Written by Tom Roberts

I have the cover—cover painting that is—on the current issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.

This was a special assignment for the magazine celebrating the retirement of their long-time reviewer, Jon Breen.

Each of the men portrayed in this scene is a past contributor to Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and a well-known figure in the mystery community. From left to right are: John Dickson Carr, Allen J. Hubin, Anthony Boucher, Jon Breen and Howard Haycraft.

The idea was to present a scene taking place on the famous Oriental Express railway line. In researching the train, it became apparent given the layout of the cars, that I could not showcase all the past contributors equally if they were to be seated inside the train. So after much deliberation I settled upon the idea of them awaiting on the platform to embark on their mysterious journey.

A write-up on the magazine's page about the cover can be found here.

While the list of credits for those I portrayed in this scene is quite long, here is a brief recap of their contributions to the mystery field.

John Dickson Carr, under his own name and that of Carter Dickson, was the author of more than 70 novels and master of the locked room/impossible crime mystery. He was the recipient of two Edgar Awards and the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award.

Allen J. Hubin is an editor and former mystery reviewer for the New York Times, and founder and first editor of The Armchair Detective. Allen's encyclopedic volume, The Bibliography of Crime Fiction is a much used reference work.

Anthony Boucher—for whom Bouchercon is named—was an author, editor and mystery reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle, and writer for many episodes of the Ellery Queen radio show among numerous other credits.

Jon Breen, a novelist, short-story writer, librarian, anthologist, and college English teacher, wrote the column, "The Jury Box" for EQMM for nearly thirty years. Jon has won two Edgar Allan Poe Awards and an Ellen Nehr Award from the American Crime Writers League in 2000.

Howard Haycraft, garbed as the mysterious conductor in the foreground, in addition to authoring  the 1941 nonfiction study, Murder for Pleasure, was also an important  personage in the early days of Sherlockian studies and a member of the Baker Street Irregulars. Haycraft was an editor and recipient of the Two-Shilling Award and two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America.

Look for my next cover for EQMM, a hard-boiled scene, forthcoming on the July issue.