ROAD TO SAMARRA
by Jane Roth
A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
I chose Jane Roth’s story for the issue because it was first published in Manhunt in 1959, and she was a woman writing in a field dominated by men—usually a sign that the story is very, very good. At least, I assumed she was a woman based on the female byline. Why would a man choose a female pseudonym in the crime field, which was dominated by men?
I wasn’t familiar with her work, so I started doing a little research...and found nothing. No other stories listed in the short story databases—not in romance, not in science fiction, not in general fiction. Nor, according to catalog searches, were there any books published by a “Jane Roth” between 1940 and 1960. Curious!
I suspect she was a one-hit wonder who proved she could sell a story
