William McCormick

Mystery Weekly Magazine: January 2020 opens with the intriguingly complicated “Fast Forward” by William Burton McCormick. Jimmy has a unique talent where he can skip forward in time unpleasant or boring events in his life. There are consequences to having that talent. After the skip forward, he has no memory of the period he skipped. During those periods, an alter ego that goes by James is in charge and does whatever he chooses to do while in control. The latest choice by James has now got Jimmy involved in a very tricky situation that could very easily get them both killed.

Readers move from Rhode Island in the previous story to a rather strange house situated in a forest clearing in Northern California. In “The Beresford Case” by Ken Teutsch, the private detective has been summoned by Mrs. Beresford because she says she fears for her life. Not only is she beautiful, she may be a little crazy. Is she truly a damsel in distress or is something far stranger going on?

Mallorca, on the island of Majorca, part of the Balearic Islands chain of Spain, is the setting for the art inspired tale “A Siege of Herons” by Christie Cochrell. Painter Mireille Cabrol is missing and Detective Tomá’s Vilalta is looking for her. Her daughter had reported her daughter missing this April morning and there is no sign of the sixty year old artist. The daughter has good reason to be worried.

As Sheriff, he is forced to waste a lot of time with folks like Mr. Baxter, who come to him with issues they want addressed that have been nothing to do with law enforcement. Like Mr. Baxter’s complaint about the arrival of clowns in town in “When The Circus Almost Came To Town” by John H. Dromey. Mr. Baxter needs to focus on bank business and leave the rest to others.

While various members of the sales force may have contemplated killing their boss, one of them actually did it in “Murder In the Workplace” by Bruce Harris. Security Supervisor Kevin Wallace and Security Director Juanita Alvarez decide, with police on the way, to put the case of who is stealing the paperclips on the second floor to the side and work the murder of Vincent Maserati.

He learned in childhood the importance of being good in “Murderer Bill” by John Grant. In adulthood, he is beginning to figure out the importance of appearing to be a good guy.

Boss/owner of Telcher Incorporated, Mr. Telcher, arrived at their local branch office to give a pep talk as sales are way down. In “Bare Billfold” by Laird Long, a crime soon occurs. The nature of the crime and more is at work in the “You-Solve-It” mystery for this month.

To close out the issue, the solution to the “You -Solve-It” mystery from last month, “A Minute To Murder” by Jack Bates is revealed.

As always, every issue of this fine magazine has plenty of solidly good reading across the mystery spectrum. This is especially true this month with atmospheric stories rich in detail scattered around the globe. Mystery Weekly Magazine: January 2020 keeps an excellent legacy going while also providing a solid start to the year.

For quite some time now I have been gifted a subscription by the publisher with no expectation at all of a review. I read and review each issue as I can. To date, I have never submitted anything to this market and will not do so as long as I review the publication.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2020… (mer)