Ann Aptaker

Midnight, New York Harbor, 1949. Cantor Gold, dapper dyke-about-town, smuggler of fine art, waits in her boat under the Brooklyn Bridge for racketeer Gregory Ortine. In the shadow of the bridge, he’ll toss Cantor a satchel of cash, and she’ll toss him a pouch containing a priceless jewel. But the plan, and the jewel, sink when a woman in a red sequined dress drops from the bridge and slams onto Cantor’s boat. She is Opal Shaw, Society Page darling and fiancée of murder-for-hire kingpin Sig Loreale. Through a night of danger, desire, and double-cross, Cantor must satisfy Loreale’s vengeance, stay ahead of an angry Ortine, and untangle the knots of murder tightening around Opal’s best friend and keeper of her dirty secrets, Celeste Copley, a seductress who excites Cantor’s passion but snares her in a labyrinth of lies. The lies explode in a collision of love, loyalty, lust…and death.

Criminal Gold

A Crime of Secrets

New York City, 1950. Cantor Gold, art smuggler and dapper dyke-about-town, hunts for a missing masterpiece she's risked her life to bring through the port of New York. She must outsmart the Law that wants to jail her; outrun the dockside gangsters who would let her take the fall for murder; and outplay a shady art dealer, his lover, and a beautiful curator who toys with Cantor's passion. Through it all, Cantor must stay out of the gunsights of a killer who's knocking off rivals for the missing masterpiece-and stay alive to solve the mystery of her stolen love: Sophie de la Luna y Sol.A Cantor Gold Crime

Tarnished Gold

New York, 1952. From the shadowy docks of Athens, Greece, to the elegance of a Fifth Avenue penthouse, to the neon glare of Coney Island, art smuggler Cantor Gold must track down an ancient artifact, elude thugs and killers, protect a beautiful woman who caters to Cantor’s deepest desires, and confront the honky-tonk past which formed her. Memories, murder, passion, and the terrible longing for her stolen love tangle in Cantor’s soul, threatening to tear her apart. Book Three of the Cantor Gold Crime Series

Genuine Gold

After two acquaintances are murdered Cantor Gold struggles to prove her innocence while struggling to understand her place among the changing tides of society.

Murder and Gold

Cynthia Ward

Michael Bracken

John M. Floyd

Michael Kurland

Stacy Woodson

James A. Hearn

Barry Fulton

Elliott Capon

Graham Powell

The ninth issue of Black Cat Mystery features a stellar lineup of new stories (and one classic reprint). Here are— LAST RITES, by Stacy Woodson THE JERICHO TRAIN, by John M. Floyd CORAL COVE, by B.A. Paul THE ALLEY, by Ann Aptaker SONNY'S ENCORE, by Michael Bracken SWITCH AND BAIT, by Cynthia Ward BECOMING ZERO, by James A. Hearn THE MURDER OF JONATHAN GREYSTONE, by Barry Fulton YOU GOTTA BE IN IT!, by Elliott Capon THE YOU-DON'T-KNOW-THE-HALF-OF-IT-DEARIE BLUES, by Michael Kurland A FIGHTER BY HIS TRADE, by Graham Powell Classic reprint: SMELLING LIKE A ROSE, by Gil Brewer

Black Cat Mystery Magazine #9

Midnight, New York Harbor, 1949. Cantor Gold, dapper dyke-about-town, smuggler of fine art, waits in her boat under the Brooklyn Bridge for racketeer Gregory Ortine. In the shadow of the bridge, he'll toss Cantor a satchel of cash, and she'll toss him a pouch containing a priceless jewel. But the plan, and the jewel, sink when a woman in a red sequined dress drops from the bridge and slams onto Cantor's boat. She is Opal Shaw, Society Page darling and fiance of murder-for-hire kingpin Sig Loreale. Through a night of danger, desire, and double-cross, Cantor must satisfy Loreale's vengeance, stay ahead of an angry Ortine, and untangle the knots of murder tightening around Opal's best friend and keeper of her dirty secrets, Celeste Copley, a seductress who excites Cantor's passion but snares her in a labyrinth of lies. The lies explode in a collision of love, loyalty, lustand death.

New York City, 1950. Cantor Gold, art smuggler and dapper dyke-about-town, hunts for a missing masterpiece she’s risked her life to bring through the port of New York. She must outsmart the Law that wants to jail her; outrun the dockside gangsters who would let her take the fall for murder; and outplay a shady art dealer, his lover, and a beautiful curator who toys with Cantor’s passion. Through it all, Cantor must stay out of the gunsights of a killer who’s knocking off rivals for the missing masterpiece—and stay alive to solve the mystery of her stolen love: Sophie de la Luna y Sol. A Cantor Gold Crime Novel.

Havana, 1952, a city throbbing with pleasure and danger, where the Mob peddles glamor to the tourists and there’s plenty of sex for sale. In the swanky hotels and casinos, and the steamy, secretive Red Light district of the Colón, Cantor Gold, dapper art thief and smuggler, searches the streets and brothels for her kidnapped love, Sophie de la Luna y Sol. Cantor races against time while trying to out run the deadly schemes of American mobsters and the gunsights of murderous local gangs.

Flesh and Gold

Lambda Literary Award-winning author returns with a stunning mystery proving that Noir is the new black. A golden city of prosperity, energy, the exciting engine of the American Dream. Just underneath, though, is a dark city, with darker ambitions. This is the world of Cantor Gold, dapper art thief and smuggler, who has her own way of securing the rewards of the American Dream. In the conformist 1950s, when same-sex romance was illegal, Cantor decides that any Law that condemns her as a criminal just for her love of women is not a Law she owes any allegiance to. As an outlaw, she thrives earning fistfuls of cash and living life on her own terms. But someone wants to take it all away. Someone wants to rob Cantor of everything: her success in the underworld, her freedom, her life. Predators are out to destroy Cantor: the cops who violently raid the Green Door Club, Cantor's favorite watering hole, where the lights are low and the women are willing; and worse, an unknown predator who threatens to destroy Cantor's life, even destroy the lives of people close to her. Murder is one of the weapons in the hunter's arsenal, involving Cantor in the dangerous fate of each corpse. Another is the taunting, threatening notes that turn up on the corpses or at Cantor's door or at the door of people she visits. And then there are the phone calls and a disguised voice. Someone is invading every minute of Cantor Gold's life.

Hunting Gold

Bywater Books

Ryan Sayles

Mark Troy

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. Episode 10: A Taco, a T-Bird, a Beretta and One Furious Night by Ann Aptaker Episode 11: Sopa and a Streetsweeper by Ryan Sayles Episode 12: Dos Tacos Guatemaltecos y Una Pistola Casera by Mark Troy Episodes 7-9 of Season Two are featured in Guns + Tacos Vol. 3.

Ann Aptaker

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