Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine - June 2015

In this issue

Where are you going, and what will you leave behind? It’s a driving force for many, including the characters in our June 2015 issue. In “The Last Time” by Sheila Kohler and “If Anything Happens to Me” by Helena Edwards, women think about their children and grandchildren—and how they can help them when faced with their own demise.

A former child star in Brendan DuBois’s suspenseful “Her Final Shot” left the acting world behind, but what price secured her future? Opportunity for change is running out in both Mat Coward’s “On Borrowed Time,” about a dissatisfied member of a secret government department, and for an underworld employee in Alexander Pfeiffer’s Passport to Crime entry “On Your Eyelids I Pour Slumber,” the winner of last year’s Friedrich Glauser Prize.

In “No Cabs After Midnight” by William Hallstead and “The False Knight” by Peter Turnbull (the latter starring Detectives Hennessey and Yellich), survivors try to find justice for their murdered loved ones’ legacies. It’s more about the road ahead in Scott Mackay’s “The Avocado Kid,” in which Detective Michael Grandy anguishes over his personal potential and his partner’s mistakes, when they’re both caught up in a puzzle of a murder case. But in other places, like the run-down apartment of James Warner’s quirky and humorous “The Postmen,” bright years ahead seem unlikely, even after a successful resolution to the case. In the end, see what someone will ultimately do for his own standing, and that of a loved one, in Sarah Weinman’s chilling and poignant “The Last Cut.” It’s a lineup of unforgettable characters—don’t miss it!