On a secluded island, a jealous husband's paranoia about his young wife and a visiting photographer reaches dangerous heights in this taut psychological thriller from midcentury crime writer Gil Brewer. When damning information comes to light, the husband makes an irrevocable decision that changes everything in this expertly crafted golden age noir.

This issue features original mysteries by O’Neil De Noux and Shannon Taft (thanks to our Acquiring Editors, Michael Bracken and Barb Goffman), a Gil Brewer crime classic, and another entry in the Biff Brewer mystery series by Andy Adams. And what issue would be complete without a solve-it-yourself puzzler from Hal Charles?On the more fantastic side of things, you might say things have gone to the birds…we have a pair of classic avian-themed stories by Cordwainer Smith and Richard M...

HER WEALTHY STEPFATHER WAS DYING - BUT NOT QUICKLY ENOUGH What beautiful 18-year-old would want to spend her life taking care of an invalid? Not Shirley Angela. But that's the life she was trapped in - until she met Jack. Now Shirley and Jack have a plan to put the old man out of his misery and walk away with a suitcase full of cash. But there's nothing like money to come between lovers - money, and other women...

He had the fortune and the girl. Unfortunately, the also had the whiskey…

When Renick is wounded in a drive-by shooting, the people around him stop to try to help. But one may be a little too helpful…

Crattock strained against the ropes binding his wrists behind the chair. He cursed his brother, who breathed harshly as he lashed Crattock’s legs to the chair, knotting the biting hemp. “I won’t stay tied forever, Mel,” Crattock said, “I’ll kill you for this.”

Joe Morley is fond of watching Miriam sunbathe nude (behind a screen). Unfortunately, she is the wife of the bank robber Frank Garret. Complicating matters, a contract hitman is looking for Garret, who has double-crossed his employer on a bank job…

Chandler, on a week-long break from school, has an awkward homecoming. To clear his head, he takes an aimless walk. However, he has forgotten the nature of his hometown and ends up in a diner, where he is nearly beat up for being black in a white neighborhood.In typical Gil Brewer fashion, that's just the start of his gritty, relentless downward spiral...

Mel and Rose Hopkins live in a rundown neighborhood. When Rose gets an obscene phone call, Mel begins to obsess about it being a neighbor. Good thing they have a cop on their beat!

After an Indian massacre, Second Lieutenant Jonathan Allan Haggard is tasked with a mission he doesn't like: stopping the band of Apaches led by Bleeding Cloud. But Lt. Haggard knows something the others don't: there may be a white man -- a renegade -- behind the butchery...which makes it murder!

Grisson, Halliwell, and Dibble are cops in their station when Marvin Hewitt walks in, wondering whom to talk to about witnessing a murder. Hewitt is a landscaper, working on a new development; he claims to have witnessed a murder in one of the houses. However, he has great amount of trouble telling his story...

A late-night tryst with a beautiful vixen sounds like an ideal setup for murder, especially with a serial killer on the loose. But as with any Gil Brewer tale, this one takes some unexpected twists!