Sun 23 Mar 2025
Diary Review: WHODUNIT MYSTERY MAGAZINE – September-October 1967.
Posted by Steve under Diary Reviews , Magazines[6] Comments
WHODUNIT MYSTERY MAGAZINE – September-October 1967. Editor: Douglas Stapleton. [This was the only issue to be published.] Overall rating: **
BURT MacDOUGALL “The Hostage.” A bank robber uses a fake little old lady as a hostage. Good ending; indifferent writing. (3)
MARY LYNN ROBY “The Practical Way.” A woman is pressured by he daughter-in-law to go modern. Done better by others. (2)
PHELPS GOODHUE “Assassin!” Plot to assassinate Lincoln fails, as does this story. (1)
DOUGLAS & DOROTHY STAPLETON “Ransom for a Rogue.” Novella. Three crises occur for protagonist Douglas Stapleton, each one of which is crucial to the life of a kidnapped boy. The reader shares these crises and has the chance to make his own decisions. Alternate story passages follow, scattered throughout the magazine. I got all three correctly, but they were not difficult, and the story is rather contrived to fit them in, Clever, but otherwise not much. **½
CAROL ARCHER STURMOND “Cheat the Devil.” Willie thinks he has the devil trapped within his pentagram but makes a bad bargain anyway. Usual bit. (2)
EMMANUEL BROZ “It’s the Details That Count,” Bank robber poses as policeman sent to stop robbery. Ending from thin air. (1)
K. S. L. STEELE “The Final War!” Sneaky story about the beginning of World War I. (3)
MICHAEL BRETT “The Seeds of Destruction.” After getting beaten up three times by bully, kid gets revenge. (2)
MARY LYNN ROBY “Pest Control.” Scientist must decide between wife or pet cat. Poor guy. (1)
THOMAS BRADLEY “Love Me, Mama!” Kid falls from tree but doesn’t know he’s dead. (2)
March 23rd, 2025 at 11:51 pm
Pretty clear why there was only one issue from your ratings and the plot synopsis.
March 24th, 2025 at 6:11 am
This one went completely under my radar. The only familiar names are Mary “Lynn” Roby (her real middle name was “Linn”), the Stapletons, and Michael Brett, none of whom could be considered big draws. Douglas Stapleton was the editor of this one-shot; he also edited the one-and-done SF magazine BEYOND INFINITY during this period. Brett published a number of stories in AHMM during the 60’s. Roby also published most of her small output in AHMM. Douglas Stapleton published minor stories in various genres over the years; Dorothy collaborated with him on half a dozen stories. The remaining six authors have only this one issue to their credit on the FictionMags Index; all were most likely pseudonyms. probably for Stapleton.
March 24th, 2025 at 10:36 am
I might have said that the list of contributors were “friends and family,” but I didn’t because it was only a humorous suggestion. You said it better, Jerry, and correctly, too.
But I should also note that while doing whatever research that I did before posting this old review, I spotted a small number of copies available on eBay, at what I’d consider reasonable prices. In case anyone’s interested.
March 24th, 2025 at 10:43 am
One more thing, for what it’s worth. K.S.L.Stone is a pen name known to have been used at least once by Stapleton. It makes it easy to suspect that K.S.L.Steele was another.
April 11th, 2025 at 5:45 am
At least BEYOND INFINITY (apparently a mixed fantasy/SF magazine) had a reasonably professional package. This one screams amateurishness.
April 11th, 2025 at 11:40 am
There had to have been some money behind the project to get this issue out, but clearly there wasn’t enough to ensure another. I give them all the credit I can for trying.