A Sorrowful Loss for Mystery Readers

Despite fervent hopes to the contrary (mine included), it seems that the Winter 2022 edition of Mystery Scene—on its way now to subscribers and newsstands—will be the final issue of that justly popular publication, which was founded in 1985. Editor-in-chief Kate Stine explains the situation in this introductory letter:

Fall #173 was a benchmark for Brian [Skupin] and me as publishers of Mystery Scene—our 20th Anniversary Issue. Winter #174 marks a sadder occasion—the final issue of Mystery Scene Magazine after 37 years in business.

The publishing industry has changed seismically over the last two decades with the advent of the internet, publisher consolidation, the birth of social media, and the rise of Amazon. It has become impossible for us to continue to offer you the high-quality print publication in which we’ve taken so much pride.

The website will remain functioning for now, as will our monthly e-newsletter. We will be refunding readers for their outstanding subscriptions over the next few months. This is a big job, so please be patient with us. We expect to have this task done by February 2023.

We want to thank our outstanding staff, particularly the indispensable Teri Duerr for all her excellent work editing, writing, and organizing over the years. Annika Larsson made all of us look good with her outstanding design skills. The quality of our contributors is apparent to Mystery Scene readers already—but let me just say how interesting, educational, and fun it was to work with them. And we want to thank all of you—we loved bringing you the magazine. Brian and I had the best job in publishing for 20 years and we want to thank you for coming along for the ride.

I’ll likely have more to say about this regrettable turn of events in days to come, but for now, let me just add my thanks to Kate Stine and Brian Skupin for all they have contributed to this genre over the years.