Our Contributors

BRIAN SKUPIN Brian Skupin is the webmaster and co-publisher of Mystery Scene. Brian, originally from Toronto, is also the chief detective behind the popular "What's Happening With..." author interview feature. He also reviews books, composes the Mystery Scene crossword, and runs the magazine's website. In 2004, Mystery Scene was awarded an Anthony Award for Best Mystery Magazine by the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. In 2006, he and co-publisher Kate Stine were awarded the Ellery Queen Award by the Mystery Writers of America for contributions to mystery publishing.

KATE STINE Kate Stine is the editor-in-chief and co-publisher of Mystery Scene. After years as a book editor, Kate consulted for clients such as The Mary Higgins Clark Mystery Magazine, The Mystery Writers of America, MysteryNet, and Agatha Christie, Ltd. Kate was also editor-in-chief of The Armchair Detective Magazine from 1992-1997. Both the magazine and her book, The Armchair Detective Book of Lists, won Anthony Awards in 1996; the magazine won another Anthony Award in 1997. Stine and Brian Skupin acquired Mystery Scene in 2002. Mystery Scene was awarded an Anthony Award for Best Mystery Magazine by the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention in 2004. In 2006, Kate and Brian Skupin were awarded the Ellery Queen Award by the Mystery Writers of America for contributions to mystery publishing.

JON L. BREEN Jon L. Breen reviews nonfiction and reference works in his regular Mystery Scene column "What About Murder?" Jon is a two-time Edgar Award winner for What About Murder?: A Guide to Books About Mystery and Detective Fiction (1981) and the first edition of Novel Verdicts: A Guide to Courtroom Fiction. His first novel, Listen for the Click (1983) was short-listed for the UK's John Creasey Award for best first novel under its British title, Vicar's Roses, and his fourth novel, Touch of the Past (1988) was short-listed for CWA's Dagger Awards. His short stories have been collected in three volumes: Hair of the Sleuthhound (1982), The Drowning Icecube (1999), and Kill the Umpire (2003). Breen reviews mystery fiction in "The Jury Box" in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and is a frequent non-political contributor to The Weekly Standard. His latest novel, Eye of God, was published in 2006. In 2000 Breen retired after 25 years, first as a librarian and later as a professor of English at Rio Hondo College in Whittier, California. He lives in Fountain Valley, California, with his wife and first reader Rita, with whom he collaborated in editing the 1986 anthology American Murders.

OLINE COGDILL A journalist for more than 30 years, Oline H. Cogdill is the mystery fiction columnist for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale and a frequent contributor to Mystery Scene. Her reviews regularly appear in up to 250 newspapers around the world. She is a senior copy editor on the Sun-Sentinel's Features Desk where she works on the weekly entertainment editions. She also directs two of the newspaper's high school programs, including Teentime and the annual high school journalism contest. Oline was awarded the 1999 Ellen Nehr Award for Excellence in Mystery Reviewing by the American Crime Writers League. She also received the 1998 Pettyjohn, the highest award the Sun-Sentinel gives annually.

MAT COWARD Mat Coward reviews short stories in his column "Short & Sweet." His series of crime novels, featuring DI Don Packham and DC Frank Mitchell, began with Up and Down. His short stories have appeared in books, magazines, websites and on radio in the UK, US, Europe, Japan and Australia, and been nominated for the Edgar and Dagger Awards. He's also the gardening columnist on British socialist daily the Morning Star, and reviews books and short stories for various publications. His non-crime books include children's fiction, a short history of British radio comedy, and his account of the freelance life, Success & How To Avoid It. Mat lives in Somerset, in Britain.

T. DUERR T. Duerr has been Circulation Manager and Assistant Editor for Mystery Scene since early 2006 and has thoroughly enjoyed meeting and working with the many interesting and gracious authors, contributors, publishers and readers in the mystery community. In addition to working at Mystery Scene, she is a freelance consultant.

MARTIN EDWARDS Martin Edwards is a regular contributor to Mystery Scene. His much-acclaimed Lake District Mysteries include The Coffin Trail (short-listed for the Theakston's prize for best crime novel of 2006), The Cipher Garden, and The Arsenic Labyrinth. His seven novels about Harry Devlin include All the Lonely People, short-listed for the CWA John Creasey Memorial Dagger, and Suspicious Minds. He has edited 14 crime anthologies, including the CWA's Golden Jubilee collection, Mysterious Pleasures, and contributed to many others. A well-known critic and commentator on crime fiction, he has contributed essays to various reference books, including The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing, as well as to a wide range of magazines. A partner in a law firm in north west England, Martin is also a member of the Murder Squad collective of British crime writers.

ELIZABETH FOXWELL New Jersey native and Mystery Scene consulting editor Elizabeth Foxwell is a cofounder of the Malice Domestic Convention. She has edited nine anthologies, including the Anthony Award-nominated Malice Domestic 9 (2000). Her short story "No Man's Land" was nominated for the Macavity and won the Agatha Award for Best Short Story in 2004. She received first prize in the 2003 Cape Fear Crime Festival Short Story Contest and is the coauthor (with Dean James) of The Robert B. Parker Companion (2005) and the editor of the Malice serial novel The Sunken Sailor (2004). Elizabeth also hosts a weekly radio show on mysteries on WEBR in Fairfax, VA. Foxwell serves as managing editor of CLUES: A Journal of Detection, and received the George N. Dove Award from the Popular Culture Association for contributions to the serious study of mystery and crime fiction.

ED GORMAN Ed Gorman co-founded Mystery Scene in 1986 and edited the magazine for many years. He is currently a contributing editor. The prolific and critically lauded Gorman - he has been called "The Poet of Dark Suspense" - has published more than two dozen mystery novels and hundred of short stories since turning to writing full-time in 1984. He's the editor of numerous anthologies and the beloved mentor of many writers and quite a few industry professionals. For an an idea of his influence in the field see the Tribute to Ed Gorman in Mystery Scene #76. Ed lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with his wife Carol.

MARY ALICE GORMAN & RICHARD GOLDMAN Mary Alice Gorman & Richard Goldman review paperback original novels in their column, "Very Original." They own Mystery Lovers Bookshop (est. 1990), one of the largest specialty mystery bookstores in the country. The store carries only new books although they have an extensive collection of signed first edition hardcovers. Mystery Lovers Bookshop is located at 514 Allegheny River Boulevard, Oakmont PA 15139. (Oakmont is just outside of Pittsburgh.)

ANNIKA LARSSON Annika Larsson is the art director of Mystery Scene. Previously she has worked on The Armchair Detective, Mystery Writers of America's national newsletter and The Agatha Christie Society's newsletter. She is the art director for promotion and marketing at Esquire Magazine, a position she previously held at Wenner Media (Rolling Stone, Men's Journal, and US), and at FHM Magazine. She lives in New Jersey with her two children, Tess and Erik.

DICK LOCHTE Dick Lochte reviews audiobooks in his column "Sounds of Suspense" and also is a frequent contributor to Mystery Scene. He's the author of popular crime novels including Sleeping Dog (1985) which won the Nero Wolfe Award, was nominated for the Edgar, the Shamus and the Anthony Awards, and was named one of the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the 20th Century by the Independent Booksellers Association. Lochte's latest novel is Croaked! (2007). His crime fiction column that ran for nearly a decade in the Los Angeles Times earned him the 2003 Ellen Nehr Award for Excellence in Mystery Reviewing. Dick, who lives in Southern California with his wife and son, is also an award-winning drama critic and has written screenplays for such actors as Jodie Foster, Martin Sheen and Roger Moore.

MICHAEL MALLORY Michael Mallory is a frequent contributor to Mystery Scene. He's also a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee and the Derringer-winning author of some 90 short stories, mostly mystery, that have been published everywhere from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine to Fox Kids Magazine. He is the creator of Amelia Watson, whose exploits are featured in The Adventures of the Second Mrs. Watson (2000) and Murder in the Bath (2004), and the co-editor of the Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles anthologies Murder on Sunset Boulevard (2002) and LAndmarked For Murder (2006). By day Mike is an entertainment journalist with some 360 magazine and newspaper articles to his credit. His most recent non-fiction book is X-Men: The Characters and Their Universe (2006). A former newscaster and actor, and once and future hat aficionado, Mike makes his home in the greater Los Angeles area.

JEFFREY MARKS Mystery Scene's contributing editor Jeffrey Marks is an Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, Macavity, and Maxwell-nominated writer, anthologist, and biographer. He writes an Ulysses S. Grant historical mystery series as well as a series set in current day Cincinnati. He has edited four anthologies of mystery short stories. His nonfiction includes the biography of Craig Rice, Who Was That Lady? (2001), and Atomic Renaissance: Women Mystery Writers of the 1940s and 1950s (2003). He is currently working on a biography of Anthony Boucher. Jeff's how-to book for marketing genre fiction, Intent to Sell (2005), is in its second edition. He is the moderator for MurderMustAdvertise, a 1,000 member discussion group. Jeff lives in Cincinnati where he teaches middle school.

RON MILLER Mystery Scene's TV columnist Ron Miller has been writing about television since the early 1970s. He was national president of the Television Critics Association. and has written articles and fiction for scores of national publications, including TV Guide. He's the author of Mystery! A Celebration (1986), companion book to the PBS series. Miller is co-founder, managing editor and columnist for www.thecolumnists.com, a writers' cooperative website where Ron's Dark Corridors mystery pages are found. He and his wife, Darla, live at Resort Semiahmoo in Blaine, WA, right at the Canadian border.

TOM NOLAN Tom Nolan is a consulting editor at Mystery Scene as well as a frequent contributor. His work includes profiles of Sue Grafton, Tony Hillerman, John Grisham, and James Swain and articles about Margaret Millar, Ross Macdonald, and Old Time Radio mysteries. Nolan is the author of the Edgar Award-nominated Ross Macdonald: A Biography (1999) and editor of The Couple Next Door: Collected Short Mysteries (2004) by Margaret Millar. He is a frequent contributor to publications such as The Wall Street Journal. Tom lives in California.

GARY PHILLIPS Writer Gary Phillips is an opinion columnist for Mystery Scene. He has short stories in Los Angeles Noir edited by Denise Hamilton (May 2007) and Hollywood and Crime edited by Robert J. Randisi (June 2007). Phillips dabbles in screenwriting like every other valet and pilates instructor in Tinseltown, and is working on his next Ivan Monk private eye novel, following 2004's collection of the investigator's short stories, Monkology. His 2003 novel bangers, about an elite LA anti-gang squad, was re-released in February 2007, and he's also writing a crime graphic novel for DC/Vertigo called Cowboys. He's been nominated for a Shamus, and won a Chester Himes Award.

LOUIS PHILLIPS In addition to contributing the humor column "Mystery Miscellany," Louis Phillips is a widely published poet, playwright, and short story writer. He has two short story collections, A Dream of Countries Where No One Dare Live and The Bus to the Moon. His humor pieces have appeared in Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal, Smithsonian, New York Times (op ed) and in many other publications. He teaches creative writing at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He lives in Manhattan with his wife Pat and their two sons, Ian and Matthew.

ROBERTA ROGOW Roberta Rogow writes the "Child's Play" book review column for Mystery Scene. A children's librarian in Union Township, New Jersey, Roberta began her writing career in science fiction, then moved on to Sherlock Holmes pastiche stories. These led to four novels in which the Reverend Mr. Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) teamed up with young Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle to solve murders beginning with The Problem of the Missing Miss (1998). She has reviewed for School Library Journal and Voice of Youth Advocate and contributes regularly to short story anthologies.

KEVIN BURTON SMITH Kevin Burton Smith is the man behind Mystery Scene's Eyewitness column and the founder and editor of The Thrilling Detective Web Site. His writings on hard-boiled detective stories and other crime fiction, as well as music, film, bicycling and sundry other topics have appeared in numerous magazines and internet sites around the world. He is also an on-going contributor to CrimeSpree and January Magazine. A homesick Montrealer, he now lives with mystery writer D.L. Browne in the Los Angeles area , where he is still working on the Great North American Private Eye Novel. He has a blog and a Crimespace page.

CHERYL SOLIMINI Cheryl Solimini is a consulting editor for Mystery Scene as well as a frequent contributor. She has profiled Jacqueline Winspear, Michael Connelly, Kate White, and Jonathan and Faye Kellerman among others. She also kicked off the ongoing "Mysterious Places" series with her article, "Nefarious New Jersey: Crime Writers of the Garden State." A former features editor of Mary Higgins Clark Mystery Magazine and a frequent contributor to Family Circle, Solimini has just written her first mystery novel, Across the River.

HANK WAGNER Hank Wagner's frequent contributions to Mystery Scene include profiles of Peter Abrahams, David Morrell, and Dana Stabenow. Hank lives in northwestern New Jersey with his wife and four daughters. His work has appeared in Cemetery Dance, Horror Garage, Hellnotes, and Jazz Improv, and he is a co-author of The Stephen King Universe (2001). Hank is currently working with David Morrell on the nonfiction Thrillers: 100 Must Reads.

BETTY WEBB Betty Webb writes the Independent Press review column for Mystery Scene. Betty is a longtime journalist and book reviewer for various newspapers. Her prize-winning Lena Jones series - beginning with Desert Shadows (2004) - has garnered rave reviews from the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and other national publications. Desert Noir was a Booksense pick, and Desert Wives won a Silver Medal in the Willa Cather awards. Betty teaches Creative Writing at Phoenix College, and her popular writing workshops include: The Book Reviewing Process; The Three Deadly Writing Sins; and Get Five Novel Ideas Per Day for the Rest of Your Life Ð Guaranteed!

BARRY T. ZEMAN Barry T. Zeman is an authority on the history of the mystery and mystery book collecting. He is a past Executive Vice-President of Mystery Writers of America and has been active in that organization for almost three decades, including acting as archivist and librarian for almost 20 years. He was associate editor of the most recent edition of the Mystery Writers Handbook and has contributed numerous nonfiction articles, essays, and chapters to various books, journals and magazines including Firsts, and recent articles in Mystery Scene. Barry lives in New York with his wife, mystery writer Angela Zeman.