Welcome to the Steve Hockensmith Litmocracy Short Mystery Contest. This will be the first installment of what will become an annual contest. The rules are simple, we’re looking for is the best short mystery stories that we can find, the best 10 to be exact. Each story can contain up to 10,000 words, and this is the place to submit them. Voting will decide the winners, so post and vote.

This year, there will be 10 prizes awarded to winners. The top 2 prizes will be autographed copies of the Steve Hockensmith books, The Crack In The Lens and The World’s Greatest Sleuth, two of Hockensmith’s famous Old Red and Big red mysteries. The prizes are as follows:

1.  Top Prize: Autographed The Crack In The Lens
2.  Runner Up: Autographed The World’s Greatest Sleuth
3.  $50 cash
4.  $25
5.  $10 cash
6-15. Free downloads of Hockensmith’s excellent ebook, Cadaver in Chief

The contest will conclude and winners will be awarded on April 30th. Here are a few words from the author himself:

“I’m thrilled that Litmocracy has launched a Steve Hockensmith Mystery Contest. Now readers around the world can tackle that greatest of mysteries: Who is Steve Hockensmith? At the moment, the answer’s known only to a select few—myself, my family, the Litmocracy staff and (perhaps) my agent. But now that’s going to change…I hope. Good luck, entrants! May the Golden Hockey* soon be yours!”

*Note: There is no such thing as a “Golden Hockey,” and we don’t know why Mr. Hockensmith seemed to think it was the contest’s grand prize.”

As normal, Steve’s tongue is firmly planted in his cheek. Steve is a former New York Times bestseller for the book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, and was winner or finalist for the Edgar Award, the Shamus Award for Best Short Story, the Anthony and Barry Awards, and the Audie Award for best first novel for Holmes on the Range. Good luck and enjoy.