Madman drummers bummers and Indians in the summer

Damn. I hate it when I'm scooped by my own writers.

But due to the vagaries of my work schedule, I had just officially posted the new "issue" of the THRILLING DETECTIVE WEB SITE when I had to leave for work at Mr. Slate's quarry.

But what the hell, as Dan Turner would say. The important thing is that it's up. That's a big number 42, by my reckoning. Which means that as we crawl toward our tenth anniversary (TEN YEARS! No wonder some people are pissed off!) we're averaging slightly more than four issues a year. Not bad for a "quarterly."

And as usual, we've got a great fiction roster, thanks to the hard work of our two-fisted fiction editor Gerald So.

We've got a little something for everyone this time out: a story or two to break your heart, one with a definite woo-woo element, and at least one that should have you howling in pain.

Marking her first appearance is Patricia "Mom of Meg" Abbot, with a sad little tale called A SAVING GRACE, although it's no sadder or more haunting than CIRCLING THE DRAIN by fellow first-timer Fleur Bradley.

It does seem to be the issue for debutantes. Also making their TD premieres are two names probably a little more familiar: FUTURES editor Barry Ergang gives us the first in what he threatens might be a long line of groaners. And even though you have been warned, we do apologize in advance for ALL IN THE HOLSTER. Also on board and needing less apology is another long-time pal, editor/anthologist/writer Michael Bracken, arguably the hardest working man in short fiction, who FINALLY appears in these pages with MY CLIENT'S WIFE, featuring Waco, Texas P.I. "Moe Ron" Boyette.

Of course site favourite Stephen D. Rogers needs no introduction. He returns with another prime slab of working man's blues, in WHERE'S THE BEEF?, while our latest excerpt is from another P.I. buddy, Peter Spiegelman, who gives us a taste of his new John March novel RED CAT.

Wrapping things up, we've got one more familiar name for you. If you don't know who Gerald So is, you just haven't been paying attention. Gerald checks in -- at my insistence -- with "MICKEY SPILLANE" a powerful bit of poetry and as fine a tribute to you-know-who as I've seen. Hard and fast and unflinching, even the Mick might approve.

Oh, and we're still a paying market for fiction. In fact, we're upping our rates to the staggering total of fifteen dollars. Now your date can have a drink too.

Of course, fiction is only a small part of what we do. In our non-fiction section, Frank Derato clocks in with ON THE TRAIL OF DREXEL DRAKE'S FALCON, wherein he tries to shed a little light on the provenance of one of the forties' and fifties' most popular characters.

Meanwhile, we're constantly adding, updating and tweaking our ever-growing database, which now numbers somewhere around 2500 entries -- and that includes well over three hundred new or revised pages on the site since the last issue, so feel free to browse.

Oh, and be sure to check out our way cool cover, courtesy of Guy Budziak of Film Noir Woodcuts. Guy may just be the only man alive currently selling hand-printed woodcut posters taken from scenes from classic film noirs. This issue's cover is taken from This Gun For Hire, starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake.

For more on the painstaking process and attention to detail that Guy brings to each and every one of his posters (and a look at his growing selection) visit his web site.