Paula Gail Benson

Jul 2020 4

Heartbreaks & Half-Truths: 22 Stories of Mystery & Suspense Edited by Judy Penz Sheluk

2020 Articles, Kathleen Costa, Mysteryrat's Maze

by Kathleen Costa

I personally love collections: pins, movies, cookies, of course, and short stories. Short story collections afford me a marvelous opportunity to enjoy a variety of authors, many new to me, all at one time as well as being exposed to a variety of writing styles. These twenty-two shorts, edited by friend and author Judy Penz Sheluk, offer a glimpse into each author’s interpretation of the book’s theme “heartbreaks” and “half-truths.”

Dec 2015 21

Femme Fatally Yours: A Mystery Christmas Short Story

2015 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Terrific Tales

by Paula Gail Benson

It’s wonderful to have a book released at Christmas time. Unless you’re me!
My name’s Ham Richards. I’m a recently tenured film professor with a tendency to view my life as a movie. For instance, I can imagine my book’s arrival memorialized in a grainy black and white.

Dec 2014 22

An Unexpected Christmas Gift: A Christmas Mystery Short Story

2014 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Terrific Tales

by Paula Gail Benson

I have a habit of viewing life as a screenplay. It happens when you spend twelve years teaching film studies to university undergrads. You start to view most things as fodder for a movie script. Take tonight, for example, a week before Christmas. I’m here at the Study Break Cafe, a local hole-in-the-wall on the edge of campus. A place I’ve spent many significant moments. First job. Study dates. Surprise proposal. Uh, let’s not explore that proposal back-story.

Jun 2013 15

A Father’s Legacy: Looking at Robert Dugoni’s Life and Work

2013 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze

by Paula Gail Benson

Many descriptions apply to New York Times bestselling novelist Robert Dugoni. In addition to being the author of such fast paced legal thrillers as The Jury Master, Wrongful Death, Bodily Harm, and Murder One, he has worked as a reporter, actor, and attorney. He brings his knowledge from previous occupations to his writing, but he also brings something else: an uncanny ability for creating characters and placing them in realistic, thought-provoking situations.

May 2013 11

Pelican Spring: A Mother’s Day Mystery Short Story

2013 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Terrific Tales

by Paula Gail Benson

The quest for scholarships is a rite of Spring, but in my twelve years as a law school admissions director, I had never seen a situation like this one.
I’d attended plenty of meetings with potential students, seeking to optimize their chances at partial or full scholarships. What I had not previously encountered was a student-parent-financial-package-tag-team.

May 2013 11

The Mama Factor: A Mother’s Day Short Story

2013 Articles, Terrific Tales

by Paula Gail Benson

For four months, in February of my sophomore year in high school– now almost thirteen years ago– I decided that for all practical purposes my life had ended at age fifteen. I wasn’t being overly dramatic, just realistic. What hurt the most was the fact that the end was my own fault.