I’m helping judge a short story competition and we’re now open for entries! The theme is “Murder mystery with a fun twist” which is 100% my jam. So, if you have an idea and a pen, we’d love to read your story!
The Mysterious Murders short story competition was created to honour the late Anja Boersma, who had a deep love of writing, by helping to nurture that same passion in others. The competition was co-founded by Jeroen (Anja’s husband) and Angela C. Nurse (my friend, fellow mystery author, and a creative writing coach), and will be judged by a wonderful bunch of very clever authors (and me!).
I’ve pulled together a few details below, but be sure to check out the Mysterious Murders website for full details:
Entries
🟢 Open now
🔴 Closes 1 Oct 2025
💸 Fee N/A (it’s free!)
Eligibility
🌏 Open worldwide
📃 Original work of up to 3,000 words
✒️ Written in English
Prizes
🥇 £3,000
🥈 £1,500
🥉 £500
Judges
- Mark Stay (The Witches of Woodville, The End of Magic)
- Angela C. Nurse (Rowan McFarlane Detective Mysteries, DI Ravenscroft & Professor Laing Thrillers)
- Rupa Mahadevan (The Goddess of Death)
- G.B. Ralph (The Milverton Mysteries)
- T.E. Scott (The Wronged Women’s Co-operative)
What’s next?
📝 Get writing!
👍 Encourage your friends, your family, and your book club to get writing too.
✅ Submit your story by the due date.
G. B. Ralph 