Best Laid Plans: 21 Stories of Mystery & Suspense

Opening Lines: The Best Laid Plans: 21 Stories of Mystery & Suspense

Edited by Judy Penz Sheluk

It started with an idea: what if my newly formed imprint, Superior Shores Press, could publish an anthology of short mystery fiction? I factored in the costs (not including my time): author compensation, cover art, publishing, and promotion. Swallowed hard. More than once. What if I didn’t sell a single copy? How much could I personally afford to lose?

Well, nothing, if you see my bank balance but hey…I’ve been a writer and editor for a very long time. I’m nothing if not a believer in the dream. After all, my first publication credit was in THEMA Literary Journal, 2004. I was paid $5 for my flash fiction story, Sylvia’s World. Not much, in the grand scheme of things, but it was validation.

That’s what I wanted to pay forward. Validation.

Enter The Best Laid Plans: 21 Stories of Mystery & Suspense. Culled from 71 submissions—most really, really good—it was difficult to make a final selection. But I did, and I’m so immensely proud of this book, and the authors who took this inaugural journey with me, including WWK’s own KM Rockwood, whose story appears first in the collection. And now, without further ado, here are the opening lines in order of appearance:

From Frozen Daiquiris by KM Rockwood: Penelope Regenwold paused to take a deep breath before she pushed open the swinging door to the expansive kitchen in her recently purchased McMansion. If the builder offered an upgrade, her kitchen had it.

From Spirit River Dam by Susan Daly: Toronto, October 1964, “Lot 5, Spring Morning in Ste.- Rose by Anne Savage.” Imogen sat near the back of the audience as the auctioneer went into the details of the painting on offer. It was safe to tune him out, since Spirit River Dam was Lot 68. She avoided glancing at Bryan in the next seat. It was hard enough to maintain her equilibrium.

From Oubliette by Edward Lodi: The wind was picking up, turning the leaves on the trees along Marlborough Street belly up, like dead fish. Overhead the boughs of a gnarled maple swayed and creaked like cheap furniture.

From Gambling Against Fate by P.A. DeVoe: The rotund innkeeper acknowledged Judge Lu with a short bow. “Sir, we are honored to have you stay at our humble inn.” He looked toward a young man sweeping in the back of the room and called out, “Rong, what are you waiting for? Come and assist our guest.”

From The True Cost of Liberty by Chris Wheatley: Never in my life did I expect or desire to become embroiled in theft, murder, and the seedier side of humanity. I had always fancied myself a reasonably honest and straightforward person, but all that changed, in a matter of seconds no less, last Sunday afternoon.

From Deadly Dinner by LD Masterson: I didn’t take this job to kill anyone. Truth is, I’m not much into violence. Don’t even own a gun. I mostly just needed a job, and I’d done food prep before. A couple restaurants. Worked a school cafeteria once but I couldn’t deal with those damn kids. This was my first nursing home.

From Fire Drill by Lisa de Nikolits: Fly under the radar. That was my plan. Don’t lose your cool. That was my mantra. I told myself I could do it. I’d made it this far, hadn’t I?

From Heirloom by Tom Barlow: Seth’s dad, whereabouts unknown, had promised his mother, Harmony, a ring, a home, a family of her own—all sounding like nirvana to the daughter of a West Virginia coal miner. What he’d given her instead was a fetus to resent, and her only fourteen years old.

From The Cookie Crumbles by Peggy Rothschild: This is the God’s honest truth: Momma never loved me. At least not the way she loved my big sister, Marnie. I once complained about it to my aunt and got the “mothers love all their children equally” speech. After that, I kept my mouth shut on the subject.

From The Stonecutter by Edith Maxwell: I first saw the stonecutter working in a pool of illumination as I strolled near the cemetery on a summer evening. Sweat shone on his face as he chiseled a gravestone.

From Callingdon Mountain by Peter DiChellis: The odd Callingdon Mountain story began for me with a phone call last winter. But I still remember every detail, every twist, because what happened in the end has forever changed, in a small though vital way, how people look at me and how I look at myself.

From Festival Finale by Mary Dutta: From a distance, Charles Attlee looked a lot like his author photo. Up close, he presented a faded, fortyish version of the twenty-something literary boy wonder of his press kit photo. Like a Dorian Gray in reverse.

From Lunch Break by Lesley A. Diehl: “If my old lady sent that crap in my lunch box, she’d be wearing my fist in her eye.” Ralph watched Ben fold back a corner of his sandwich, look at the contents and grimace.

From Who They Are Now by Vicki Weisfeld: The day after deadly Hurricane Alex hit, our duty sergeant gave my partner and me the kind of assignment I dread—the kind that reminds you that no matter how brave or smart or rich or good-looking you are, no matter how good a planner or how much “in control” you are, the indignities of old age lie in wait.

From Thank You For Your Cooperation by Johanna Beate Stumpf: Marsha glanced at the timestamp in the corner of the screen. It was exactly eight twenty-two and forty seconds. The surveillance program switched the camera angle on the big screen. She let her eyes slide over the small screens to her right. Everything was quiet.

From Last Thoughts by William Kamowski: The resemblance was almost too fitting. Much alike in many ways, the three girls were likewise subtle, silent in their agreement to shape their deaths as he had suggested. None had said, “I’ll do it now.” They simply followed his scripts into their last thoughts.

From A Sure Thing by C.C. Guthrie: The job offer came as another late season storm took aim at winter-weary Buffalo. Faced with the prospect of more snow, Rocco Sakarian only had one question for the caller: “Where’s the hit?”

From The Sweetheart Scamster by Rosemary McCracken: “Mrs. Sullivan is here for her appointment,” Rose Sisto, my administrative assistant, announced at my office door. I looked up from the papers I was studying as Trudy Sullivan slipped into the chair across from my desk.  

From Better Dead than Redhead by Lisa Lieberman: I leaned over the body. “Nobody kills herself over a bad hairstyle.” “

You didn’t know Mimi Courvoisier.”

From Sucker Punch by V.S. Kemanis: The telltale gleam in Zach’s eye gives him away. “I’ve got an idea.”

From Plan D by Judy Penz Sheluk: Jenny wasn’t sure when she first got the idea. Maybe it was the big ice storm back in the winter of 2012. One day there were icicles hanging from the eaves, glistening in the pale moonlit night like giant teardrops. The next day, as the temperature soared and the sun shone, the icicles had slowly melted, drip by drip, until they had vanished without a trace.

Synopsis: Whether it’s at a subway station in Norway, a ski resort in Vermont, a McMansion in the

suburbs, or a trendy art gallery in Toronto, the twenty-one authors represented in this superb collection of mystery and suspense interpret the overarching theme of “the best laid plans” in their own inimitable style. And like many best laid plans, they come with no guarantees.

Stories by Tom Barlow, Susan Daly, Lisa de Nikolits, P.A. De Voe, Peter DiChellis, Lesley A. Diehl, Mary Dutta, C.C. Guthrie, William Kamowski, V.S. Kemanis, Lisa Lieberman, Edward Lodi, Rosemary McCracken, LD Masterson, Edith Maxwell, Judy Penz Sheluk, KM Rockwood, Peggy Rothschild, Johanna Beate Stumpf, Vicki Weisfeld, and Chris Wheatley.

The Best Laid Plans is now available on Kindle or trade paperback at your favorite bookseller, including Chapters.Indigo and Barnes & Noble. 

Link on Amazon: 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S7ZTCTN