Authors in This Issue
“Enough Thank-You” by Karen Abrahamson
For seventeen years British Columbian author Karen L. Abrahamson worked in the criminal-justice system, as a police, corrections, and probation officer. Her many novels and short stories span the genres of mystery, fantasy, and romance, and her crime stories have been nominated for the Canadian Crime Writers Awards of Excellence.
“Nineteen Forty-Nine” by Ragnar Jónasson and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
Ragnar Jónasson’s novels, including the Dark Iceland series, have sold millions of copies and been translated into thirty languages. Several have been adapted for film or TV. Yrsa Sigurðardóttir writes both crime novels and children’s fiction. She’s a winner of the Icelandic Children’s Book Prize.
“Jennifer’s Daughter” by Doug Allyn
Author of nine well-received novels (including The Jukebox Kings, of which PW said, “Allyn displays . . . a talent for making even the most incidental characters flesh-and-blood originals.”), Doug Allyn is still better known for his short stories. They’ve brought him two Edgars, the Robert L. Fish Award, eleven EQMM Readers Awards, and many other honors.
“Everybody Pays” by Jim Allyn
Brother of EQMM’s ever-popular contributor Doug Allyn, Jim Allyn writes relatively little fiction. But what he does write is always worth reading. Three of his last four stories for us made best-of-the-year collections: Best American Mystery Stories 2014 (“Princess Anne”) and 2017 (“The Master of Negwegon”) and Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2021 (“Things That Follow”).
“Das Bescherkind” by Christiane Dieckerhoff
Christiane Dieckerhoff directed the neonatal unit at a children’s hospital prior to the publication of the first novel in her Spreewald crime-fiction series in 2016. She also writes romance novels as Nelly Fehrenbach and historical crime fiction as Anne Breckenridge. She’s been nominated for the Friedrich Glauser Prize several times. This story won in 2023.
“Boom!” by William Burton McCormick
William Burton McCormick is the author of two novels, Lenin’s Harem and KGB Banker, the latter the winner of a 2022 Best Thriller Book Award. Two of his novellas are also published in book form: A Stranger From the Storm and House of Tigers. He’s also distinguished as a short-story writer—a Thriller Award nominee for one of his EQMM stories and an Edgar nominee for an AHMM tale.
“Swipe Right” by Cath Staincliffe
Cath Staincliffe’s fiction-writing career began with her first novel receiving the CWA’s New Blood Dagger. She went on to win the Short Story Dagger and receive multiple nominations for both the Short Story Dagger and the Dagger in the Library. She’s the author of the Sal Kilkenny P.I. books and many standalone psychological suspense novels, and the creator of ITV’s Blue Murder.
“Twenty Centuries” by James D.F. Hannah
James D.F. Hannah is the Shamus Award-winning author of the Henry Malone P.I. series, including the novels Behind the Wall of Sleep and Because the Night. His first story for EQMM was featured in our January/February 2024 issue. This new story will appear, shortly after our publication, in the Hanukkah anthology Eight Very Bad Nights, edited by Tod Goldberg.
“The Death of Iggy in the Key of G” by Richard Drummer
A lifelong musician/songwriter turned fiction writer, Richard Allen (a.k.a. Richard Drummer) has self-published three novels. The most recent (The Second Life of Arthur Blade) won a bronze medal for best thriller in the Royal Palm Literary Awards. This is the author’s first professional sale.
“Double Parked” by Twist Phelan
Twist Phelan is the author of eleven novels, including the Finn Teller Corporate Spy series and 2024’s Snowed, the first in a middle-grade mystery series. Her short stories are all standouts: For them she has won the Arthur Ellis and two Thriller awards and multiple nominations for the CWC Award of Excellence and the Shamus, Lefty, Anthony, Derringer, and Irish Book Awards.
“The Righteous” by Bill Pronzini
Bill Pronzini is best known as the creator of the San Francisco-based Nameless Detective, who appears in more than forty books, but he’s produced dozens of other novels in many genres and more than three hundred short stories. He’s also a prolific anthologist, having edited more than a hundred collections. He is, in other words, a force in most areas of genre fiction.
“If Christmas Comes—” by Steve Fisher
Although he was also a novelist, TV writer (on Barnaby Jones, Starsky & Hutch, and more) and screenwriter Steve Fisher may be best known for his pulp stories, a number of which were published in Black Mask magazine. This story was previously reprinted in EQMM in 1944.
“Not With Hibiscus, but With Blood” by Anna Scotti
A previous entry in this Librarian on the Run series by Anna Scotti, “It’s Not Even Past” (2023), received a Derringer nomination and was chosen for Best Mystery Stories of the Year. Down & Out Books will release a collection of the stories in 2025.
“Welcome to JFR!” by Robert Lopresti
A former librarian, Robert Lopresti is the author of several novels, one of which, Greenfellas, was named one of the best mysteries of 2015 by Kings River Life Magazine. But he is primarily a short-story specialist who’s been nominated for the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s Derringer Award five times, winning it three. He’s also a Black Orchid Novella Award winner.
“The Commission” by Leslie Elman
Leslie Elman’s EQMM story “The Summer Uncle Cat Came to Stay” received a nomination for the 2021 Edgar Award. Her stories have also appeared in AHMM, Vautrin, and Mystery Weekly. She writes the nationally syndicated column “Trivia Bits,” has authored several nonfiction books, and is a contributor to Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, something that helped inspire this story.
“Sparrow Maker” by Jake Stein
A musician who plays multiple instruments, writes and records his own songs, and produces and sound engineers music for others, Jake Stein grew up in Durham, North Carolina and currently lives in Seattle. He’s previously written screenplays (as well as acting and directing for film). This is his first published short story.
“The Theft of Las Meninas” by Jeff Soloway
Jeff Soloway entered the mystery scene in 2011 with a short story that would win the Robert L. Fish Award for best short story by a new American author. He went on to launch the Travel Writer mystery series (Penguin Random House). His 2021 story for EQMM, “The Interpreter and the Killer,” received a Thriller Award nomination. This new story has a connection to that earlier tale, but we won’t give away what it is. Read on and find out!
“Old Dog” by Mike Wheet
Raised in Washington, D.C., Mike Wheet moved west to attend Stanford University, then lived in Brooklyn for a while, and finally moved to L.A. to work in the film industry. His first fiction was published in EQMM’s Department of First Stories in 2016; we’re very pleased to have him return to our pages.
“Whatever Satisfies the Soul” by Billie Livingston
Billie Livingston is the author of four novels, a book of short stories (all Random House), and a poetry collection. She’s been nominated for the Giller Prize, the Journey Prize for Short Fiction, and the National Magazine Award. Her story “Sitting on the Edge of Marlene” was made into a feature film, and recently she was awarded the Writers Trust of Canada’s Engel/Findlay Prize.
“The Longest Night of the Year” by Melissa Yi
In 2023, Melissa Yi won the Aurora and Derringer awards and was a finalist for the Claymore and Macavity. Her stories have appeared in EQMM, AHMM, and The Strand, and in the anthologies Jewish Noir, Indian Country Noir, and Montreal Noir. She’s authored a dozen novels in her Dr. Hope Sze mystery series.