Black Cat Weekly #202

This week’s short stories are just as diverse. Robert Lopresti’s “The Trouble with Lucy” is a quiet, devastating tale of choices, consequences, and the price of guilt. Celebrating National Ice Cream Day (the third Sunday in July), John M. Floyd’s “Brain Food” has Sheriff Lucy Valentine juggling fugitives, cranky townsfolk, and her meddling mother—with the help of some ice cream and sharp wits.

Michael Bracken’s “Schrödinger’s Blonde” is a noir-tinged mystery with a haunting hook: a decades-old photo of a vanished girl—and the detective hired to learn the truth. Larry Hodges gives us “Thirty-five Genie Heads on a Wall,” a wildly inventive story about revenge, responsibility, and the consequences of wish-granting gone wrong.

In Hannah Shearer’s Here Be Dragons, a stubborn dragon—and a stubborn woman—turn an unexpected standoff into a wry tale of self-rescue, chronic pain, and independence. “The Immortality Shot” by Andrew Kozma is a quietly unsettling piece about scientific ambition and human frailty. And E.C. Tubb’s “Upstairs” is a heartbreaking tale of space-school ambition and personal failure—where the real tragedy isn’t who fails to graduate, but why they were expected to succeed.

Here’s the complete lineup—

Cover Art: Ron Miller

NOVELS

Feathers Left Around, by Carolyn Wells [Fleming Stone series]

A baffling murder at a séance challenges detective Fleming Stone’s skill.

Marigold, by Edith Allonby [Lucifram #2]

A teacher is transported to a strange planet where satire meets fantasy.

SOLVE-IT-YOURSELF MYSTERY

“Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” by Hal Charles

Can you solve the mystery before the detective? All the clues are there!

SHORT STORIES

“The Trouble with Lucy,” by Robert Lopresti [Michael Bracken Presents short story]

A married man’s affair leads to murder—but love has a way of repeating.

“Brain Food,” by John M. Floyd [Barb Goffman Presents short story]

At an ice cream fest, sheriff outsmarts troopers to catch an escapee.

“Schrödinger’s Blonde,” by Michael Bracken

A P.I. locates a witness to a 1977 murder, but the killer still lurks.

“Thirty-five Genie Heads on a Wall,” by Larry Hodges

What happens when the bullied kid becomes a genie’s master?

“Here Be Dragons,” by Hannah Shearer

What if the damsel in distress doesn’t want to be rescued?

“The Immortality Shot,” by Andrew Kozma

A free immortality shot promises paradise—but someone’s paying the cost.

“Upstairs,” by E.C. Tubb

A space cadet struggles with expectations in a future flight academy.