The First Two Pages: “Reader, I Killed Him” by Meredith Anthony

In April 2015, B.K. Stevens debuted the blog series “The First Two Pages,” hosting craft essays by short story writers and novelists analyzing the openings of their own work. The series continued until just after her death in August 2017, and the full archive of those essays can be found at Bonnie’s website. In November 2017, the blog series relocated to my website, and the archive of this second stage of the series can be found here.

Several things drew my attention to Meredith Anthony‘s latest story for Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine—including both the title, “Reader, I Killed Him,” and the opening paragraph. Spoiler alert: Meredith talks about each of those in her essay below, and she’s right on all counts about how and why they grab the reader! Additionally, however—and outside of the story itself—I was drawn to the fact that both Meredith and her husband, Lawrence Light, had stories in this latest issue, since my own wife, Tara Laskowski, and I are both writers, and spouses who each write (and get along well!) seem a rare breed. I’ve known Meredith and Larry for many years now, and frankly, I relished the opportunity of having both of them contribute First Two Pages essays for stories in the same publication—and I’m thrilled that they agreed.

Meredith’s stories have appeared in both Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, among other publications. But as you’ll see in her author’s bio on the essay below, that’s only the beginning of who Meredith is. Not only is she a terrific writer, but she lives well. Find our even more at her website here.

And stay tuned next week for Larry Light talking about his story, “Fake News”!

Please use the arrows and controls at the bottom of the embedded PDF to navigate through the essay. You can also download the essay to read off-line.