The First Two Pages — Or, Um, ALL the Pages Instead?

In place of a First Two Pages essay this week, how about giving everyone full stories to read? Here are this year’s finalists for the Agatha Award for Best Short Story—duplicating the links currently up at the Malice Domestic website.

• “Beauty and the Beyotch,” Barb Goffman (Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, Feb. 2022)
• “There Comes a Time,” Cynthia Kuhn, Malice Domestic Murder Most Diabolical (Wildside Press)
• “Fly Me to the Morgue,” Lisa Q Mathews, Malice Domestic Mystery Most Diabolical (Wildside Press)
• “The Minnesota Twins Meet Bigfoot,” Richie Narvaez, Land of 10,000 Thrills, Bouchercon Anthology (Down & Out Books)
• “The Invisible Band,” Art Taylor, Edgar & Shamus Go Golden (Down & Out Books)

And if you want actual essays, I did host two of this year’s finalists last year as part of a series celebrating the Mystery Most Diabolical anthology: Cynthia’s essay on “There Comes a Time” and Lisa’s on “Fly Me to the Morgue.”

And catch all of us on a panel at Malice Domestic—next Friday, April 28, at 3 p.m., moderated by Shawn Reilly Simmons.

See you there!