The Speculative Detective Agency: Case Files of the Supernatural and Fantastic
Edited by Matthew David Goodwin and Richie Narvaez
A wildly entertaining collection of interconnected stories filled with monsters, myth, and personal mysteries – blending speculative and crime fiction – that reflects our fractured yet shared global reality in which borders blur, consequences ripple, and no one and no story exists in isolation.
Each story follows a distinct agent of the Speculative Detective Agency as they confront cases that defy conventional logic: haunted environments that resist documentation; a Bloody Mary sighting at an elementary school; half a cryptid terrorizing a neighborhood; an office staffed entirely by functional zombies; and a deeply personal mystery involving a husband who has inexplicably become the moon. Together, these stories create a mosaic of strange investigations grounded in emotional stakes, wit, and sharp storytelling. The anthology boasts 18 stories blending classic investigative elements with science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
Contributors include Scott Adlerberg, Frederick Aldama, Heather E. Ash, Bella Chacha, Megan Chee, Victor De Anda, Rae Delane, Alex Grecian, Alex Hernandez, Monique Laban, Lincoln Michel, Richie Narvaez, Stephanie Nina Pitsirilos, Nadia Amina Rabbani, Karlo Yeager Rodriguez, Lekha Sen, Amber Sparks, and Martin Willis.
About the Authors
Richie Narvaez, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, is the award-winning author of the novels Hipster Death Rattle and Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco, as well as the short story collections Roachkiller & Other Stories and most recently Noiryorican. His writing centers on Nuyorican and Latinx experiences, using multiple genres, including crime fiction, horror, literary, and speculative fiction. A recipient of a Letras Boricuas Fellowship, he teaches writing at Sarah Lawrence College and the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Matthew David Goodwin is an Associate Professor in the Chicana/o Studies Department at the University of New Mexico. His research is centered on Chicanx/Latinx science fiction and Critical Mystery Studies. He is co-editor of the Latinx Archive speculative fiction trilogy: Latinx Rising, Speculative Fiction for Dreamers, and Not Your Papi’s Utopia. He has a PhD in Comparative Literature from UMASS Amherst and is an active agent in the very much real Speculative Detective Agency.