Challenge 1135

Magic, When You Need It

In J. H. Zech’s The Curse of Eden Square:
1. Is the analysis of the “locked room” hypothesis necessary to the resolution of the mystery?
2. Is it likely that a one-family lynch mob would politely refrain from committing more than one ethnically motivated murder in each of four generations?
In Alyssa Cami’s Devil’s Purse: In what two ways does Josie heed her mother’s plea to continue taking care of her sister?
In Jules’ Escape from Farstead House:
1. How have Jasper and Lucia acquired their particular paranormal powers? Does their relative Enoch (“Knock”) not appear to have any?
2. In what ways is the conflict between Japer and Lucia portrayed as comical?
In Mary Jo Rabe’s The Benefits of a Barbara Twig:
1. How is Annegret’s successful thwarting of Grob’s and Hollenbeck’s plot foreshadowed?
2. According to Annegret, what effects can be attributed to the presence of the “Saint Barbara twig”?
In Tom Allen’s The Screever: Does the sidewalk art owe its success: to the chalk’s magic or the artist’s skill? Or to some combination of the two?
In Zumwalt’s Algos for the Souls:
1. Why might the author choose the Greek word algos rather than the English “pain”?
2. Does the poem relate to activity in the financial markets in 2026? If so, in what way?
In Brenda Mox’s What Lights the Torch: Does “He was at her command” confirm the lovers’ mutual satisfaction or does it imply that one of them is superior?