THE CAT’S MEOW
354 Words
THE CAT’S MEOW
Welcome to Black Cat Weekly #8. As always, we present an eclectic selection of tales, ranging from short stories to novels, with setting from the Old West to the future to alternate worlds. In other words, no matter what your tastes, you’ll find something to love here.
I must admit I’ve been increasingly enjoying the adventure of the “telepathic detective” Carlton Clarke, whose 12 adventures originally appeared in newspaper syndication around the United States in 1908. We have been running them in order, and we are now up to #8. He is a Chicago-based detective very much in the Sherlock Holmes fashion, but with the added mental power of telepathy on top of an already-powerful intellect. We also have more recent novels by Edith Dorian and Darrell Schweitzer, both great reads, and a classic Nick Carter novel from 1915. Add stories by such masters as Gordon R. Dickson, Stephen Gallagher, and John M. Floyd, and it’s just icing on the gravy...to mangle a metaphor!
Seasonally appropriate tales are always welcome here, and we have a classic horror tale by Vernon Lee, plus another of my own “Sympathy for...” monsters series, this time featuring werewolves. (It’s also my personal favorite of the series—always quite popular whenever I do public readings of my work.)
Our usual solve-it-yourself mystery from Hal Charles, a classic crime story from Robert Camp, and a western by pulp master W.C. Tuttle round out the lineup.
This issue’s lineup breaks down:
Mysteries & Suspense
Mystery on Graveyard Head, by Edith Dorian
“Kismet and the Baby Orchid,” by Frank Lovell Nelson [short story, Carlton Clarke #8]
“Awake To Fear,” by Robert Camp [short story]
“Look It Up,” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery]
“The Devil’s Dooryard,” by W.C. Tuttle [historical novella]
Straight to the Goal, by Nicholas Carter [mystery novel]
“The Moon and Marcie Wade,” by John M. Floyd [Barb Goffman Presents Mystery]
Science Fiction & Fantasy
“Marsyas in Flanders,” by Vernon Lee [fantasy story]
“Sympathy for Wolves,” by John Gregory Betancourt [fantasy story]
“The Blackwood Oak,” by Stephen Gallagher [science fiction story]
“Perfectly Adjusted,” by Gordon R. Dickson [science fiction novella]
The White Isle, Darrell Schweitzer [fantasy novel]
Enjoy!
—John Betancourt
Editor, Black Cat Weekly
MYSTERY ON GRAVEYARD HEAD,
by Edith Dorian
- Writer
