When a grave at the Pioneer Cemetery is robbed, Melisende Dulac sets out to track down the perpetrator and, in the process, solve a century-old mystery.
Short Story
Christmas Spirit
On Christmas Eve, a mother is accused of drowning her child, and a shocking discovery forces Melisende Dulac to confront her own ghosts of Christmas past.
Hey Nineteen
During one of her first solo body removal jobs as an apprentice mortician, Melisende Dulac discovers an old man’s sad end may not have been all that natural.
Heat Death
In 1971, days before shipping out to Vietnam, a young Skin Kadash joins his best friend for a “so long to the world” blow-out at a cabin in the mountains, unaware they’re pawns in a murder plot.
Murder at the Beach
This collection is edited by Dana Cameron and features stories by Patricia Abbott, Al Abramson, Roger Angle, Craig Faustus Buck, Bill Cameron, Judith Cutler, Ray Daniel, Jeffery Deaver, Phillip DePoy, Sharon Fiffer, Delaney Green, Eldon Hughes, Tanis Mallow, Edward Marston, Krista Nave, Gigi Pandian.
Privacy Fence
In a darkly comic clash of neighbors over the height of a fence, the solution for one seems to be kidnapping . . . and possibly even murder.
The Missus
A brotherhood of cops, a boy accused of murder, and the broken-down detective who broke ranks to sort it all out.
Diaries of Misspent Youth
Three stories of youthful indiscretions . . . In “Yo, Karl,” a young man’s dark reputation controls his fate. In “The Soul of the Sea” a boy walks a beach full of wonder and despair. In “Best Served Cold,” a grim choice in the heat of the moment has lifelong consequences.
A Tall House
Desperate to see his sick mother who is quarantined upstairs in her room, a boy rebels against the overbearing housekeeper who has been keeping them apart. In the process, he discovers the grim secret behind his mother’s illness.
The Soul of the Sea
A short story originally written back in the 80s. It is currently included in the short story collection, Diaries of Misspent Youth.
West Coast Crime Wave
West Coast Crime Wave, edited by Brian Thornton, is an anthology of short mystery fiction featuring some of the best crime writers the U.S. west coast has to offer.