This story was published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine January/February 2023. I had not heard of this author before, but he had an earlier story published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine September/October 2021 which I will also read.
"Dead Man's Shoe" by Floyd Sullivan
Rick Peters tells the story of his brief visit to a cabin on Keuka Lake in New York. He was taking a vacation from his job as a professional photographer. The local sheriff rings the doorbell and asks Rick to take photos of an object on a nearby pier. The object turns out to be an athletic shoe with a foot in it. The foot had been sawed off a body just above the ankle.
This was a slow burn story. Peters doesn't want to give up on figuring what was behind the discovery of the foot. There are some elements that stretched my ability to suspend disbelief, but I enjoyed the story and the ending was very satisfactory.
Last line: "I have no plans to return to the Finger Lakes. Ever."
There is an article about the inspiration for this story at Trace Evidence.
16 comments:
I like the sound of this, primarily because of the setting of The Finger Lakes, as Peter and I went there in 1996. We stayed at Watkins Glen on Seneca Lake and absolutely loved the area.
That sounds intriguing, Tracy. And the setting appeals to me, too. I've been in that area, and it's beautiful. I can see how it'd make an effective backdrop to a story like this.
I read ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S MYSTERY MAGAZINE for years. And, I also enjoyed the many Alfred Hitchcock mystery anthologies. I haven't heard of Floyd Sullivan either, but I'll check him out based on your fine review!
That's a great ending line. Having to deal with that might put me off a place, too!
Megan worked in the Finger Lakes for a year and we enjoyed visiting. I'd go back but we never found a foot.
I think I might've traveled with my folks to Watkins Glen when I was about 6yo, for auto racing, when we lived in the Boston suburbs. Mildly interesting but much too noisy. No detached feet on that trip, either, shod nor otherwise.
I think I have that issue, and if so, I should dig it out.
Cath, it amazes me that you have been to the Finger Lakes. I think you have traveled more in the US than I have (and certainly more in the northeasten part it). The Finger Lakes area did sound very nice to me.
Margot, it was a good story and a very nice setting.
George, I have some issues of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine on the Kindle, because I subscribed for a couple of years. So I am going back and checking those out. I think I found that Floyd Sullivan has 3 other stories in various issues of that magazine.
Kelly, I agree. Although it sounds like a beautiful place. I hope I can find more of the author's short stories because it sounds like he uses the same character in each one. Of course this character must attract a lot of crime wherever he goes.
Patti, I was thinking that there must be books set in the Finger Lakes area, and there is a list of 35 books with that setting on Goodreads. Mostly cozies. One of the books was A Great Day for the Deadly by Jane Haddam. I will have to go back and read that one again.
Todd, it would not surprise me at all if you had that issue. I am feeling envious of all the people who have been to the Finger Lakes.
The Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen Magazines are the best. I subscribe to them through Kindle Unlimited and if it weren't for the fact that they are kind of expensive I would get them in paper form.
Kathy, I am glad to hear that you enjoy the Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazines. I have the following years on my Kindle (roughly): 2011, 2012, 2020, 2021, and 2022. I am planning to subscribe to Kindle Unlimited for a few months in 2025 in order to access magazine subscriptions (and some books I hope).
I hope the photographer finds out the mystery. It sounds spooky. It reminds me of the many cases of human feet in shoes that have washed up along the Pacific Northwest coast over the years. (B.C. and Washington state.) It's eerie right?
Susan, the author has written a few more stories featuring that same character so he must have turned into an amateur sleuth. I never could figure out why anyone would want to pursue a mystery like that, and stories like that mean the author has to make the situation work in a believable way. It did work in this story. I like short stories that use the same character and become a sort of series.
I had never heard of human feet in shoes washing up on the Pacific northwest coast. Very interesting.
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