The Strand Magazine - Issue 69, 2023
The Strand Magazine - Issue 69, 2023
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In this issue
Issue 69 of The Strand Magazine features a previously unpublished short story by James M. Cain.
We’re very proud to feature in our 69th issue an unpublished short story by James M. Cain. Set in the aftermath of the Korean War, the story takes a hard look at, greed, sacrifice, friendship, and redemption between three damaged and fallible characters. In just over 3000 words, Cain offers up all the noir elements we’ve come to expect from him complete with gritty dialogue and a cunning antagonist but puts in an unexpected twist that turns the tale on its head, offering a surprisingly nuanced take on these supposedly hard characters. It’s sure to thrill fans of neo noir such as Breaking Bad, Nightmare Alley, and Blade Runner.
From post-war America, we go to post-independence India, where Vaseem Khan pits the country’s first female police officer against prejudice, corruption, and murder in “Ace of Spades.” Moving to modern-day neo-noir, Adam Hamdy lays out “Tarot,” in which a New York City psychiatrist’s world is upended after an eerie session with his new patient. John Floyd takes us back to small-town America in “Last Day at the Jackrabbit,” where a small-time crook and his moll get more than they bargained for. And we round out our short stories this issue with Mike Adamson’s “The Affair of the Russian Violinist,” a locked-room mystery that has Holmes and Watson racing against time to avert a diplomatic crisis.
Pivoting to nonfiction, we are thrilled to share firsthand insight from one of today’s best-selling mystery writers in “Quest for Gold.” For fans of the Maisie Dobbs series—and stellar storytelling in general—Jacqueline Winspear’s insights into the heart of great writing amount to a master class on what it takes to bring a story to life. We also have an exclusive interview with the incomparable J.T. Ellison.
INTERVIEW Laurie R. King
CREATING new works based on an iconic fictional character who’s been around for over a century can be a minefield for an author.
8 mins
ADVENTURE ON A BAD NIGHT
BEFORE dinner was quite finished Vivien began wanting to get outdoors, into the air she hadn’t seen since afternoon.
10+ mins
THE EDINBURGH BANKERS
“MR. Holmes, I’m not asking for myself. It’s for the livelihood of the rest of us.”
10+ mins
The Adventure of the Home Office Baby
FOLLOWING the occasion of my marriage, and relocation with Mary to our newlywed home in the Paddington district, only a few blocks east of the great station itself, I was able to continue building my new practice while still finding time to assist Sherlock Holmes in a number of investigations.
10+ mins
KEVIN OF THE DEAD
PEOPLE often say to me, “Kevin, what’s it like being undead and all that?” And I say, “It’s a job, you know?” You get up at sunset, brush off the dirt and slugs, climb out of the box, and off you go into the night looking for some poor unfortunate to siphon a pint from.
10 mins
AUNT NELLIE'S DIARY
MANY contemporary readers know Louisa May Alcott only as the author of the classic Little Women, the much-beloved story of the March sisters’ journey from childhood innocence to mature womanhood.
10+ mins
INTERVIEW John Grisham
FOR the last thirty years, the term legal thriller has been synonymous with John Grisham. Credited with single-handedly popularizing the genre, he has inspired scores of other authors and, in the process, has become both a commercial and critical success.
8 mins
The Dowser's Discovery
“IF you don’t mind, sir,” said old Fiedler as he finished pouring our coffee, “I’d like to go into the village this morning with the others. It’s market day.”
10+ mins
THE AMIABLE FLEAS
IN May 1954, more than fifteen years after writing Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck rented a house for himself and his family a stones-throw from the Champs-Elysées in Paris.
8 mins
INTERVIEW Don Winslow
EVER since Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett revolutionized the crime novel with hardboiled heroes, gritty settings, and moral complexity, countless authors have tried to carry the torch.
10+ mins
An Unlikely Series of Conversations
LAERTES Jackson showed up at the human resources office of Martin, Martin, and Moll at 10:37 on a Tuesday morning in May.
10+ mins
How Law and Order Came to Aramie
BIG John Oakes, called Big because bigness was a quality of his nature—and the lack of it, of his physique—was asleep, grotesquely doubled up on the antique couch of his living room, a vast depression in the center of which made any graceful disposition of one’s person on it impossible.
10+ mins
Interview: Mark Gatiss
MARK Gatiss has frequently been called a Renaissance man—for good reason. He has not only co-created Sherlock, one of the most popular television shows in England, but he has also been instrumental in the 2005 revival of Doctor Who, for which he has penned eight scripts, acted in several episodes, and written a docudrama delving into the origins of the series.
8 mins
Interview : Heather Graham
FOR many novelists (and their publishers), creating a series character for readers to follow through multiple books can offer security for years to come.
10+ mins
The Strand Magazine Description:
Publisher: Strand Magazine
Category: Fiction
Language: English
Frequency: Quarterly
The Strand is the magazine for mystery fans, a full sized, full color glossy magazine that is published four times a year. Whether it is a story set in Victorian London - or a contemporary hardboiled story - The Strand has something for everyone.
Each issue of The Strand Magazine features short stories by award-winning writers such as Alexander McCall Smith, Ray Bradbury, Michael Connelly, Faye Kellerman, and R.L. Stine, plus interviews with actors and best-selling writers such as David Baldacci, Christopher Plummer, Sandra Brown, Jonathan Kellerman, and Peter Falk. The Strand has a wide array of articles from our series on "The Great Detectives" to profiles of mystery authors past and present. The Strand also publishes articles about true crimes, recent articles have included a study of the Jack the Ripper murders and an investigation into the Da Vinci code phenomenon. In addition, each issue of The Strand has at least twenty book and audiobook reviews which look at the newest releases from large as well as smaller publishers.
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