WHO DUNNIT

Introduction by Susan Terris

Pay attention here. Sometimes it's called foreshadowing but in mysteries it's generally called clues. Red Bakelite phone. It was a dark and stormy night and time to write an introduction to In Posse Review, Issue #31. Sweet vermin. The IPR editors were hunkered inside without power. A splinter moon. Don't be confused by storm and moon, just keep on reading. We had electricity. Bruises covered with makeup. We did and do. The kind of power we seemed to be lacking was a sign of another kind of darkness. Hands on the table. The darkness was within—specifically within the clogged brains of the editors. An obscene dream. A kind of whiteness, too. That double spiral. Notebook and blank paper and one more looming deadline. But we struggled on. Coroner's report due soon? And, of course, that other document—the missing one. A broken mirror. No cogent reflections to scrawl upon the paper. Chalk tears. Well, inky ones, actually, and mounting frustration. Bravery is tits on a boar. We were certainly boarish yet prefer not to discuss tits or our fashion statements. A sweaty camel-dung drenched slipper. But we digress. The hour was late and getting later. Still no intro. Holes in walls. Maybe in our muddled heads, too. Where are we? Voodoo Lounge? We manage to write down a few empty words. The rest is cuneiform. Deadline, deadline and we have dead heads. A telling detail. This is the moment we wonder why we ever wanted to edit. To be a pimp? No, we take that back. It's a pick-your-own-date-death. Yet we love what we do. The mysterious way we find these wonderful poems and stories. We, too, make babies. And IPR is our baby tonight! The smoke that lifts. We are actually on the case and hope you are still reading. A shoe drops. Not one covered in camel droppings. A long-since readied hologram. So we are getting closer now to wrapping this up. A small assortment of leaves. Our trail of clues not in breadcrumbs but in words. A loud smear in the air. Yes, we are stealing here. Expect miracles? This is, you will see, a superb issue. Rosebud. We hope you will start at the beginning. Innocent hunger. And read through these mysteries of love and death. A single story told in many voices. Admire the skill of the poets and fiction writers. Feel the quiver and jolt. So as we reach the end of this seemingly rambling journey, it is now your turn. The danger of crows hopping. Yes, your turn. When you put all these clues together, you will have read the entire issue. Then tell us who dunnit!

Susan Terri, Toni L. Wilkes
In Posse Review Editors


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