Readers get a lot of pleasure encountering old friends, series characters that they’ve met before. AHMM is always pleased to welcome such recidivists, and many writers have taken the opportunity to introduce new characters in these pages who have gone on to great acclaim. In fact, our Black Orchid Novella Award winner, Libby Cudmore, already has further plans for the private eye duo she introduces in “Alibi in Ice.” You’ll find more familiar faces, as well as some standout stand-alones, in this issue.

Marcelle Dubé revisits retired Chief Superintendent Estelle Martin, now a volunteer at a homeless shelter in the Yukon, who finds herself involved in a missing person case in “Chuck Berry Is Missing.”

Among the Long Shadows
by Vicki Weisfeld

Hector’s grumbling came through his closed front door loud and clear before he even flipped on the porch light. “Why so early, Bree?”

“Oooh. I see you missed your beauty sleep,” I said. Hector hoisted his bag of camera equipment over a shoulder as we headed to my car, parked at the curb, engine running.

“It’s still dark, woman,” he huffed.

I popped the trunk, and he stashed the gear. READ MORE

Safe at Home
by Irette Y. Patterson

I still thought of the neighborhood I grew up in as safe. I mean, of course, doing my first cursory review before heading back home gave me a clue of what to expect. The housing app I downloaded outlined the ranking of Ruby Gate Elementary School, the school I spent seven years walking to and from.

Back then the county was testing a new concept—placing elementary schools in neighborhoods. So, there I was, pigtailed with glasses in Wonder Woman brown to match the book bag slung across my body, the bag bumping against my thigh as I rushed to make it in time before the opening bell. READ MORE