Every Day a Little Death:

Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Stephen Sondheim

edited by Josh Pachter

This is my eighth "inspired by" anthology, following The Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell, The Great Filling Station Holdup: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Jimmy Buffett, Only the Good Die Young: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Billy Joel, Monkey Business: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Films of the Marx Brothers, Paranoia Blues: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Paul Simon, Happiness Is a Warm Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Beatles and Friend of the Devil: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Grateful Dead.

Once again, this one's a little different. In addition to inviting a bunch of crime writers to contribute — some who've contributed to previous volumes (John Copenhaver, John Floyd, Joe Goodrich, Cheryl Head, Gabriel Valjan, Joe Walker, Kristopher Zgorski, my daughter Becca Jones) and some who are new to my "inspired by" series (Brian Cox, Fleur Bradley, Julie Hennrikus, Jeff Marks) — I also reached out to several people who are known in the world of the theater but who hadn't previous tried their hand at crime fiction (Cheryl Davis, Alison Hubbard, Michael Portantiere, David Spencer, Jeffrey Sweet, my old NOVA officemate Lisa Nanni-Messegee). The result was a really interesting mix of stories, once again replete with Easter eggs for the connoisseurs.

My title story, "Every Day a Little Death" from A Little Night Music, is set in Stockholm at the turn of the Nineteenth Century and is all about subtext. On the surface, very close to nothing happens. Beneath the surface, though, there's quite a bit going on....

On January 16, 2025, Kristopher Zgorski did a cover reveal at BOLO Books.

You can pre-order the Kindle version from this link, and it'll soon be available for pre-order in paperback from all the usual clicks-and-mortar vendors. The book will be published on March 22, 2025, the ninety-fifth anniversary of Sondheim's birth, and on May 8 more than half the contributors will gather at the Drama Book Shop in New York to talk about it and sign copies.

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