Michael Bracken
Edgar-nominated Writer/Anthony-nominated Editor
To advance to a specific anthology, select one of the following:
Fedora • Fedora II • Fedora III
Guns + Tacos Season 1 • Guns + Tacos Season 2 • Guns + Tacos Season 3 • Guns + Tacos Season 4
Groovy Gumshoes • Hardbroiled • Jukes & Tonks • Mickey Finn 1 • Mickey Finn 2 • Small Crimes • The Eyes of Texas
FEDORA:
PRIVATE EYES AND TOUGH GUYS
Wildside Press, 2001
This ain’t your Mama’s anthology and these tales ain’t for the faint-hearted. These are raw, gritty stories exploring the dark abyss of men’s souls.
With the sound of gunfire ringing in their ears and the stench of blood on their clothes, these private eyes and tough guys face their darkest fears and most cunning adversaries.
Here are tales of love and hate, sex and power, crime and punishment, fear and retribution—tales that grab you by the throat, slam you against the wall, then drag you back for more.
Here are men and women who catch everything life throws at them, then throw it right back.
Here are 14 hardboiled tales guaranteed to blow your hat off!
Featuring hard-hitting tales from some of the most talented crime fiction writers working today, including:
Nick Andreychuk • Michael Bracken • Ernest B. Brown
Michael Collins • Ruthe Furie • Michael Hemmingson
Robert D. Hughes • Fredrick Obermeyer
Percy Spurlark Parker • Shelley Singer
Dan A. Sproul • Tom Sweeney
Mark Troy • Tim Wohlforth
“[Percy Spurlark] Parker’s Las Vegas private eye has an even stronger outing in another collection of new stories, Fedora: Private Eyes and Tough Guys, edited by Michael Bracken, which also includes a good case for Shelley Singer’s classic-car-dealer-sleuth April Pinck; a satisfying non-series revenge tale, ‘Reunion’ by Dan A. Sproul; and a searing piece of social commentary by a crime-fiction master, Michael Collins’ ‘The Horrible, Senseless Murders of Two Elderly Women.’ ”—Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
“New anthology series makes its debut with this impressive collection of P.I. stories....”—Thrilling Detective
“Buy it and they won’t break your legs.”—Murder One Newsletter
Edgar Award Nomination
“The Horrible, Senseless Murders of Two Elderly Women”
by Michael Collins
nominated for Best Short Story
Derringer Award Nomination
“Cuts Like A Knife”
by Michael Bracken
nominated for Best Short Mystery
Bronze ADDY Award
Copywriting
Awarded to Michael Bracken
For the book’s cover copy
Other Distinguished Mystery Stories
as noted in
The Best American Mystery Stories 2002
“The Horrible, Senseless Murders of Two Elderly Women”
by Michael Collins
“Teed Off”
by Mark Troy
Honorable Mentions of 2001
as noted in
The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories
Third Annual Collection
“The Horrible, Senseless Murders of Two Elderly Women”
by Michael Collins
FEDORA II:
MORE PRIVATE EYES AND TOUGH GUYS
Betancourt & Co., 2003
This still ain’t your Mama’s anthology! Whether they crawl up from the gutters or stroll down from the mansions, the private eyes and tough guys in these stories make the mean streets meaner and the dark alleys darker. While some stories punch you full in the face, others sneak up from behind and place the cold steel barrel of a .38 against the back of your skull. Either way, you won’t be able to defend yourself against the raw, gritty power between these covers.
Featuring original crime fiction by:
Ann Aptaker • Michael Bracken • Gary R. Bush
Brian Evankovich • Justin Gustainis • Robert D. Hughes
O'Neil De Noux • Percy Spurlark Parker
Anthony Neil Smith • Dan Sontup
Dan A. Sproul • James Stevens-Arce
Tom Sweeney • Simon Wood
“[Y]ou won’t find a better source for traditional hardboiled entertainment.”—Bleeker Books
L.A. Screamfest Film Festival Best Short Screenplay
adapted from
“Souls”
by James Stevens-Arce
FEDORA III:
EVEN MORE PRIVATE EYES. EVEN MORE TOUGH GUYS
Betancourt & Co., 2004
This ain’t never gonna be your Mama’s anthology. Like a sucker punch with a fistful of quarters, these stories will knock you off your feet.
From cold freezers to hot fires, the private eyes and tough guys between these covers travel through the blackness of men’s souls. Working skip traces, investigating abusive spouses, and collecting bad debts brings them face-to-face with their worst fears. They fight back the only way they know how, using every trick they’ve learned while working the mean streets.
Hot blood. Cold sweat. A quick glance over the shoulder. You’ll be with them every step of the way.
These and many more dark, hardboiled stories from some of the best crime fiction writers working today:
J. L. Abramo • Nick Andreychuk • Ann Aptaker
David Bart • Michael Bracken • James S. Dorr
Kevin Egan • Lee Goldberg • Michael Hemmingson
Carol Kilgore • Chelle Martin • Graham Powell
Dorothy Rellas • David Terrenoire • Tom Sweeney
Bev Vincent • George Wilhite
“Even more private eyes, even more tough guys from the best on-going P.I. short story series.”—Thrilling Detective
Derringer Award Nomination
“Freddie Swings In”
by David Terrenoire
“Bumsickle”
by Lee Goldberg
adapted for the screen
and released in 2012
The Sixties were a time of great cultural upheaval, when long-established social norms were challenged and everything changed: from music to fashion to social mores. And the Leave It to Beaver households in Middle America didn’t know what to make of it all.
In the midst of this, private eyes tried to understand and bridge the generational divide while providing their clients with legal and extra-legal detecting services.
From old-school private eyes with their flat-tops, off-the-rack suits, and well-worn brogues to the new breed of private eyes with their shoulder-length hair, bell-bottoms, and hemp sandals, the shamuses in Groovy Gumshoes take readers on a rollicking romp through the Sixties.
Contributors include:
Jack Bates • C.W. Blackwell • Michael Bracken
N.M. Cedeño • Hugh Lessig • Steve Liskow
Adam Meyer • Tom Milani • Neil Plakcy
Stephen D. Rogers • Mark Thielman • Grant Tracey
Mark Troy • Andrew Welsh-Huggins • Robb White
GUNS + TACOS
Season 1
Down & Out Books, 2019
There’s a taco truck in Chicago known among a certain segment of the population for its daily specials. Late at night and during the wee hours of the morning, it isn’t the food selection that attracts customers, it’s the illegal weapons available with the special order. Each episode of Guns + Tacos features the story of one Chicagoland resident who visits the taco truck seeking a solution to life’s problems, a solution that always comes in a to-go bag.
The first season features original crime novellas by:
Michael Bracken • Trey R. Barker
James A. Hearn • Gary Phillips
William Dylan Powell • Frank Zafiro
and a bonus story by
Michael Bracken
Paperback Edition
Down & Out Books, 2020
Paperback Edition
Down & Out Books, 2020
GUNS + TACOS
Season 2
Down & Out Books, 2020
There’s a taco truck in Chicago known among a certain segment of the population for its daily specials. Late at night and during the wee hours of the morning, it isn’t the food selection that attracts customers, it’s the illegal weapons available with the special order. Each episode of Guns + Tacos features the story of one Chicagoland resident who visits the taco truck seeking a solution to life’s problems, a solution that always comes in a to-go bag.
The second season features original crime novellas by:
Ann Aptaker • Eric Beetner
Michael Bracken & Trey R. Barker
Alec Cizak • Ryan Sayles
Mark Troy
and a bonus story by
Trey R. Barker
Paperback Edition
Down & Out Books, 2021
Paperback Edition
Down & Out Books, 2021
GUNS + TACOS
Season 3
Down & Out Books, 2021
There’s a taco truck in Chicago known among a certain segment of the population for its daily specials. Late at night and during the wee hours of the morning, it isn’t the food selection that attracts customers, it’s the illegal weapons available with the special order. Each episode of Guns + Tacos features the story of one Chicagoland resident who visits the taco truck seeking a solution to life’s problems, a solution that always comes in a to-go bag.
The third season features original crime novellas by:
David H. Hendrickson • Hugh Lessig
Neil Plakcy • Andrew Welsh-Huggins
Stacy Woodson • David Zeltserman
and a bonus story by
Michael Bracken
Paperback Edition
Down & Out Books, 2021
Paperback Edition
Down & Out Books, 2021
Derringer Award Winner
“Two Tamales, One Tokarev, and a
Lifetime of Broken Promises”
by Stacy Woodson
GUNS + TACOS
Season 4
Down & Out Books
COMING 2022
There’s a taco truck in Chicago known among a certain segment of the population for its daily specials. Late at night and during the wee hours of the morning, it isn’t the food selection that attracts customers, it’s the illegal weapons available with the special order. Each episode of Guns + Tacos features the story of one Chicagoland resident who visits the taco truck seeking a solution to life’s problems, a solution that always comes in a to-go bag.
The fourth season features original crime novellas by:
Trey R. Barker • C.W. Blackwell • Adam Meyer
Karen E. Olson • Alan Orloff • Joseph S. Walker
and a bonus story by
Trey R. Barker
HARDBROILED
Betancourt & Co., 2003
Fourteen delicious private eye tales guaranteed to whet your appetite for detection!
Wining, dining, and death. Fast living and fine dining combine to present today’s private eyes with culinary crimes suitable for even the most refined palate.
The private eyes in these stories face delicious dangers, savory sins, and tasty temptations...and the bad guys always get their just deserts. An appetizing selection of today’s top private eye writers and talented newcomers season their tales with the exciting spices of love, hate, justice, and vengeance.
Here are fourteen delicious private eyes tales—and one poem—guaranteed to whet your appetite for detection.
Featuring original stories by:
Nick Andreychuk • Jack Bludis • Carol Kilgore
Robert Lopresti • Andrew McAleer
D. Jeanette McSherry • Art Montague
Linda Summers Posey • Dorothy Rellas
Stephen D. Rogers • Kenneth Thornton Samuels
Dan Sontup • Tom Sweeney • Tim Wohlforth
“Scoop a copy of Michael Bracken’s Hardbroiled and whet your palate with some of the best and hottest authors in the P.I. genre today. A superb, original Private Eye anthology in every respect.”—Robin Moore, Number 1 best-selling author of The French Connection and The Green Berets
“...it’s a great ride.”—Thrilling Detective
“Filled with interesting stories, fascinating people and mysteries you will enjoy trying to solve, Hardbroiled is a must have for any serious mystery fan...”—Murder and Mayhem Book Club
“This concoction of expertly prepared stories is one of the best short mystery collections I have had the pleasure to read in a long time. If you like your mystery with hard boiled detectives and close to the bone suspense, you’ll love Hardbroiled.”—The Popper Gazette
Anthony Award Nomination
and
Shamus Award Nomination
“Munchies”
by Jack Bludis
The stories in Jukes & Tonks introduce sinners and saints, love begun and love gone wrong, and all manner of unsavory criminal endeavors. What they have in common is that they plop you down in worlds where the music pulsating from the stage provides the backbeat for tales that are unsparing, heartbreaking, twisty, and a few are as dark as the night.
Co-edited with Gary Phillips, Jukes & Tonks features powerful crime fiction by some of today's hottest crime fiction writers!
Featuring original stories by:
Trey R. Barker • Michael Bracken
Jonathan Brown • S.A. Cosby
John M. Floyd • Debra H. Goldstein
Gar Anthony Haywood • Penny Mickelbury
Gary Phillips • William Dylan Powell
Kimberly B. Richardson • Stacy Woodson
Selected for inclusion in
The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2022
“An Ache So Divine”
by S.A. Cosby
“Return to Sender”
by Gar Anthony Haywood
MICKEY FINN:
21ST CENTURY NOIR
vol. 1
Down & Out Books, 2020
Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir is a crime-fiction cocktail that will knock readers into a literary stupor.
Contributors push hard against the boundaries of crime fiction, driving their work into places short crime fiction doesn’t often go, into a world where the mean streets seem gentrified by comparison and happy endings are the exception rather than the rule. And they do all this in contemporary settings, bringing noir into the 21st century.
Like any good cocktail, Mickey Finn is a heady mix of ingredients that packs a punch, and when you’ve finished reading every story, you’ll know that you’ve been “slipped a Mickey.”
Contributors include many of today's best noir writers:
J.L. Abramo • Ann Aptaker • Trey R. Barker
Michael Bracken • Barb Goffman • David Hagerty
James A. Hearn • David H. Hendrickson
Jarrett Kaufman • Mark R. Kehl • Hugh Lessig
Steve Liskow • Alan Orloff • Josh Pachter
Steve Rasnic Tem • Mikal Trimm • Bev Vincent
Joseph S. Walker • Andrew Welsh-Huggins
Stacy Woodson
ITW Thriller Award Winner
“Rent Due”
by Alan Orloff
ITW Thriller Award Nomination
“The Mailman”
by Andrew Welsh-Huggins
MICKEY FINN:
21ST CENTURY NOIR
Vol. 2
Down & Out Books, 2020
Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir is a crime-fiction cocktail that will knock readers into a literary stupor.
Contributors push hard against the boundaries of crime fiction, driving their work into places short crime fiction doesn’t often go, into a world where the mean streets seem gentrified by comparison and happy endings are the exception rather than the rule. And they do all this in contemporary settings, bringing noir into the 21st century.
Like any good cocktail, Mickey Finn is a heady mix of ingredients that packs a punch, and when you’ve finished reading every story, you’ll know that you’ve been “slipped a Mickey.”
Contributors include many of today's best noir writers:
Trey R. Barker • John Bosworth • Michael Bracken
Scott Bradfield • S.M. Fedor • Nils Gilbertson
J.D. Graves • James A. Hearn • Janice Law
Hugh Lessig • Gabe Morran • Rick Ollerman
Josh Pachter • Robert Petyo • Stephen D. Rogers
Albert Tucher • Joseph S. Walker • Sam Wiebe
Stacy Woodson
SMALL CRIMES
Betancourt & Co., 2004
Small crimes.
Big consequences.
Little things send our lives spinning in unexpected directions. Small crimes, thoughtless actions, and momentary lapses in judgment all have consequences we can’t begin to imagine. Stealing apples, failing to leave contact information after a minor traffic accident, accepting a small bribe to overlook faulty wiring, and many other small crimes change the course of people’s lives in Small Crimes.
Fifteen tales from today’s finest mystery writers, including:
Jack Bludis • Michael Bracken • Gary R. Bush
James S. Dorr • Kevin Egan • Ted Hertel, Jr.
T. P. Keating • Chelle Martin • Paula J. Matter
Dorothy Rellas • Stephen D. Rogers • Neil Schofield
Tom Sweeney • Tim Wohlforth • Simon Wood
“... the concluding novella, ‘Dreams Unborn,’ which though much grimmer may remind you of American Graffiti, is the best piece of fiction I’ve read by editor Bracken.”—Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
Anthony Award Nomination
and
Larry and Eleanor Sternig Short Fiction Award
(Third Place)
“It’s Crackers to Slip a Rozzer the Dropsey in Snide”
by Ted Hertel, Jr.
Other Distinguished Mystery Stories
as noted in
The Best American Mystery Stories 2005
“Dreams Unborn”
by Michael Bracken
THE EYES OF TEXAS:
PRIVATE EYES FROM
THE PANHANDLE
TO THE
PINEY WOODS
Down & Out Books, 2019
Texas has it all, from bustling big cities to sleepy small towns, and law enforcement alone can’t solve every crime. That’s where private eyes come in. They take the cases law enforcement can’t—or won’t. Private eyes may walk the mean streets of Dallas and Houston, but they also stroll through small West Texas towns where the secrets are sometimes more dangerous. Whether driving a Mustang or riding a Mustang, a private eye in Texas is unlike any other in the world.
The Eyes of Texas: Private Eyes from the Panhandle to the Piney Woods features seventeen original tales of Lone Star State private eyes from:
Trey R. Barker • Chuck Brownman • Michael Chandos
John M. Floyd • Debra H. Goldstein • James A. Hearn
Richard Helms • Robert S. Levinson • Scott Montgomery
Sandra Murphy • Josh Pachter • Michael Pool
Graham Powell • William Dylan Powell
Stephen D. Rogers • Mark Troy • Bev Vincent
“Bottom line, almost all of these detectives are interesting enough that they could carry a novel series, but their strong personalities and crime-solving expertise have been distilled into seventeen fast-paced tales that leave a lasting impression.”—Reviewing the Evidence
The Eyes of Texas “has its share of big city stories set in Houston, Dallas, and Austin but my favorites are those set in disparate, out-of-the-way small towns.”—MysteryPeople
Anthony Award Nomination
Best Anthology or Collection
Derringer Award Winner
“Lucy’s Tree”
by Sandra Murphy
Derringer Award Nomination
and selected for inclusion in
The Best American Mystery Stories 2020
“See Humble and Die”
by Richard Helms
Macavity Award Nomination
“West Texas Barbecue”
by Michael Chandos
Shamus Award Nomination
“Weathering the Storm”
by Michael Pool
Other Distinguished Mystery Stories of 2019
as noted in
The Best American Mystery Stories 2020
“No One Owns the Blues”
by Scott Montgomery