Introducing the Fall 2025 issue

[Special Feature]
Mystery Planners
1.
Attending the Toronto MOTIVE Crime & Mystery Festival_Seo Mi-ae
2.
Mystery Publishing Company Branding and the Seoul International Book Fair_Kim So-mang


[Rookie of the Year Award]
Judges' comments


[Short story]
The Murderous Intent of Artificial Intelligence_Hong Jeong-gi
Ghost Hiker: Polaris_Kim In-young
Four Riders_Seo Dong-hoon
Living and Dead_No Sutra

[Memorial]
Frederick Forsyth: Fighter Pilot, Journalist, and Thriller Writer_Park Gwang-gyu

[Serial]
Reading Genre Literature through Masterplots: ③ The Horror Genre and the Sociology of Fear by Park In-seong

[View the work]
The Struggle Between Real and Fake - The Hidden Difficulties of Historical Mysteries_Mugyeong

[Mystery Video Review]
The film "Unsolved Cases Unit Q" and the drama "Crime Investigation Unit Q," both inspired by Nordic crime novels - What's Your Taste? - Joo Han-ryang

[Reconstruction of the incident]
The Sound of a Gunshot_Hwang Se-yeon

[New Book Review]
One-liners from the editorial board of Mystery Quarterly

Summer 2025 Reader Reviews

Fall Special Feature: "Mystery Planners"
Seo Mi-ae to participate in Toronto's MOTIVE Crime & Mystery Festival
Butterfly Club, a mystery publishing company, and the 2025 Seoul International Book Fair

We looked back at the planners who are working hard to bring the mystery genre from the invisible to the front of the stage.
First, mystery writer Seo Mi-ae, who recently celebrated her 30th anniversary since her debut, revealed the behind-the-scenes story of her participation in the MOTIVE Crime & Mystery Festival held in Toronto, Canada.
It is worth taking a look at the efforts being made to connect good writers and their works with readers.


Next, we took a close look at Butterfly Club's branding efforts, from planning to completion, as it strives to become a specialized mystery publishing company.
An interview with Director Woo-Sung Jeon, who oversaw branding for Samsung Electronics, Naver, 29CM, StyleShare, and Rounds, will also be of practical help to publishers and planners considering branding.

Korean mystery novels confirm the expanded boundaries of the mystery genre.
- Includes new short stories by Hong Jeong-gi, Kim In-yeong, Seo Dong-hoon, and Mu Kyung.

“The Fourth Law of Robotics.
In cases where human harm cannot be avoided due to special circumstances, decisions are made to minimize the harm.
The driving robot turned the bus steering wheel according to this principle.”
Hong Jeong-gi, "The Murderous Intent of Artificial Intelligence"

“A person reading a book while mourning his mother’s body.”
Kim In-young's "Ghost Hiker: North Star"

“The soldier took his smartphone out of his pocket.
“Now that brain implants have become commercialized, they are an outdated item that almost no one uses.”
Seo Dong-hoon, "For Riders"

“Ui-gyeom was a man who deserved to die.
“Because I didn’t realize what was going on in the palace and just hugged the woman and made small talk.”
_Mugyeong 〈Life and Death〉

The novel features four short stories by domestic authors that clearly demonstrate the expanded boundaries of the mystery genre.
Hong Jeong-gi's "The Murder of Artificial Intelligence" is a work that combines science fiction and a true mystery. In a society where teleportation technology is commercialized, a murder case in a locked room using cutting-edge technology occurs, and the author challenges the reader to uncover the blind spots hidden within certain rules.
Seo Dong-hoon's "Four Riders" is a follow-up to the Rookie of the Year award-winning "Cyber ​​Nirvana 2092," and is a reimagining of Ed McBain's legendary kidnapping mystery "A King's Ransom" with a science fiction worldview and theme.
It reads like a kind of science fiction thriller.
Kim In-young's "Ghost Hiker: North Star" is a work that skillfully combines realistic mystery and fantasy against the backdrop of the Camino de Santiago during the coronavirus pandemic. Its exotic setting and literary achievement are noteworthy.
Mu-gyeong's "Life and Death" is a work reminiscent of his previous work, "Mang," and it elegantly depicts the loyalty and betrayal of shadows trying to ensure the survival of the nation in the cracks between the great powers after the assassination of Queen Min.
Although it is a short story, the author's thorough research and hard work can be felt.

Mystery novel critic Park Gwang-gyu recently published “Frederick Forsyth: Fighter Pilot, Journalist, and Thriller Writer,” which reexamines the works of the late Frederick Forsyth.
It may help to ease the sadness of losing another master along with John le Carré.
Professor Park In-seong chose ‘The Horror Genre and the Sociology of Fear’ as the topic for the third installment of ‘Reading Genre Literature through Master Plots.’
It presents an interesting analysis of how the sense of crisis about social death felt as a social subject, rather than the primitive fear of survival, differs in Korea, Japan, and the United States.
“The fact that there haven’t been many notable works in the Korean horror genre since “The Wailing” is because the reality we live in and the horrors of our daily lives have surpassed the existing horror genres,” is significant.
Following the full-blown mystery of the previous issue, Mu-gyeong explores a historical mystery.
As a genre, it presents a unique interpretation that it is difficult to define in a single word the fundamental dilemma of humanity, that of 'truth and falsehood', which lies at the center of the historical mystery narrative.
Joo Han-ryang compares how films based on Nordic crime novels change when they are produced domestically and when they are transplanted to other countries.

Sigrid Nunez says in The Uncertainty of That Spring:
“It was only when I was a child that I believed it was important to remember what happened in the novels I read.
Now I know that what matters is not the fictional events described in the book, but the experience of reading, the emotional state the story evokes, the questions that arise in my mind.”
No matter how trendy text heaps are, the foundation is the fun and immersive power of the text itself.
I hope you enjoy the primal fun of the mystery genre.

*There are no winners of the Rookie of the Year award this issue.