Apart from the highly popular Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and the Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, there are several magazines that publish mystery, suspense, and crime fiction. They have a range of tastes and requirements, from cozies to police procedurals to gritty crime. Here are some that are open now for submissions. They are in no particular order, and most of them pay.
Wildside Press: Black Cat Mystery Magazine – Cozies
They are open for fiction submission on the Cozies theme. Their guidelines say, “Cozies are a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur off stage, the detective is an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community.” For this submission window, they only want cozies. They like stories with characters who feel real, in situations that are possible (and plausible). Also, there should be a crime in the story. They want stories of 1,000-8,000 words (will look at stories up to 15,000 words). Pay is $0.03/word (up to $250). The deadline is 31 March 2021 the Cozies theme. Details here (scroll down). Wildside Press is also the publisher of Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine.
Strand Magazine
They are temporarily open for submissions. They want “mysteries, detective stories, tales of terror and the supernatural as well as short stories. Stories can be set in any time or place, provided they are well written, the plots interesting and well thought. … Stories written in the tradition of Stanley Ellin, Agatha Christie, and Jeffery Deaver which contain a twist are among our favorites. We are not interested in stories with explicit sexual content or repeated foul language.” (An earlier version of this magazine published stories by a then-unknown physician, Arthur Conan Doyle, who created, arguably, the most famous detective in the world.) They prefer stories of 2,000-6,000 words, and may occasionally publish flash or novella-length work (see guidelines). Pay is $100-150. The deadline is unspecified. Details here.
The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories: More Christmas Adventures
MX Publishing is a UK-based publisher of Sherlock Holmes books. Regarding the short fiction anthology, the editor wants stories for the Fall 2021 edition of The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories: More Christmas Adventures, a companion to the 2016 volumes, Christmas Adventures. Length is unspecified (see the blog post). The deadline for this anthology is 30 June 2021. Details here.
The Dark City Mystery Magazine
The Dark City is dedicated to “the love of story, and in particular, the rough and tumble of the world of crime and violence. We are fans of story that has roots in reality but we do consider humorous situations and characters to be part of reality. We hope to acquire stories that leave readers thinking about the characters and their dilemma.” They want stories of 1,000-7,500 words. Pay is $25. Details here
All Due Respect
Their tagline is “Lowlife Literature” and they publish “hard-as-nails crime fiction.” They want stories of 1,500-5,000 words, and pay $25. They’re open now for submissions. Details here.
Flame Tree Publishing: Chilling Crime Anthology
They want chilling crime stories for their anthology. They want stories of “the cold cases, the grim murders, the desperate villains, and the race against time to solve the crime.” Submissions most likely to succeed are in the 2,000-4,000 words range. They also accept reprints. Pay is $0.08/word. Their deadline is soon, on 14 March 2021. Details here.
Gumshoe Review
This magazine publishes short fiction mysteries, and essays on topics of interest to readers, writers and students of the mystery genre. Their guidelines say, “We’re looking for stories where the investigator is the protagonist, or at least a significant character, and the focus is on solving a solving a crime, or getting someone out of a jam, or seeking some sort of justice.” Submissions should be up to 1,000 words. Pay is $0.05/word, up to $50. Details here.
TTA Press: Crimewave
This is a respected UK-based crime and mystery magazine, and they publish stories of up to 10,000 words. Their sister publications are Interzone (science fiction and fantasy) and Black Static (horror). Pay is unspecified. Details here (for Crimewave).
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She is the author of 182 Short Fiction Publishers. She can be reached here.
