Back in Black: An Anthology of New Mystery Short Stories

Don Bruns is an ad executive and a USA Today bestselling author. As a former road musician, he performed with Ricky Nelson, the Four Seasons, Ray Charles, and others. Bruns has authored seventeen published novels and his New Orleans trilogy has been optioned for a television series. He makes his home in Southern Florida.

Reed Farrel Coleman, called a hard-boiled poet by NPR’s Maureen Corrigan, is the New York Times bestselling author of thirty-three novels including six in Robert B. Parker’s Jesse Stone series. His new novel, Sleepless City, will be released by Blackstone Publishing later this year. He is a four-time recipient of the Shamus Award and a four-time Edgar Award nominee in three different categories. He has also won the Audie, Scribe, Macavity, Barry, and Anthony awards. Reed lives with his wife on Long Island.

HEATHER GRAHAM, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, has written over two hundred novels and novellas in numerous genres and has been published in approximately twenty-five languages. She has been honored with awards from booksellers and writers’ organizations for excellence in her work, is a proud recipient of the Silver Bullet from Thriller Writers, and was awarded the prestigious Thriller Master in 2016. She is also a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Romance Writers of America. Heather’s books have been featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, Mystery Book Club, People, and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including Today, Entertainment Tonight, and local television. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.

Andrew Child, who also writes as Andrew Grant, is the author of RUN, False Positive, False Friend, False Witness, Invisible, and Too Close to Home. Child and his wife, the novelist Tasha Alexander, live on a wildlife preserve in Wyoming.

Rick Bleiweiss has crafted the bestselling, award-winning Pignon Scorbion historical mystery series by blending his love of the past with the twisty deliciousness of a whodunit. He has recently also contributed a wonderful story to the mystery anthology Hotel California.Before becoming an author, Rick started his career in music as a rock performer, Grammy-nominated producer (of over fifty records), and record company senior executive, working with Clive Davis, Melissa Etheridge, the Backstreet Boys, Kiss, U2, Whitney Houston, the BeeGees, and other industry legends.Since 2006 as a publishing company executive, he has acquired works by noted authors and celebrities including James Clavell, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Rex Pickett, Al Roker, Dale Brown, Robert Downey Jr., Leon Uris, Catherine Coulter, and P. C. Cast, among many others. Follow Rick & Scorbion at www.RickBleiweiss.com

Dave Bruns took advantage of the covid pandemic to begin a second career as a writer. Thirty-six years spent working in child welfare prepared him for a walk of life as a storyteller. His clients included drug dealers, smugglers, and murderers and his Carl Boyd series reflects that experience. Bruns lives in Toledo, Ohio, with his wife, LouAnn Frey, and an obnoxious Portuguese water dog named Roscoe. Look for Bruns’s debut novel, Rule Number Four, in summer of 2024.

Charles Todd is a pen name used by the American authors Caroline (1934-2021) and Charles Todd, a mother-and-son writing team who write the Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries and the Bess Crawford mysteries, as well as stand-alone novels. Their novel Proof of Guilt was a New York Times bestseller, and A Test of Wills was named one of the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association’s 100 favorite mysteries of the 20th Century and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year selection. Their novels have won the Agatha Award, the Barry Award, and the Anthony Award, as well as being finalists for several other awards. Charles is continuing the series.

Tori Eldridge is the author of The Ninja’s Oath, book four in the Lily Wong thriller series—nominated for the Anthony, Lefty, and Macavity Awards, winner of the 2021 Crimson Scribe Best Book of the Year—and the Brazilian dark fantasy Dance among the Flames. Her shorter works appear in numerous anthologies. A former actress, singer, and dancer on Broadway, television, and film, Tori holds a fifth-degree black belt in To-Shin Do ninja martial arts. ToriEldridge.com.

Ward Larsen is a USA Today bestselling author and seven-time winner of the Florida Book Award. His work has been nominated for both the Edgar and Macavity Awards. He is a former US Air Force fighter pilot who flew combat in Operation Desert Storm. He also served as a federal law enforcement officer and is a trained aircraft accident investigator. His first thriller, The Perfect Assassin, is being adapted into a major motion picture by Amber Entertainment.