Did Uncle Leonard attack a young boy?

An escape artist plunges into the icy waters of Montreal’s St. Lawrence River, chained and nailed into a coffin—and never breaks free.
After they dredge him from the waves, Dr. Hope Sze resuscitates him, saving his life. When he regains consciousness, but not his memory of the event, he hires Hope to deduce who sabotaged his act. Even as she probes the case, and the strange world of magic and illusion, she must confront her own fears of death on the palliative care ward—and tackle the two toothsome men who can’t wait for her to choose between them.

A mother who burns for justice. The doctor who can’t say no. And the killer who lies in wait.

"Melissa Yi has truly found her niche with the Hope Sze mystery series. Drawing on her personal experiences in the ER in Canada, Melissa has created medical thrillers that shine with authenticity and are impossible to put down. Code Blues provides the perfect introduction to a world we often experience, but rarely understand."--Kris Nelscott, Edgar and Shamus Award-nominated author

“What fabrications they are, mothers. Scarecrows, wax dolls for us to stick pins into, crude diagrams.”
― Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin.

How do you solve a problem like your mother?

A ferocious flash fiction story.

Accompanied by an exclusive essay by the author on the exhausted genesis of the story at Kris Rusch and Dean Smith's Oregon mystery workshop, the writing life, and the Derringer short list.

At West Vincent High School, the power couple ain’t the prom king and queen.
The head janitor, Gordon Pinchuk, rules the roost, harassing everyone from the principal down to the students.
Gordon saves some special grief for Birdie, the one female janitor.
Good thing Birdie’s got more than a cleaning rag stuffed up her sleeve, ‘cause this war between the janitors won’t end ’til one of them’s laid out.

Includes the Derringer Award finalist, “Because.”

Originally published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine

Drugs. Alcohol. Violence. Chaos.

All in a night’s work for Dr. Hope Sze, aspiring Montreal emergency physician—until someone tries to strangle her with her own stethoscope.

Then Hope’s lover disappears.

A second woman barely escapes throttling before her beloved vanishes too.

Hope slogs through the pneumonia and hemorrhoid patients cramming the ER while a psychopath stalks the empty, post-midnight hallways of St. Joseph’s Hospital.

Waiting. Waiting patiently.

Until everything explodes.

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'Tis the season for eggnog and envy.

One doctor plunges through the looking glass. And the scalpel. And an online game of truth or dare.