{"id":8374,"date":"2020-02-17T08:00:09","date_gmt":"2020-02-17T13:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=8374"},"modified":"2020-02-17T08:17:07","modified_gmt":"2020-02-17T13:17:07","slug":"crime-short-fiction-eqmm-and-rock-and-a-hard-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=8374","title":{"rendered":"Crime Short Fiction: EQMM and Rock and a Hard Place"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"magazines,<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the rambunctious arena from which mystery and crime short stories emerge, some publishers have played a long game, MVPs of that literary scene, some leave the game after a short run, and, though their retirement from the field is lamented, new players keep the game going. Here\u2019s a take on one of those new pubs and recent offerings from a true stalwart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***Rock and a Hard Place<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The debut of another outlet for\nshort crime fiction is something to celebrate. Editors Jay Butkowski, Jonathan\nElliott, and Roger Nokes say they aim to capture the sense of desperation in our\ncurrent moment. Though the 18 stories in their inaugural issue are about characters\nin desperate situations, at the bottom of the social heap, the editors believe\nthese stories are compassionate and real. In going dark, they\u2019re following the\npath of a good many other current crime magazine editors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stories I especially enjoyed included SJ Rozan\u2019s funny \u201cSister\nof Mercy,\u201d about a nun with an unusual and peculiarly useful side-job. Kathleen\nKilpatrick\u2019s \u201cGhost Tribe\u201d about albino children in Tanzania raised interesting\nquestions about identity and fitting in. For a clever jibe at Donald Trump\u2019s\nMexican wall, read Alex Skopic\u2019s \u201cLos Renacidos.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \u201cChlorine,\u201d Al Tucher\u2019s recurring character, the\nprostitute Diana, (wisely) decides against a replay of her teen years, and several\nmemorable characters in SA Cosby\u2019s \u201cThe Anchors That Tie Us Down\u201d encounter a\nbit of the editors\u2019 sought-after compassion. You\u2019ll chuckle over the reversal\nof fortune faced by a pair of young grifters in Allan Leverone\u2019s \u201cA Town Full\nof Losers.\u201d Finally, Jacqueline Seewald\u2019s \u201cAgainst the Odds\u201d pits a gambler\nagainst his compulsions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not all of the stories appealed to me, and I abandoned one or two partway through. But that\u2019s OK. The appetite for darkness isn\u2019t the same for everyone or the same on every day. Independently published, Rock and a Hard Place<\/a><\/em> is a notable first effort for a publication worth watching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

****Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see I\u2019m falling behind in my reading, as this refers to the January\/February 2020 issue of EQMM<\/em>, and March\/April beckons from the bookshelf beside me. This long-standing publication of crime and mystery tales (almost 80 years!) may be thriving in part because of the diversity of story types it includes\u2014something good for every reader. Among this issue\u2019s many fine stories are the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

><\/strong>\u201cThe Wretched Strangers\u201d by Matthew Wilson employs a novel protagonist, a woman who interviews asylum-seekers and must untangle their complex relationships with the truth.
><\/strong>Satisfying (and deadly) comeuppance tales in \u201cNow Hiring Nasty Girlz\u201d by Toni LP Kelner, \u201cCrow\u2019s Nest\u201d by John M Floyd, and \u201cStroke of Luck\u201d by Bill Pronzini. Floyd talks about how he created \u201cCrow\u2019s Nest\u201d in a 15 Feb SleuthSayers post<\/a> (scroll down for it).
><\/strong>\u201cThe Concrete Pillow\u201d by Pat Black\u2013a gritty police procedural set in Glasgow.
><\/strong>Excellent depiction of a child\u2019s flawed recollections in \u201cThe Summer Uncle Cat Came to Stay\u201d by Leslie Elman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can subscribe to EQMM<\/a> or its sister publication Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine or find single copies in the magazine section of your big box book store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo: cegoh for Pixabay, creative commons license<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the rambunctious arena from which mystery and crime short stories emerge, some publishers have played a long game, MVPs of that literary scene, some leave the game after a short run, and, though their retirement from the field is … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Crime Short Fiction: EQMM and Rock and a Hard Place - A new player in the publishing game and recent offerings from one of the All-Stars.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[61,52,40,3,126,120],"tags":[610,1699],"class_list":["post-8374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-character","category-crime","category-fiction","category-mystery","category-reading-2","category-short-story","tag-ellery-queen-mystery-magazine","tag-rock-and-a-hard-place"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2NkiT-2b4","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8374"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8376,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8374\/revisions\/8376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}