The Card Sharp and other stories: A Collection of Murder, Mystery & Mayhem

by Eric B. Ruark

Eight short stories featuring the 5-Star historical ANTE BELLUM and contemporary SEEING DOUBLE both previously published by Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. 1. ANTE BELLUM -- In 1863, Captain William Wallace is asked by his mentor General James Longstreet, CSA, to investigate the death of a soldier. That simple request leads Capt. Wallace on a journey across the South to find a killer who has more to lose than just his life. 2. THE CARD SHARP -- In 1854 a gambler/con-man takes a Mississippi riverboat from St. Louis to New Orleans. He plans to relieve as many people as possible of their hard earned gold. However the arrival of the Planter and his slave changes the gambler's plans. 3. BAD BIRD -- A version of this story has appeared in several regional parenting magazines in both the United States and Canada. The story was originally conceived as part of a noir trilogy featuring “Harry”. In Bad Bird, Harry develops the quality that will eventually doom his life. 4. PRIVATE PROPERTY -- A middle aged Harry finds himself going through his midlife crisis at the local strip bar run by an outlaw biker gang. He befriends Turk, the gang leader and makes the mistake to really listen to what the man says. 5. THE MAN WHO READ HEMINGWAY -- Harry’s life spirals to it ultimate conclusion. 6. SMILES -- Even serial killers can fall in love. Herb loved to kill. He also loved Susan. They could have a perfect life together, if he didn’t kill it. 7. HIDE 'N SEEK -- Larry is an American Studies professor and Lara, his wife, is a cancer survivor. Sometimes they detect. Not because they want to, but because it appears to be the logical thing to do at the time. 8. SEEING DOUBLE -- This Sheriff Tracy Hyers story originally appeared in the May 2013 issue of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. A person can't be in two places at the same time... or can they? 9. MURDER BYYOND THE MILKY WAY (Sample) Murder on the most isolated planet in the explored galaxy.

261 pages, Paperback

Published February 21, 2017

About the author

I love a good mystery... books... TV... movies... real-life... which is why when I sit down at my keyboard, I have the tendency to write mystery stories. I was born and raised in Waterbury, Connecticut, but even at an early age, my parents encouraged me to travel, and although I'm a New England Preppie, I've been to schools in France and Switzerland and was the guest of Jose Greco, the famed Flamenco artist in Spain... all before I was 18 years old.

In college, I majored in English and Drama. I rowed on the varsity crew. After college, I took up acting. In Japan, you would have seen me as Babe Ruth in their popular show THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF JAPANESE BASEBALL. (That should give you a good idea of what I look like. I was Off-Off Broadway in BACKSTAGE BITCHES which had a limited run at the Cabaret Duplex in New York City. I was also in one of the road shows of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.

Over the years I've had a love/hate relationship with writing. I've published a romance, RIVER OF RAIN for MacFadden under a pen name, and a mystery, THE CAMPUS KILLINGS under my own name. Both books are now out of print in the United States, although I hear that KILLINGS has recently been translated into Italian, but I no longer own the rights to that book.

When I turned 40, I took up bicycling and cycled across the country and down to Key West, Florida where I won the Hemingway Storytelling Contest several years in a row in the early 90s.

In 2004 Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine published ANTEBELLUM, a mystery set against the backdrop of the American Civil War and in May 2013, AHMM published SEEING DOUBLE, a modern mystery set in Maryland.

Currently, my wife and I live on a sailboat at a marina just off the Chesapeake Bay