens when the oldest CIA agent starts to lose his edge? The answer is in our hilarious mystery from Sonny Zae. “Warren Pace, CIA” is a funny, high-octane story that pairs a bumbling elderly CIA field agent, with an eager young recruit. The more senior member of this unlikely duo drags his naive partner on a fools mission to stop a blackmailer, and it’s up to the rooky to cover his blunders. A thoroughly engrossing read. Published monthly, Mystery Weekly Magazine features short mysteries from the world's best new and established mystery writers. Collect all of our back issues!