147Cover465Hi Everyone,

Hi everyone, In sad news for the mystery community, author and editor Ed Gorman passed away on October 14, 2016.

In addition to his many literary accomplishments in the crime, Western, and horror genres, Ed and Robert Randisi founded Mystery Scene Magazine in 1985. Ed remained publisher and editor until 2002 and stayed active in the magazine as a consulting editor and columnist up until the most recent issue, Fall #146, 2016. Ed had a profound effect on my life. We had known each other for years, he as the editor and publisher of Mystery Scene Magazine and I as the editor of The Armchair Detective. In 2002, he called to ask whether I’d like to own a small magazine. Would I! It was a dream come true, and Ed was an unfailing source of good advice and good cheer in the magazine’s transition from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to New York City. In all the years since, he was as much a joy to work with as he was a joy to know. He will be missed.

Jon L. Breen offers a tribute to Ed in this issue. Please visit the website for more articles about Ed, including the tribute piece we published in our first issue of Mystery Scene in 2002, and Tom Nolan’s 2014 appreciation of Ed’s Sam McCain novels.

Lee Child wants you to know that he’s not one to lose focus. As he says in Oline Cogdill’s interview in this issue, “I am the Reacher guy. That is what I’m always going to do.” And the millions of Jack Reacher fans say

“Amen” to that!

On the other end of the crime fiction spectrum, Joanne Fluke is similarly dedicated. Each of the delicious recipes in her best- selling Hannah Swensen mysteries is rigorously tested by Fluke as well as by others who might not be as culinarily gifted. We’ve included a recipe for her Chocolate Caramels in this issue—bon appétit!

Amy Stewart was researching an early 20th-century booze smuggler when she stumbled across the Kopp sisters, a trio of crime-fighting Jersey Girls who defied their era and circumstances to carve out independent lives. We think you’ll agree that reality is as entertaining as fiction in this highly praised new series. Cherly Solimini talks to the author in this issue.

A tough start in life led directly to a career in the arts for David Morrell. He began telling himself stories in the orphanage, and, as he says in our interview, “Today I still tell stories in order to deal with whatever hell comes around.”

Lawrence Block considers the series character in an entertaining essay in this issue. Should a series hero age in real time or remain frozen in amber? He’s tried it both ways and has thoughts to share. Jim French Productions has completed a landmark achievement with the radio dramatizations of the entire Sherlock Holmes canon—four novels and 56 short stories—now available in a handsome three-volume, 30-CD set. Do you know a good little sleuth who deserves a wonderful surprise?

Speaking of gifts, Kevin Burton Smith has scoured many dark alleys and even darker bars to assemble the “2016 Mystery Scene Gift Guide for Mystery Lovers” in this issue. Take advantage of his legwork!

All of our best wishes for a wonderful holiday season and the happiest new year.

Enjoy!

Kate Stine
Editor-in-chief

 

 

 

 

 

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