In this issue

What’s at stake in a crime tale depends on what characters value, and that comes clearly to light in EQMM’s suspenseful May/June 2020 issue. In Tom Tolnay’s “Rhododendron,” a couple debates what’s important in their community (to surprisingly dark results), and in “Safe” by Judy Clemens a character values the status quo over the safety of others. In “Quality Control” by Susan Dunlap, monetary gain is valued above all, while in “Borrowed Brains” by Alaric Hunt, from the Black Mask department, P.I. Clayton Guthrie puts the value of a stranger’s life over compensation. And values can change as circumstances do, as the central character in Shelly Dickson Carr’s “Nantucket Undertow” finds out.

Protagonists in Marilyn Todd’s “Beyond the Tree Line” and “House of Ash” by Benjamin Percy find importance in freedom, of a kind, while justice and financial gain are at odds in “Noble Rot” by Richard Helms and “Rassendyll’s Grave” by R.T Raichev. Elsewhere, familial loyalty is the driving force for action, as in “Shadow Lane” by David Dean and “Rage Warehouse—Ire Proof” by Toni L.P. Kelner.

We value our fantasies as well, and this is true for characters in Jim Weikart’s “The Frog” and Keith McCarthy’s “The Perfect Crime.” Meanwhile, legacy is of ultimate importance in “The End of the Line” by Katherine Hall Page and the Passport to Crime entry “Travelers’ Rest” by Michael Berg. Finally, how much characters value their work creates tension in “The Workaholic” by N.W. Barcus and “Art in Pieces” by Wynn Quon, both from the Department of First Stories.

Here at EQMM, we value our readership, and you get a voice this issue as the winners of our 2019 Readers Award are announced. You’ll also find new reading material, as our Stranger Than Fiction true crime column by Dean Jobb, formerly only available on our website, comes to the pages of the magazine. As always, EQMM gives readers the highest value in short mystery fiction!

Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Description:

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