Category Archives: Criticism

“The Last Great Crime Novel of 1975?: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino” (by Kevin Mims)

Posted on August 4, 2021 by somethingisgoingtohappen

In a follow-on to his March 10 post for this site entitled “The Greatest Year in the History of Crime Fiction” (1975),  essayist and short story writer Kevin Mims reviews one of 2021’s new books as if it were a … Continue reading →

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“Predicting a Pandemic” (by Kevin Mims)

Posted on June 10, 2020 by somethingisgoingtohappen

Last week on this site I expressed the opinion that most readers are not yet ready to read stories about COVID-19 for entertainment. But as Kevin Mims notes in the following essay, a number of publications, including the New York … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Characters, Criticism, Fiction, Genre, Guest, History, Suspense, Thrillers | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“On Sara Gran’s Claire DeWitt and the Nature of Truth in Detective Fiction” (by Chad Baker)

Posted on May 15, 2019 by somethingisgoingtohappen

In the days when EQMM had a Department of Second Stories, legal-aid attorney Chad Baker would have qualified. He makes his EQMM debut in our current issue, May/June 2019, with the story “The Smoking Bandit of Lakeside Terrace.” Previously, he … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Characters, Classic Mystery, Criticism, Fiction, Genre, hardboiled, mystery fiction, Noir, Writers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Cultivating Crime in the College Classroom” (by Hollis Seamon)

Posted on April 25, 2018 by somethingisgoingtohappen

Hollis Seamon‘s first short story for EQMM appears in our current issue (May/June 2018). She is the author of two novels and two critically acclaimed short-story collections, and the 2009 winner of the Al Blanchard Award for best crime story. … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Criticism, Genre, Guest, History, Writers, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“Ten Days’ Wonder” (1948) by Ellery Queen (review by Arthur Vidro)

Posted on July 12, 2017 by somethingisgoingtohappen

As I mentioned when he last blogged for this site, in January of this year, in addition to being a freelance editor and a writer of short stories (two can be found on EQMM’s website and blog), Arthur Vidro is … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Characters, Criticism, Ellery Queen, Fiction, Guest, review | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“The Case of the Unrecognized Editor” (by John Duvall)

Posted on June 21, 2017 by somethingisgoingtohappen

John Duvall is the Margaret Church Distinguished Professor of English at Purdue University. He has published extensively on modern and contemporary American fiction. In this post he discusses how EQMM helped to reignite the career of one of America’s greatest literary writers, … Continue reading →

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“The Last of the Kingdom of Romance: 90 years since the publication of The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes” (by R.T. Raichev)

Posted on June 7, 2017 by somethingisgoingtohappen

2017 marks the 90th anniversary of the publication of the last book of Sherlock Holmes adventures. In honor of the occasion, R.T. Raichev, a lifelong fan of English crime fiction, gives his assessment of the stories in that volume, entitled The Case-Book … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Criticism, Fiction, Guest, History, Holmesian | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“The Not-So-Simple Art of Mystery Reviewing” (by Elizabeth Foxwell)

Posted on April 25, 2017 by somethingisgoingtohappen

It’s our pleasure this week to present a post by a mystery reviewer. Over the several years during which this blog has been active, we’ve had only a couple of previous posts by members of that important profession. Elizabeth Foxwell … Continue reading →

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