The File Is Closed ... for Now

Funny how the world seems to balance itself out, isn’t it? Just as editor-in-chief Kevin Burton Smith and his fiction editor, Gerald So, start dropping hints that The Thrilling Detective Web Site will soon be back, after a three-month hiatus, we learn that the research journal Mystery*File “is going on hiatus for the time being,” according to its editor, Steve Lewis. He explains:

It’s not that I’ve run out of material. Far from it. I’ve simply run out of time to do the editing, formatting and uploading the many, many articles that have been sent to me or that I have access to. Far too many distractions have come along during the last month or so, as you may have noticed: minor health problems, family obligations, chores around the house, some long-term projects I’ve been meaning to do--they’ve all been part of the balancing act, and the lack of time to do M*F, and to do it right, is what finally prevailed.

Lewis promises that he will keep writing book reviews and bibliographic commentaries for his site, and that he will be “putting online the Addenda that Allen J. Hubin is continuing to accumulate for Crime Fiction IV: Revised Edition.” But at least for now, it looks as if Mystery*File is plunging into deep hibernation. That’s too bad, because it’s become a regular source of news and information for The Rap Sheet. And Lewis was even kind enough to ask to repost one of my Sheet squibs (about James M. Cain’s birthday) on his site. My fingers are crossed that, after a respectable period of rest and renewal, Lewis will find time and interest enough to crank Mystery*File back into gear. For now, we’ll just have to be content with the voluminous contents already online, essays and other material that is educational and invites lengthy browsing.