I’ve heard the rumors since Bouchercon that Mystery Scene Magazine would cease publication with its Winter 2022 edition #174. It’s now official with the letter released by Editor-in-Chief Kate Stine (see below).

You might think that I would be happy about this, but I’m not. There has never been a spirit of competition among the mystery magazine editors I’ve known over the years. We all do our own thing, pretty much unaffected by whomever is also in the market. In fact, I have witnessed a spirit of camaraderie and willingness to help one another that speaks to the quality of people who put out publications for the mystery fiction fan. Mystery Scene is and was a quality mystery magazine, both in its appearance and its content. It will be greatly missed.

Here is Kate Stine’s announcement:

Fall #173 was a benchmark for Brian 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.

Kate Stine
Editor-in-Chief