Autumn 2024

I have two new short stories published and a reprint that came out recently.

"The Postman Always Flirts Twice"

The newest story is the cozy "The Postman Always Flirts Twice."  It’s a whodunit about love, family, and friendship. Someone murdered Hazel’s mailman and hid his body in the woods behind her cul-de-sac. Desperate to point the cops in another direction so they don’t discover her secret, Hazel starts her own investigation—focusing on her neighbors.

The story appears in the anthology Agatha and Derringer Get Cozy: Thirteen Tales of Murder, Mystery, and Master Detection. All the stories in the book are written by winners of the Agatha and/or Derringer awards. Thanks to editors Gay Toltl Kinman and Andrew McAleer for inviting me to contribute a story. You can learn more about this story and what inspired it here. You can find it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and at your local indie bookstore through Bookshop.org.

"Gone to Pot"

The second new story is "Gone to Pot," and it appears in the anthology Crimes Against Nature: New Stories of Environmental Villainy. In this comic story, Annabelle loves her next-door neighbor Micki like family. So when the regular pot smoking of Micki's other next-door neighbors causes Micki's cat, Chairman Meow, to get contact highs, endangering his health, yet those neighbors don't care, Annabelle takes action, launching project We Vow to Save Chairman Meow.

This is a charity anthology, with half the royalties going to ecological nonprofits. Thanks to Editor Robert Lopresti for including my story. You can buy the book from Amazon here. You can also find it at other stores, including Barnes and Noble here. I talk more about the anthology and my story at SleuthSayers. Click here to read the column.

And the reprint ...

My story "Dear Emily Etiquette," which won the Agatha Award and the Ellery Queen Readers Award a few years ago, has been republished in the anthology Twisted Voices: Stories from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.  I am delighted editors Janet Hutchings and Jackie Sherbow chose to include it. You can buy the book in the usual online places, including Amazon. Click  here for the ebook version and here for the paper version.

May 2024

I have three bits of great news!

Anthony Award nomination and Macavity Award nomination

I'm thrilled my short story "Real Courage" has been named a finalist for the Anthony Award and for the Macavity Award. It appeared in issue 14 of Black Cat Mystery Magazine. In the story, a seemingly insignificant incident winds up affecting many lives over many years. It's a story about good intentions, moral quandaries, questionable judgment, unintended consequences, and courage. This is the same story that was a finalist for the Agatha Award this spring.

You can find the issue for sale via various online outlets. I've also put it up here to read for free for a limited time. Click on the Real Courage tab above or just click here. The Anthony Award winners will be voted upon and announced at the Bouchercon convention in August. The Macavity Award winners also will be announced at Bouchercon. UPDATE: Alas, "Real Courage" did not win any of the three awards it was nominated for this year, but I so appreciate all my readers’ support.

Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer Award

I was honored and delighted to learn that the Short Mystery Fiction Society has named me this year's recipient of the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer Award. This is the SMFS's lifetime achievement award. The recipients are chosen for "having produced an impressive body of short crime fiction, and having made a major impact on the genre." This award will be provided to me during Opening Ceremonies at Bouchercon in August.

April 2024

I'm delighted that the anthology Three Strikes--You're Dead! has been released.  It has fourteen short stories mixing sports and crime, including my story "A Matter of Trust." In this story, when an emotional eater cycles past a donut shop, his weight-loss plans--and so much more--go awry. The anthology was published by Wildside Press and was edited by Donna Andrews, Marcia Talley, and me.

Reader Sherri Mayer said of the book, "It's a truly striking cover ... and the stories in it are even better."

Paperback copies can be ordered from Amazon (click here) and Barnes & Noble (click here) and the publisher (click here) if you want to avoid the middleman. Ebook versions should come soon. The book also will be available for sale at the Malice Domestic mystery convention at the Wildside Press table.

February 2024

I have a new story out this month and award finalist news! The new story first ...

Murder, Neat

The anthology Murder, Neat was published on February 13 by the Level Short imprint of Level Best Books. Edited by Michael Bracken and me, the book has twenty-four crime stories, all written by members of the SleuthSayers blog. Edgar Award finalist Joseph S. Walker said of the book, "Simply put, the SleuthSayers are the finest authors of short crime fiction working today. For readers, this collection will be a joy. For aspiring writers, it's a chance to belly up to the bar and let the best in the business show you how it's done. Not to be missed."

The book includes my short story "Never Have I Ever." In this story, Tamara’s playing her favorite secrets-sharing drinking game with her friends. But she has secrets she’ll never share.
Because she’s obsessed.
Because she’s haunted.
Because she has a plan.

You can read more about the book on SleuthSayers here (and in daily posts to come for the next few weeks). The book is being released in ebook and trade paperback. You should be able to find it at the usual online outlets any time now. At the moment, here's a linkfor the Amazon ebook version.

Award news!

My short story "Real Courage" has been named a finalist for the Agatha Award, and I couldn't be more pleased. It appeared in issue 14 of Black Cat Mystery Magazine. In the story, a seemingly insignificant incident winds up affecting many lives over many years. It's a story about good intentions, moral quandaries, questionable judgment, unintended consequences, and courage.

You can find the issue for sale via various online outlets. I've also put it up here to read for free for a limited time. Click on the Real Courage tab above or just click here. The Agatha Award winners will be voted upon and announced at the Malice Domestic mystery convention in April.

January 2024

I hope you'll check out  my newest story, "Teenage Dirtbag," which appears in the just released anthology (I Just) Died In Your Arms: Crime Fiction Inspired by One-Hit Wonders. Inspired by the Wheatus song of the same name, the story takes place in 1985, when Travis rules his high school, tormenting other kids and pushing his girlfriend around—until nerd Brian falls for her and devises a plan to free all the beleaguered kids from Travis’s bullying ways. It's my tribute to 1980s teen movies.

The anthology is available in trade paperback and ebook formats and can be purchased from all the usual sources. The authors will make the most money from books purchased directly from the publisher, Misti Media. Just click here.

November 2023

I'm thrilled that my story "Real Courage" has been published in issue 14 of Black Cat Mystery Magazine, which is now available from Amazon in paper form and ebook form and from Barnes & Noble in ebookform. Also, for a limited time, you can read the story here on my website. Just click here or click on the "Real Courage" tab.

“Real Courage” is a story about a seemingly insignificant incident that winds up affecting many lives over many years. It’s told linearly from four points of view, starting with teen Elise in 1983, who accidentally breaks the violin of the most popular girl in school, losing all her friends in the process. We fast-forward to a scene more than thirty years later, in which Elise is trying to impress upon her eleven-year-old son, Connor, the importance of loyalty and compassion. She asks him to promise to always help Zoe, the socially awkward girl who lives next door. He makes that promise. We then fast-forward four years. Connor and Zoe are at an unsupervised party. A crime is committed. Mistakes are made. The rest of the story is told from Connor’s dads perspective and then from Zoe’s. This is a story about good intentions, moral quandaries, questionable judgment, unintended consequences, and courage. I hope you’ll give it a read.

October 2023

It brings me great pleasure to share that my crime/coming-of-age story "Beauty and the Beyotch" won the Macavity Award for Best Mystery Short Story published in 2022. The story also took home the Agatha and Anthony Awards earlier this year. It was published in issue 29 of Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, and for a few more days, I'll leave it up here on the website for folks to read. Just click on the "Beauty and the Beyotch" tab or look for the title in the drop-down box. I last won the Macavity in 2013, so it looks like years ending in 3 are good for me.

I wish congratulations to the other authors nominated for Best Mystery Short Story, Brendan DuBois, Donna Moore, Anna Scotti, Catherine Steadman, Jess Walter, and Melissa Yi, as well as the winners in the four other categories.

September 2023

I'm overjoyed that my story "Beauty and the Beyotch" won the Anthony Award for Best Short Story published in 2022 at this year's Bouchercon convention, which just ended in San Diego. It was an honor to be nominated for the Anthony along with fellow finalists E. A. Aymar, Bruce Coffin, Curtis Ippolito, and Gabriel Valjan.

"Beauty and the Beyotch" also won the Agatha Award in April, and it's a finalist for the Macavity Award. Those winners will be announced later this month. "Beauty and the Beyotch" was published in Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, issue 29. For a limited time, you also can read it here on my website. Just click here or click on the Beauty and the Beyotch tab.

July 2023

My short story "Beauty and the Beyotch" has been named a finalist for this year's Macavity Award! It appeared in issue 29 of Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine. It's a tale about three high school girls told from two perspectives about one thing: the struggle to make their deepest desires come true. What happens when those dreams collide?

This is the third award nomination for this story. It's also a current Anthony Award finalist, and in the spring it won the Agatha Award. The Macavity Award winners will be announced at the opening ceremonies at Bouchercon in August.

You can read the story here on my website. Just click on the Beauty and the Beyotch tab. Or, if you'd prefer an e-copy or a paper one, you can buy the issue from many online bookstores.

I wish congratulations to the other authors nominated in my category: Brendan DuBois, Donna Moore, Anna Scotti, Catherine Steadman, Jess Walter, and Melissa Yi.

May 2023

I'm so happy to share that I've been named a finalist for this year's Anthony Award for my short story "Beauty and the Beyotch," which appeared in issue 29 of Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine. It's a tale about three high school girls told from two perspectives about one thing: the struggle to make their deepest desires come true. What happens when those dreams collide? You can read the story here on my website. Just click on the Beauty and the Beyotch tab. Or, if you'd prefer an e-copy or a paper one, you can buy the issue from many online bookstores. I wish congratulations to the other authors nominated in my category: E.A. Aymar, Bruce Robert Coffin, Curtis Ippolito, and Gabriel Valjan.

I'm also pleased that I had stories appear in two anthologies published last year that have been nominated for the Anthony: Low Down Dirty Vote Volume 3: The Color of My Vote, edited by Mysti Berry (in which my story "For Bailey"  appears) and Land of 10,000 Thrills: Bouchercon Anthology 2022, edited by Greg Herren (in which my Thriller-nominated story "The Gift" appears).

The Anthony Award winners will be announced at the Bouchecon world mystery convention on September 2nd. I hope to see you there.

April 2023

I won this year's Agatha Award for Best Short Story for "Beauty and the Beyotch,"  which appeared in issue 29 of  Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine. As my dad would have said, "Hurray!" Thanks to everyone who enjoyed and voted for the story. It was my honor to be nominated in this category along with Cynthia Kuhn, Lisa Q. Mathews, Richie Narvaez, and Art Taylor.

March 2023

I'm thrilled (pun intended) to share that my short story "The Gift" has been nominated for a Thriller Award given by International Thriller Writers. "The Gift" appeared in the 2022 Bouchercon anthology, Land of 10,000 Thrills, edited by Greg Herren. In the story, Debbie has always believed in setting a good example for her grandson and the kids at her high school, where she toils as the principal. But sometimes the line between right and wrong blurs—especially when family is involved. The anthology was published by Down & Out Books in trade paperback and ebook, and if you haven't picked up a copy yet, I hope you will.

This is the first time I've been named a finalist for an ITW Thriller Award, and I couldn't be more pleased. The other finalists in the short story category are Dominique Bibeau, Smita Harish Jain, Joyce Carol Oates, Anna Scotti, and Catherine Steadman. The winners in all the Thriller Award categories will be announced at Thrillerfest in June. Fingers crossed!

February 2023

The new issue of  Black Cat Mystery Magazine  (#13) is out in trade paperback (ebook to come) and it includes my story  "The Joys of Owning a Dog."  A delighted new labrador owner comes up against a nasty anti-dog new neighbor in this story of suburban warfare. The tale, which opens with "Fifty things I never anticipated doing before I owned a dog," is told in a fun listicle format.

You can pick up the trade paperback of the issue from Amazon by clicking here. It should appear on other online outlets soon.

January 2023

I'm happy to share that my story "Beauty and the Beyotch" has been named a finalist for the Agatha Award. The story was published in issue 29 of Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, which came out in February of last year.  It's a tale about three high school girls told from two perspectives about one thing: the struggle to make their deepest desires come true. What happens when those dreams collide? You can read the story here on my website. Just click on the Beauty and the Beyotch tab. Or, if you'd prefer an e-copy or a paper one, you can buy the issue from many online bookstores.

I'm delighted to be nominated along fellow authors Cynthia Kuhn, Lisa Q. Mathews, Richie Narvaez, and Art Taylor. Voting will occur at the Malice Domestic mystery convention in April.

September 2022

Here is a gift for you: my newest story, "The Gift," has been published in the 2022 Bouchercon anthology, Land of 10,000 Thrills.  In this story, Debbie has always believed in setting a good example for her grandson and the kids at her high school, where she toils as the principal. But sometimes the line between right and wrong blurs—especially when family is involved.

This anthology is available in ebook and trade paperback from the usual sources, as well as directly from the publisher (Down & Out Books) by clicking here.  All the stories in the anthology are set in Minnesota (the location of this year's Bouchercon convention), states adjacent to Minnesota, or Canadian provinces that are Minnesota adjacent. The editor is Greg Herren.

May 2022

I have two new stories to share with you!

The first is "Go Big or Go Home." It's the lead story in this year's Malice Domestic anthology, Mystery Most Diabolical. The story is about a low-earning spendthrift without any morals who's the only living relative of a rich, elderly woman. He decides to friend her on Facebook, aiming to drive her crazy with unsolicited advice so she'll have a heart attack and die and he can inherit all her money. Does he succeed? Read it and find out. If you like my funny stories, I think you'll enjoy this one.

You can buy the book in ebook, trade paperback, and hardcover. The paper versions are available directly from the publisher, as well as other online bookstores. The ebook is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online sites. If you'd like to read about the inspiration for this story, check out my blog post about it on SleuthSayers by clicking here.

Next is "For Bailey" in Low Down Dirty Vote Volume 3: The Color of My Vote. In this story, sixteen-year-old Jocelyn's city council is scheduled to vote on barring residents from setting off fireworks. Tired of seeing how they scare her dog, Jocelyn is all for it. When it looks like the ban might not pass, she and her friends try to change the mind of one of the councilmembers through an unconventional approach. You can order a paper copy of the book through many indie bookstores. Click here to find some near you. If you prefer Amazon (paper or ebook), click here. Paper copies are also available through Barnes and Noble. Click here for them.

April 2022

I'm delighted to have been chosen to be the 2023 toastmaster for the Malice Domestic mystery convention. The con will be held April 28 - 30th 2023 in North Bethesda, Maryland. Hank Phillippi Ryan will be our guest of honor. Ann Cleeves will recieve our lifetime achievement award. Our international guests of honor will be Vaseem Khan and Abir Mukherjee.  The Amelia Award will be presented to Poison Lady Luci Zahray. Tanya Spratt-Williams will be our fan guest of honor. And our Malice Remembers honoree will be Elizabeth Peters. I hope to see you there! You can register here: https://www.malicedomestic.org/registration.html

Also in April ...

I'm honored that my story "A Tale of Two Sisters" has been nominated for a Derringer Award in the novelette category! The story was published last year in the anthology Murder on the Beach! My fellow novelette-category finalists are Jim Benn, Michael Bracken, Annie Reed, and Stacy Woodson.

"A Tale of Two Sisters" is also currently nominated for the Agatha Award.

Winners will be announced on May 1.

March 2022

I'm delighted reader Anne van Doorn picked "Beauty and the Beyotch" as his favorite read of the week on March 19th. The story was published in issue 29 of Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine. He said in part:

"Barb Goffman proved she could write an excellent story when Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine published 'Dear Emily Etiquette,' the story that would earn her the Reader’s Award in 2021. 'Beauty and the Beyotch' is another triumph; it’s a captivating story, beautifully written, with characters that come to life. Once I had googled the word beyotch, I realized the title was superbly chosen too. What are you looking at on the screen—make sure you read this story!"

He also noted that I blogged about "Beauty and the Beyotch" at SleuthSayers. You can read that column here: https://www.sleuthsayers.org/2022/03/the-importance-of-emotional-motivation.html

You can read Anne's full post by clicking here. Thank you, Anne!

Also in March ...

I appeared on Frank Zafiro's podcast, Wrong Place, Write Crime, and he called me ... "a goddess"! You have to hear our fun conversation: http://wrongplacewritecrime.com/2022/03/23/barb-goffman/

February 2022

I'm delighted to have two new stories published this month. The newest is "Beauty and the Beyotch," and last week's was "Five Days to Fitness." I'll talk about "Beauty..." and then "Five Days..." below. I'm also happy to share that my story "A Family Matter" (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine Jan/Feb 2021 issue) was named one of Robert Lopresti's favorite stories of 2021 on his Little Big Crimes blog.

"Beauty and the Beyotch"

The newest issue of Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine (issue 29) has been released, and it includes my story  "Beauty and the Beyotch." It's a tale about three high school girls told from two perspectives about one thing: the struggle to make their deepest desires come true. What happens when those dreams collide?

If you'd like to pick up this issue of the magazine, you can get it in ebook and paper forms from Amazon (just click here) and ebook (only) from Barnes and Noble (click here). It might also appear at your other favorite online bookstore.

"Five Days to Fitness"

I'm happy to share with you my newest story, published on February 1st: "Five Days to Fitness." It's a novelette (which means it's a really long short story). It appears in the anthology Murder in the Mountains, the second book in the Destination Murders series, following last year's Murder on the Beach, in which my story "A Tale of Two Sisters" appeared.

Murder in the Mountains has nine cozy short stories (some novelettes, like mine). In addition to my tale, there are stories by authors Gretchen Archer, Leslie Budewitz, Karen Cantwell, Eleanor Cawood Jones, Tina Kashian, Shari Randall, Shawn Reilly Simmons, and Cathy Wiley.

In "Five Days to Fitness," Bree heads off to a fitness retreat, where she expects to work hard. But she doesn't anticipate a classmate who sings off-key, another with anxiety off the Richter scale, and an instructor who despises her students. The whodunit takes place at a famous Virginia resort in the New River Valley of the Appalachian Mountains.

You can buy Murder in the Mountains in ebook and trade paperback formats. Click here for ebook and here for print. (The print version is currently only available at Amazon (as of 2/1/22), but it should appear in other bookstores soon. It will also be available through Ingram, so you will be able to ask your local indie bookshop to order it for you.)

January 2022

I'm beyond thrilled to share that I've received two Agatha Award nominations. "A Family Matter" from the January/February 2021 issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine  and "A Tale of Two Sisters" from the anthology Murder on the Beach were both recognized. Any nomination is special, but getting two in one year is, as I've said elsewhere, a heady feeling. Thank you to all my fans who read and loved my stories and listed them on your nomination ballots. 

If you haven't read either of these stories yet, I've made it easy for you. Just click here for "A Family Matter" and here for "A Tale of Two Sisters."  The Agatha winners will be announced at the Malice Domestic convention in April, where I look forward to seeing my fellow nominees in the short story category: Richie Narvaez, Gigi Pandian, and Shawn Reilly Simmons. I hope to see you there too.

In other January news:

I'm delighted my short story "Wishful Thinking," published in October 2021 in Black Cat Weekly, as well as individually that month by Wildside Press, has been chosen as Best Short Story of the Week by mystery reader Anne van Doorn.

2021 and earlier

For information about my short stories published before 2022, please click on the My Published Stories tab, where you can find a chronological list of my stories and information about which ones won or were nominated for awards.

I'm a mystery short-story writer. I've won the Agatha Award three times, the Macavity Award twice, and the Anthony, Silver Falchion, and Ellery Queen  Readers Award once each. I've been a finalist for national crime-writing awards forty-three times: eighteen times for the Agatha, ten times for the Macavity, nine times for the Anthony, four times for the Derringer, and once each for the Thriller and the Silver Falchion. (The Silver Falchion was for Don't Get Mad,
Get Even, which won best single-author mystery-short-story collection published in 2013.)

I live in Winchester, Virginia. 

I love to hear from readers. Email me at barb at barbgoffman.com.

I blog every third Tuesday at SleuthSayers: http://www.sleuthsayers.org/. There's new content every day, often focused on writing, especially short stories.

Barb Goffman
Mystery Writer