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 not so much (or not at all) in the world of 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 beginning of the Nineteen Hundreds 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.

The book was published on March 22, 2025, the ninety-fifth anniversary of Sondheim's birth, and can be ordered from this link and all the usual clicks-and-mortar vendors.

In March and April, Art Taylor ran essays by contributors on four consecutive Tuesdays at his "First Two Pages" blog: Brian Cox (March 18), Fleur Bradley (March 25), J.A. Hennrikus (April 1), and Jeffrey Sweet (April 8).

On April 28, Robert Lopresti selected David Spencer's "The Advantages of Floating in the Middle of the Sea" as the best short story he read during the previous week and featured it at his "Little Big Crimes" blog.

On May 8, half of the contributors gathered at the Drama Book Shop in New York to talk about the anthology and sign copies. Every available seat was filled, and we had a great time sharing the stories behind our stories. (In the photo, that's David Spencer, Joseph Goodrich, and Marcia Talley seated in the front, and Jeffrey Sweet, Cynthia Davis, Kristopher Zgorski, Brian Cox, me, Michael Portantiere, and Julie Hennrikus in the back.)

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