Authors in This Issue

“The Ellery Queen Job” by Peter Lovesey
To start this milestone 1,000th issue here’s a story about thieves attempting to heist the entire archive of EQMM back issues just as the 500th issue goes to press. Its author, Peter Lovesey, is an EQMM Readers Award winner, a Cartier Diamond Dagger recipient, an MWA Grand Master, (to name just a few of his honors), and the author of four popular mystery series. The best-known of them stars Peter Diamond. The last book in that series, Against the Grain (Soho), is just out!

“The Swiss Army Knife” by Joyce Carol Oates
Joyce Carol Oates’s contributions to EQMM, beginning in 1992, now number thirty-six, and she’s won two ITW Thriller Awards and received additional nominations for the Thriller, the Macavity, and twice for the Edgar for her EQMM work. Best known for her literary fiction, she’s earned the National Humanities Medal, the National Book Award, and the Jerusalem Prize, among many other honors. Vogue called her latest novel, Butcher, “Gripping . . . Bravura storytelling . . .” and listed it among its Best Books of 2024.

“So South It Was” by Andrew Welsh-Huggins
A Shamus, Derringer, and ITW Thriller award-nominated fiction writer, Andrew Welsh-Huggins has produced eight novels in a series starring P.I. Andy Hayes. The latest, Sick to Death, was released this past September. The Columbus, Ohio author’s three dozen-plus short stories have appeared in a variety of anthologies and magazines, including EQMM and AHMM.

“No Title, No Clout” by Marcelle Dubé
Marcelle Dubé makes her EQMM debut this issue with a story perfect for the winter season. The author of six novels, she grew up near Montreal, moved to several different provinces in Canada before settling for thirty-five years in the Yukon (where this story’s set), and now lives in Alberta. She won the 2021 and 2024 Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence in the short-story category.

“Death of a Copperhead” by R.T. Raichev
R.T. Raichev has been contributing stories in his classical mystery series starring crime writer Antonia Darcy and her husband Major Payne to EQMM since 2016. He’s also written nine novels in the series, for which he’s received wide critical praise and comparisons to Evelyn Waugh, P.G. Wodehouse, and P.D. James. Having grown up in Bulgaria and lived in London, he now resides in Dubai.

“Going the Distance” by David Bart
Short-story specialist David Bart has placed stories with nearly all of the major mystery magazines, including EQMM, AHMM, and the Strand. His work has also been included in four MWA anthologies. He’s a winner of the MWA Rocky Mountain chapter’s fiction contest in the flash-fiction category and is a two-time winner of MWA’s Six-Word Mystery Contest.

“Splash” by Mat Coward
Mat Coward is the author of a number of novels, including four books in the Frank Mitchell and Don Packman series that have been praised for their humor and clever plotting. But the British author also stands out in the short- story field: He’s been nominated for a Thriller Award, the Macavity, and twice for the Edgar for stories published in this magazine.

“Kanab Noon” by Manon Wogahn
A professional editor and reviewer, and the publishing operations manager for AuthorImprints, Manon Wogahn also writes the biweekly e-mail newsletter Cluesletter, which includes mystery-related news, interviews, and information on new releases, podcasts, and e-book deals. The San Diegan is well versed in our field and with this story she joins the ranks of professional mystery writers.

“Winter Visit” by Joseph Goodrich
An Edgar Award-winner for his play Panic, Joseph Goodrich has had plays produced across the U.S. as well as in Canada, China, and Australia. His adaptation for theater of the Ellery Queen novel Calamity Town received the 2016 Calgary Theater Critics Award for Best New Script. He is also an Anthony and Agatha Award-nominated critic, a short- story writer, and, since 2022’s The Paris Manuscript, a novelist.

“The Greek Interpreter” by Terence Faherty
The author of sixteen novels, all but one of them in either his Owen Keane or Scott Elliott series, Terence Faherty has contributed three dozen stories to EQMM over the years. They’ve brought him a Macavity Award and two additional Macavity nominations, plus three Shamus Award nominations and Barry, Anthony, Derringer, and Edgar nominations.

“As You See the World” by Paul Ryan O’Connor
Paul Ryan O’Connor’s 2023 first story “Teddy’s Favorite Thing” had the distinction of taking third place in last year’s EQMM Readers Award voting. The tale went on to receive a nomination for a Derringer award in the Flash Fiction category.

“Enjoy the Silence” by Libby Cudmore
This new Wade and Jacks P.I. story comes just after the publication of the first novel in the series, Negative Girl (Datura, 2024). The book is Libby Cudmore’s second novel, after The Big Rewind (2016). The author is the 2018 recipient of the Oregon Writer’s Colony prize; in 2023 she won the Black Orchid Novella Award and the Shamus for best short story.

“Baggage” by Rick Marcou
Rick Marcou has worked in real-estate investment for many years while also pursuing his love of fiction. He’s produced stories in several genres but says that mystery writing appeals to his puzzle-solving mind. That predisposition even led him to become a constructor of crossword puzzles. This is his first professional fiction publication, and it’s a story that should give every traveler pause.

“Swim at Your Own Risk” by Nancy Novick
This is Nancy Novick’s third appearance in EQMM, her first story for us, “How Does He Die This Time?”, having gone on to win the Robert L. Fish Award for best short story by a new American author after appearing in our Department of First Stories. The New York City writer has been an independent freelance writer, instructor, and editor for more than twenty years.

“The Wages of Sin” by François Bloemhof

François Bloemhof first appeared in EQMM in 2018. His long career includes novels for adults, teenagers, and children. He’s received numerous awards and is credited with several “firsts”: the first novel to be published with an original CD soundtrack composed by the author, the first book with its own computer game, and the first e-book in Afrikaans.

“The One That Got Away” by Charlaine Harris
New York Times best-selling author and MWA Grandmaster Charlaine Harris has produced six series of novels, a trilogy, and several nonseries books, plus the short-story-length Anne DeWitt series, which began in EQMM, and many other short stories. Three of her series were adapted for TV: See NBC’s Midnight, Texas; Hallmark’s Aurora Teagarden movies; and HBO’s True Blood.

“The Scarlatti Skip” by Richard Helms
A former forensic psychologist who has been contributing to EQMM for some fifteen years, Richard Helms has won the ITW Thriller Award, the Shamus, and the Derringer for his short fiction. As a novelist he’s also brought home a best-novel Shamus Award. His twenty-fourth novel, Holy City, is “powered by crisp prose, sharp-edged dialogue, and an eye for the killer detail,” said PW.