New Story: "Murder in A-Flat" at Black Cat Weekly

Without going back and looking at my records, I suspect it's been a while since I had two new stories released in the same month, but that's how 2026 is getting started!

My story "Murder in A-Flat" came out in issue 229 of Black Cat Weekly over the weekend. 

Pavel had nearly gotten the melody right for the opening moments of the Largo movement of his new quintet when the knock came at his door. He sighed and carefully put his violin away. Damn Novák and his eagerness to brag about Pavel to his fellow guardians of the law!  

Pavel opened the door to meet his visitor, Emil Hudec of the Pilsen police. Hudec’s jacket was wet from the chilly late-September rain, which pattered yet on Pavel’s window. 

The story features a composer and violinist as its main character with a pre-WWII setting in Prague. I'm fond of this story because it's one of the few stories I've written that I think fits firmly into the "mystery" genre. I've had a decent number of stories that I'd call "crime" stories published over the years, and maybe it's a subtle distinction, but it just has a different feel to me.

Cover art by Ron Miller