Keeping Things Short

The Short Mystery Fiction Society has announced its nominations for the 2024 Derringer Awards, in four categories.

Best Flash Story (up to 1,000 words):
• “Sleep Rough,” by Brandon Barrows (Shotgun Honey, September 2023)
• “The Referee,” by C.W. Blackwell (Shotgun Honey, October 2023)
• To Whom It May Concern,” by Serena Jayne (Shotgun Honey, January 2023)
• “Teddy’s Favorite Thing,” by Paul Ryan O’Connor ( Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine , September/October 2023)
• “Supply Chains,” by Andrew Welsh-Huggins ( Black Cat Weekly #89)

Best Short Story (1,001-4,000 words):
• “Denim Mining,” by Michael Bracken ( Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine , May/June 2023)
• “Dogs of War,” by Michael Bracken and Stacy Woodson (from Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir Volume Four , edited by Michael Bracken; Down & Out)
• “Last Day at the Jackrabbit,” by John Floyd ( The Strand , May 2023)
• “I Don’t Like Mondays,” by Josh Pachter ( Mystery Magazine , July 2023)
• “Judge Not,” by Twist Phelan ( Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine , May/June 2023)
• “A Tail of Justice,” by Shannon Taft ( Black Cat Weekly #114)

Best Long Story (4,001-8,000 words):
• “Hard Rain on Beach Street,” by C.W. Blackwell (from Killin’ Time in San Diego , edited by Holly West; Down & Out)
• “Reversion,” by Marcelle Dubé ( Mystery Magazine , April 2023)
• “Back to Hell House,” by Nick Kolakowski ( Vautrin , Fall 2023)
• “Troubled Water,” by donalee Moulton ( Black Cat Weekly #75)
• “It’s Not Even Past,” by Anna Scotti ( Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine , September/October 2023)
• “Good Deed for the Day,” by Bonnar Spring (from Wolfsbane: Best New England Crime Stories , edited by Christine Bagley, Susan Oleksiw, and Leslie Wheeler; Crime Spell)
• “Ignatius Rum-and-Cola,: by Andrew Welsh-Huggins ( Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine , January/February 2023)

Best Novelette (8,001-20,000 words):
• “Vengeance Weapon,” by James R. Benn (from The Refusal Camp: Stories by James R. Benn ; Soho Press)
• “Mrs. Hyde,” by David Dean ( Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine , March/April 2023)
• “The Case of the Bogus Cinderellas,” by Jacqueline Freimor ( Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine , July/Aug 2023)
• Madam Tomahawk , by Nick Kolakowski (A Grifter’s Song Book 29, Down & Out)
• “Catherine the Great,” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (from WMG 2023 Holiday Spectacular Calendar of Stories , edited by by Kristine Kathryn Rusch)

The Derringer Awards take their moniker from the long-popular small handgun . SMFS members will choose this year’s winners, with the results to be posted on May 1.