Best Of The Strand Magazine – Lamia J Gulli (1)

The next show is at 7:00 p.m. I peek through the narrow opening between the tent’s heavy flaps. The women back at the cafeteria would say I’m trespassing, but I can’t help myself. Being impulsive is not something I’m terribly proud of, but sometimes it pays off. I push a flap aside to find that the tent’s setup is the real thing, with four spotlights directed toward the ceiling, and three tightropes at various heights.

The tightropes are empty, the trapeze swings are empty, and the platforms are empty. Nothing moves except me. At least the place doesn’t smell of dung, and there are no colorful pedestals for animal performances. Circuses with animals depress me. Walking through the quiet, I’m drawn to the tallest pole, with its narrow platform, imagining myself bravely putting one foot out into the vast air. Then I might tip forward a bit. Perhaps let myself lose my balance. There’s no sign of a net.

We all have to pay for our mistakes, Paul says. Like you, Paul? I feel a dizzy anticipation as I reach for the rope ladder hanging beside the pole. With my other hand, I slip off my shoes to better grip the slats with my bare feet. What I’m not ready for is the ladder’s loose sway when I barely manage to get four feet off of the ground. It’s like that arcade game where you have to climb across a rope ladder to ring a bell at the other end to win a prize.

The ladder I’m on lurches wildly, swinging halfway around the pole, and I thud onto my back in the scuffed dirt. I lie there with my eyes closed, feeling ridiculous, until I feel hot, fuggy dog breath on my face. The chest and long snout of a Doberman loom above my chin. In the distant glow of the spotlight I see a thick tear of drool forming on one of the dog’s lips. I hold my breath, waiting for the dog to take a chunk out of my throat.

“Queenie.” The man’s voice is calm but commanding. The Doberman turns its head, and the drool strings out and attaches itself to my throat. Still, I don’t move.

Copyright © 2025 by The Strand Magazine, LLC E-book published in 2025 by Blackstone Publishing Cover design and illustrations by Larissa Ezell All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. The characters and events in this book are fictitious.

Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Trade e-book ISBN 979-8-228-01726-9 Library e-book ISBN 979-8-228-01725-2 Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Collections & Anthologies Blackstone Publishing 31 Mistletoe Rd. Ashland, OR 97520 www.BlackstonePublishing.com 1kitap1.com/en To our older brothers for indulging (and encouraging) our bibliomania from the beginning, and for so much else.

And to Buddy, the beautiful girl parrot, loyal employee of The Strand, who brought us so much love, laughter, and joy. 1kitap1.com/en CONTENTS Foreword Alexander McCall Smith Introduction Andrew F. Gulli Introduction Lamia J. Gulli Blue on Black Michael Connelly Where the Evidence Lies Jeffery Deaver Deportees James Lee Burke The Christmas Party Alexander McCall Smith Foreverglow John M. Floyd Final Interview Santa Muerte Jonathan Rabb Peephole Andrew Crowley Monsieur Pamplemousse and the Grey Diamonds Michael Bond Animal Planet Jo Nesbø The Haunted Ceiling H.

G. Wells Carnival Laura Benedict Adventure on a Bad Night Shirley Jackson ’Twas the Season Mark Mower Tin Badges Lorenzo Carcaterra Sixty-Six Ray Bradbury Providence and the Butler P. G. Wodehouse The Property Ladder Ruth Ware The Salesman of Death Kira Peikoff Risk Assessment Zoë Sharp Due Diligence Catherine Aird A Sad Mistake R.

L. Stine An Unlikely Series of Conversations Walter Mosley Tomorrow’s News Samantha Lokai A Guid Soldier Charles Todd The Summer Woman Tennessee Williams The Great Man James S. Dorr Rumpole and the Old Familiar Faces John Mortimer The Murderer at the Falls Michael Mallory Acknowledgments About the Authors About the Editors 1kitap1.com/en FOREWORD ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH There really is no mystery here: The mystery story, in any of its guises, is very clearly and unambiguously one of the most enduring and popular literary genres.

In libraries, it’s almost always at the top, or near the top, of the list of most borrowed titles. In bookstores, the mystery section is hard to miss as it often occupies more shelf space than any other.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 34351111b80f77f5
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 5,896,888 bytes (5.624 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9798228017269, 9798228017252
• Pages: 439
• Language: English (en)

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• Estimated Reading Time: 634.83 minutes
• Total Words: 126,965
• Total Characters: 706,657
• Average Words per Page: 289.21
• Average Characters per Page: 1609.7

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