Do you have a mystery short story up your sleeve? Time to put pen to paper, fingers to keyboards!

I’ve recorded a quick rundown which you can watch on TikTok or Instagram (they’re both the same video!) or scroll down for the transcript.

What are the key details for the competition?

The Mysterious Murders short story competition is open now and closes at the end of September. It’s free to enter and is open worldwide for original work of up to 3,000 words written in English. The theme is “Murder mystery with a fun twist” which is 100% my jam. 

With a top prize of £3,000 and max story length of 3,000 words, that’s a pound per word – a pretty top notch going rate!

All the details are on the competition website, mysteriousmurders.com, so be sure to investigate for yourself and share with any writers you think might be interested!

Why has the competition been created?

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 Anja’s husband Jeroen and Angela C. Nurse (my friend, fellow mystery author, and a creative writing coach).

Who are the competition judges?

Angela C. Nurse is the author of the Rowan McFarlane Detective Mysteries and the DI Ravenscroft & Professor Laing Thrillers. She will be judging the entries alongside four other authors, including…

Mark Stay, author of The Witches of Woodville and The End of Magic, screenwriter of the 2023 Warner Bros. horror movie Unwelcome, and the co-presenter of the award-winning Bestseller Experiment podcast.

Rupa Mahadevan, winner of the 2024 Joffe Book Prize, her debut novel The Goddess of Death is out September 2025.

T.E. Scott, author of The Wronged Women’s Co-operative, a mystery series set in the fictional Scottish town of Invergryff, currently with ten books to get into.

And then there’s the final judge: G.B. Ralph (that’s me!). I am currently documenting the increasingly implausible series of murders sweeping an enchanting small New Zealand town in cosy mystery series The Milverton Mysteries, once described as “Agatha Christie, but make it gay.”

That’s enough about us. What’s next?

Now it’s time for you to get writing! We can’t wait to read your entry.