Authors in This Issue
“Two-Hour Vacation” by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier
Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier’s work has appeared in Black Stone’s Throw, The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023, and elsewhere. Originally from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, the author writes mysteries highlighting the vibrant culture of her home. Among other honors, she was the 2022 winner of NCWN’s Jacobs- Jones award, a 2023 SMFS Derringer finalist, and one of the 2024 recipients of MWA’s Barbara Neely grant.
“Ace of Wands” by Francesco Nicolli
Francesco Nicolli was born in Ferrara, Italy, where he teaches environmental economics at the university. When not writing about sustainability, he enjoys music, books, and the quiet art of collecting more than he’ll ever read. “Ace of Wands” is his first published story.
“Fröndenberg Threads” by Isabella Archan
Isabella Archan was born in Graz, Austria. An actor, she took on roles at several prominent theaters and has also appeared in television series and films. Archan has written books for several years now, including the successful crime fiction series featuring amateur detective Mitzi in Austria and police detective Edwina Teufel. With this story, she won the renowned Glauser Prize.
“The Ripple Effect” by Aeryn Rudel
Aeryn Rudel is a writer from Tacoma, Washington. He is the author of the baseball horror novella Effectively Wild, the Iron Kingdoms Acts of War novels, and the flash fiction collection Night Walk & Other Dark Paths. His short stories have appeared in Factor Four Magazine, On Spec, and Pseudopod, among others.
“Courtin’ in the Kitchen” by Robert Lopresti
Robert Lopresti is a retired librarian and the author of more than 130 stories. Like the protagonist of this narrative, he spent a lot of evenings in Irish bars in New Jersey many years ago. He is the editor of Crimes Against Nature: New Stories of Environmental Villainy. This is his fifth appearance in EQMM.
“Lest We Forget” by Marilyn Todd
Marilyn Todd is the award-winning author of sixteen historical thrillers and short fiction that ranges from commercial women’s fiction to comic fantasy. We’ve always wondered how someone might successfully pull off a tasteful and compelling story around the events of 9/11/01, and we think she does just that here.
“Photograph” by Meenakshi Gigi Durham
Meenakshi Gigi Durham tells us she lived in Florida for many years, where her encounters with alligators inspired this story. She teaches journalism at the University of Iowa and has been contributing to EQMM since 2004.
“Her Last Vinyasa” by Christine Eskilson
Christine Eskilson’s stories appear in a number of magazines and anthologies, including Black Cat Weekly, Guilty Crime Magazine, Mystery Magazine, Cold Caller Magazine, and Best New England Crime Stories. Her work has garnered awards in the Al Blanchard Short Crime Fiction Contest, the Women’s National Book Association Annual Writing Contest, and the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Contest.
“Mayflower Murder” by Joe Zeppetello
Joe Zeppetello is a retired faculty administrator from Marist University. He has published three novels and several short stories. Mysteries and science fiction are his first literary love, with Sherlock Holmes being his childhood hero. He is a gardener and a photographer. This is his first published mystery story.
“Shooting for Harvard” by Jeff Soloway
In 2014, Jeff Soloway was awarded the Robert L. Fish Award for Best First Mystery Story from the Mystery Writers of America. He writes the Travel Writer mystery series. His story “The Interpreter and the Killer” (EQMM, January/ February 2021) was an ITW Thriller Award finalist.
“Roshambo” by James Lincoln Warren
California author and U.S. Navy veteran James Lincoln Warren pens the Treviscoe of Lloyd’s and Cal Ops series as well as standalone short stories. In 2011, he won the Black Orchid Novella Award from AHMM and The Wolfe Pack.
“Campus Death” by Elizbeth Wells
Elizabeth Wells has published fiction in the U.K., Canada, and the United States. Her short stories have appeared in literary magazines and U.K. women’s magazines and have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Her novel, Port of Spain, was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger award.
“A Trail Job” by Richard Z. Santos
Richard Z. Santos’s debut novel Trust Me was a finalist for the Writer’s League of Texas Book Awards and named one of the best debuts of the year by CrimeReads. He’s the editor of the anthology A Night of Screams: Latino Horror Stories. His fiction has been nominated for the International Thriller Writers Award and has been cited as a notable story in Best American Mystery and Suspense.
“Grasshopper” by Jason Pfister
Originally from Stone Ridge, New York, Jason Pfister now lives in Tampa, Florida where he teaches English at USF. You can find more of his fiction published or forthcoming in Swamp Pink, J Journal, Uncharted Magazine, Ruminate Magazine, and elsewhere.
“GOMAAKOD” by Josh Pachter
Josh Pachter is an author, editor, and translator. His work has appeared in EQMM since his Department of First Stories debut in 1968, and in 2020 he became the first to publish new fiction in these pages in seven consecutive decades. This is his tenth Helmut Erhard story; another, “Texas Kinda Attitude,” was in our May/June 2024 issue, and a third is forthcoming.
“A Quiet Man in a Loud Town” by Miller Ed Frank
Miller Ed Frank is an emerging author from Delta State, Nigeria. His work has appeared in Story House (finalist, 2024 Biographical Nonfiction Contest, sponsored by the Preservation Foundation) and Brittle Paper. The author has forthcoming publications in Kalahari Review and Thema Literary Society.
“Me and Jan and the Handyman” by John M. Floyd
John M. Floyd’s fiction has appeared in Best Mystery Stories of the Year and many other publications. A former Air Force captain and IBM systems engineer, John is also an Edgar nominee, a Shamus Award winner, a six-time Derringer Award winner, and a past recipient of the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s lifetime achievement award.
“Alibi” by Kathleene Donahoo
Kathleene Donahoo has published over a dozen short stories in journals such as Bellevue Literary Review, Carolina Quarterly, New Flash Fiction Review, North American Review, and Tahoma Literary Review. She has a PhD in economics and currently lives in New Jersey, where she is working on a novel and short-story collection.
“Intervention” by Terry Black
Terry Black is the writer of Dead Heat, a zombie film that’s considered a cult classic. He’s written sexy Westerns, romance novels, science-fiction novellas, and about fifty short tales. He lives with two black cats, who “bring him much-deserved bad luck.”
“Marchland’s Missing Patient” by David Dean
David Dean’s stories have won a Derringer and four Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Awards. Others have been finalists for the Shamus, Barry, and Edgar Awards. His story “The Duelist” was included in The Best American Mystery Stories 2020. His collection, Shadow Lane and Other Tales of Dangerous Children, and his novel, The German Informant, are available from Genius Books.