The classic loner private eye notwithstanding, crime and its investigation occur within a social context. This month’s issue includes stories featuring team detective work in Janice Law’s “A Taste of Murder” and Sarah Weinman’s “Death of a Feminist.” Ties of friendship (allegedly) motivate characters in Brendan DuBois’s “A Battlefield Reunion” and Michael Bracken’s “Chase Your Dreams.” Familial obligations and gang ties are at odds in Martin Limón’s “The King of K-Pop.” “Poor Sherm” endures the pressures of family expectations in our Mystery Classic by Ruth Chessman (whose own daughter, Jane K. Cleland, introduces the tale). Finally, love, the greatest of all social engines, drives characters to behave badly in Erica Wright’s first story for AHMM, “Patsy Cline at Harry’s Last Chance Saloon.”
It’s a threatening world outside our editorial offices, but here at
Trace Evidence 