This is a special issue—our 50th, as you may have noticed from our cover. To celebrate, all past and present editors were to contribute a story. (It helps that they are also amazingly talented writers.) So we have stories from Michael Bracken, Barb Goffman, Paul Di Filippo, Darrell Schweitzer, and Cynthia Ward in addition to our other fare.

But wait! There’s more!

This issue features four original tales—Elizabeth Zelvin has a fantasy/mystery stories, Phyllis Ann Karr has a weird western, and Cynthia Ward has a gonzo science fiction crowd-funding story. And I have completed a story by the late H.B. Fyfe, who was best known for his science fiction stories, though this one is a revenge tale that most closely fits the mystery genre.

And the good stuff doesn’t stop there. We also have a superhero story from Darrell Schweitzer. Space Opera from Algis Budrys and E.E. “Doc” Smith. A historical mystery novel by western author B.M. Bower. A historical investigation from Charles Todd. A Mallworld story from Somtow Sucharitkul (who also writes as S.P. Somtow). And no issue is complete without a solve-it-yourself mystery by Hal Charles.

All in all, this is an probably our best Black Cat Weekly yet.

Here’s the complete lineup:

Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure:

“The Ladies of Wednesday Tea” by Michael Bracken [short story]
“Hidden in Plain Sight” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery]
“Ice Ice Baby” by Barb Goffman [short story]
“Flayed” by H.B. Fyfe and John Gregory Betancourt [short story]
“Blood Money” by Charles Todd [Barb Goffman Presents short story]
“The House of Marble” by Elizabeth Zelvin [Michael Bracken Presents short story]
The Eagle’s Wing, by B.M. Bower [novel]

Science Fiction & Fantasy:

“The House of Marble” by Elizabeth Zelvin [Michael Bracken Presents short story]
“The Rise and Fall of Whistle-Pig City” by Paul Di Filippo [short story]
“Rabid in Mallworld” by Somtow Sucharitkul [short story]
“Fighting the Zeppelin Gang” by Darrell Schweitzer [short story]
“Winona of Bleeding Kansas” by Phyllis Ann Karr [short story]
“The Campaign Is Now Officially Complete” by Cynthia Ward [short story]
“Blood on my Jets” by Algis Budrys [short story]
The Skylark of Valeron, by Edward E. Smith, Ph.D. [novel]

The Story of Washington – The National Capital