Kate Williams hopes her new job as a small-town police chief will be a welcome change from the nasty internal politics she dealt with in Toronto. She should have known better. Even after a few months, she’s still dealing with a police department angry that an outsider was picked over their local candidate.When a homeless man turns up at the department claiming he witnessed a six-year-old boy's abduction, she has to decide if the child really is missing, or if the homeless man imagi...

Book 1 of the A’lle Chronicles mystery seriesIn the early 18th century, an A’lle generation ship crashed in the woods of Lower Canada. Survivors stumbled out of the wreckage to find French settlers working the land. While many of the colonists sheltered the injured A’lle, some reacted with fear and loathing. Two centuries later, nothing much has changed.This is the world Constance A’lle, first A’lle investigator for Lower Canada, must deal with when she investigates the bea...

This time, we have another full issue, with classic novels by Victor Bridges and Justin Huntly McCarthy, a novelet by British horror maestro John S. Glasby, and shorts by Sierra Bibi, Ron Miller, Hal Meredith, Richard Deming, Nicky Nielsen, Tom Easton, Bud Pharo, and Marcelle Dubé. Plus, of course, a brand new solve-it-yourself puzzler from Hal Charles. Lots of fun!Here's the complete lineup—Cover Art: Steve HickmanNOVELS

Romance is in the air with our special Valentine’s Day Spectacular! Of course, not all stories have romance, but we’ve done our best to weave a theme through many of the tales this issue. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the love and mayhem, as we present 7 great tales ranging from the here and now to the far future, 2 novels, and a solve-it-yourself mystery.As always, special thanks to our Acquiring Editors, Michael Bracken and Barb Goffman, who teased original tales from R....

It’s Christmas eve day and Constable Marco Trepalli of the Mendenhall Police Department can’t wait to be off shift. He’s planning a big surprise for his girlfriend, Amanda. Something special. Something romantic.Then a kid doesn’t return home after sledding and Trepalli forgets all about his plans in the mad scramble to mobilize search parties and interview the kid’s friends. And as hour after hour slips by with no sign of the boy, Trepalli braces himself for what could turn into th...

At ten years old—almost eleven—Cooper knows more about surviving than most adults. He and his mom have spent the past three years on the run from the monster. Every time they settle down somewhere new, the monster finds them and they have to run again. But Cooper likes their latest home in Mendenhall and he doesn’t want to leave. Even when the monster finds them again.So this time, he’s going to stop the monster.“Home Run” is short story set in the world of the Mendenhall M...

Driving back to Mendenhall late at night in a thunderstorm, Chief of Police Kate Williams stops to check out an accident only to find herself fighting for her life. A Mendenhall Short Mystery by the author of the Mendenhall Mystery series.About Marcelle Dubé:Marcelle Dubé writes mystery and speculative fiction novels and short stories. Mostly. She grew up near Montreal. After trying out a number of different provinces and living in the Yukon for over 35 years, she now lives...

This time, we have an original mysteries by George Wilhite (courtesy of Acquiring Editor Michael Bracken) and Peter DiChellis (a locked-room mystery), as well as an original science fiction story by Larry Tritten and me. (It is a posthumous collaboration—Larry passed away in 2011. I acquired his copyrights some years ago and have been working on reprinting his stories, as longtime readers of BCW will realize. One particular story, with a terrible name, just didn’t work. So I rewrote it, re...

Fourteen stories from Marcelle Dubé:A woman whose talent is the ability to find her way whenever—or wherever—she gets lost; a veteran who returns from the war with strange new powers; a midwife who receives help from an unexpected source; a lonely woman who finds her purpose in an old photograph; Fey ironworkers who build a bridge to freedom; a young woman who inherits a fierce and dangerous guardian; an amulet designer dealing with evil in an alternate Belgium; a grieving woman wh...

AFTER A LIFETIME OF RUNNING FROM A MYSTERIOUS PAST, CLEO MUST NOW CONFRONT THE SECRETS THAT MIGHT KILL HER.Fredericton, New Brunswick: The sleepy town in Atlantic Canada is only the latest stop for Cleo Brennan’s nomad parents.But Cleo’s tired of drifting from town to town. At 23, she wants a permanent home. She plans to settle in Vancouver once she finishes university. Let her parents keep wandering if they want. She’s done.While she’s long suspected that her paren...

Water has always intrigued humanity. We walk along the shores and banks of oceans and waterways, take boats across the surface, or swim in the waters.But water hides secrets - including those of the creatures that live in its depths...- What if mermaids really do exist, and they lure men to their deaths?- Why might bodies suddenly start washing up on shores all around the world?- What if you discovered a lost girl is the daughter of a water spirit?This...

Corrupt governments, secret societies, mutated creatures, and post-apocalypse Earth meet strong-willed characters, unexpected hope, and gripping action.For fans of Suzanne Collins, James Dashner, and George Orwell, a new dystopian ebook bundle is here! Filled with seven action-packed stories that pose the questions: What would you do in the face of disaster? And how far would you go to save the world?Table of Contents"Platypus" by J. D. Brink"Scaveng...