In the frigid winter of Prohibition-era Chicago, a master con artist and his faithful sidekick eye a dilapidated mansion with a legendary past. Once home to the notorious Van Kessler family, the crumbling estate is rumored to hide a fortune in pre-Prohibition liquor. With a clever scheme, they resurrect the long-absent Van Kessler heir, convincing the city’s elite that a reformed rake has returned to pen a moralistic book on temperance.As the staged homecoming draws gawking reporte...

Freezing and starving, a nameless young man stumbles into an apartment lobby seeking warmth—but finds a passkey instead. Driven by desperation, he ascends into the building’s silent corridors.Inside his opulent apartment, Thomas Karch sleeps, oblivious to the intruder creeping closer. When the starving man’s frantic quest for food shatters the silence, it collides violently with the hidden tensions of the Karch household. Doomed at Four is a gritty, atmospheric tale of the...

Welcome to Black Cat Weekly #47.Another fine issue is at hand—with mysteries from Peter Lovesey (thanks to acquiring editor Barb Goffman), Laird Long (thanks to acquiring editor Michael Bracken), and classics from Christopher B. Booth, Edgar Wallace, and Nicholas Carter. (Not to mention a solve-it-yourself puzzler from Hal Charles!) On the science fiction front, we have Nisi Shawl’s excellent “Lazzrus” (thanks to acquiring editor Cynthia Ward) plus classics from George O. ...

I mentioned to BCW's acquiring editor Michael Bracken that I was enjoying the mystery/science fiction crossover stories he had been selecting for BCW, many of them originals, and he confessed to challenging writers to come up with stories that mixed the two genres. I thought, Aha! So that’s where they have all been coming from! It’s a Good Thing in my opinion. And this issue we have another one—“For Blood,” by Eve Fisher, which works well as both science fiction ...

Catherine Booth worked hand-in-hand with her husband William Booth to establish a fledgling mission in London, that eventually grew into a global ministry, The Salvation Army. Here she delves into the Biblical and theological foundation of their work and mission. In many ways she was the heart and soul of the Salvation Army and challenges the readers and listeners to a deeper commitment to Christ and his calling.

"A powerful dungeon. A sheep-herder turned Noble. Their path to ascendance through cultivation.Conquering dungeons and using them to grow has long been the most efficient way to become a powerful adventurer. The only thing keeping the process from being easy is the Beasts that inhabit these places. Questions plague those entering this particular place of power: Where do the ‘rewards’ of weapons, armor, and heavy gold coins come from? Why is a fluffy bunny charging at me? For abyss-...

The Adventures of Mr. Clackworthy presents 8 tales of Christopher Booth's antihero -- Amos Clackworthy, swindler extraordinaire. Together with his henchman The Early Bird, Mr. Clackworthy pursues a life of crime, preying on those who deserve to be conned. Included in this volume are:MR. CLACKWORTHY: AN INTRODUCTION, by Steve LewisMR. CLACKWORTHY TELLS THE TRUTHMR. CLACKWORTHY WITHIN THE LAWMR. CLACKWORTHY’S PIPE DREAMMR. CLACKWORTHY TURNS CHEMISTM...

"Christopher B. Booth is almost entirely forgotten today; but in 1910s through the 1930s, he was a prolific author of mysteries and westerns under his own name and the pseudonuym “John Jay Chichester.” Street & Smith’s book publishing arm, Chelsea House, collected a number of his pulp stories in book form, most famously in the volume entitled Mr. Clackworthy. Mr. Clackworthy assembles 9 stories from Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine featuring con man Amos Clackworthy, who preyed on...

Conman extraordinaire Amos Clackworthy was the primary mystery character of Christopher Belvard Booth (1889-1950) in the 1920s. Together with his henchman, the Early Bird, he raised grifting to new levels—and his targets were always those greedy, disreputable businessmen who more than deserved it.

Amos Clackworthy, conman deluxe, has a new get-rich-quick scheme using investments. But his intricately laid plans may come to nothing because he forgot to leave his latest mark enough time to get his money to Chicago from Texas!

A market collapse turns a polished swindler from millionaire to debtor in a single afternoon. With rent due and pride intact, he does what he does best: finds someone eager for “something for nothing,” then builds a scam fast enough to outrun disgrace.In a rain-soaked Illinois town run by a hard-edged bank president and widow, a worn-out farm becomes the bait. A partner plays the perfect rube, a real-estate fixer sweats under pressure, and a set of “laboratory” letters hints at a f...

James “The Early Bird” Early is tired of playing it safe. Eager to prove he doesn’t need a mentor, he bets he can swindle a Manhattan bank out of ten thousand dollars in just twenty-four hours. But his sophisticated partner, Amos Clackworthy, knows that impulsive schemes usually lead to prison cells. As the clock ticks down and the plan spirals out of control, the master confidence man must decide whether to let his protégé learn a hard lesson or step in to execute a bold rescue before the...