Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine - March/April 2020

In this issue

EQMM’s spring issue has us thinking about time. A stunning novella by Joyce Carol Oates shows how we may experience distortions of time itself. Two of our featured pieces keep time in meter: “Here in Tremonia” by Karr & Wehner (from the Passport to Crime Department), an homage in song, and “Of Clues and Clerihews” by Richard Stout, several small poems. And several narrators share how they spend what might be their very last moments, in “Final Thoughts” by Susan Salzer, “A Little Help From My Friend” by John Dobbyn, and “Active Shooter” by Jack Bunker.
The puzzler “The Eleventh Commandment,” the suspenseful P.I. tale “In the War Zone of the Heart,” and the legal mystery “Kidneys” (by Paul Charles, John Lantigua, and Rebecca Cantrell, respectively) explore family dynamics, while “Ghost Cat” by Hal Charles, “Bones” by Bill Pronzini, and Ariel Dodson’s haunting first story “Ding Dong Bell” explore the lines some are willing to cross for—and against—family.
The fanciful “Auguste Didier and the Mad Hatter’s Hats” by Amy Myers and the clever “Lady Luck” by Peter Lovesey take us on travels—back in time in the former and to exotic Marrakesh in the latter.
The personal pursuits of characters lead to creative ways to make a buck—for better or for worse—in “Like a Lightning Bolt” by Dave Zeltserman, “One Too Many” by Edith Maxwell, and “Run Rosie Run” by Preston Lang. Make EQMM one of your pursuits. Take some time for stellar short crime fiction today!