Out of all our choices for book group in 2025, this was the one that I was looking forward to the most, as I am a big fan of Fremlin’s work. It has been great to see Fremlin’s stories getting reprinted in recent years and being more visible in book social media. In the past […]| crossexaminingcrime
There used to be a time when my TBR pile was less than 10 books high. There was even one very tense fortnight where my TBR pile was completely empty as I waited for my birthday to see what bookish delights I might receive. Some would see these days as the best of times, others […]| crossexaminingcrime
This year particularly, it does feel like summer disappeared in a blink of an eye. August went especially fast, as I had a lot of competing activities. I think this left me a bit run down which in …| crossexaminingcrime
Today’s post finishes off my reviewing for August and Writing the Murder was an unplanned bonus nonfiction read. The introduction begins with the general premise that crime fiction grew up alongside the development of law enforcement e.g. the rise of the modern-day police force etc. Not the most groundbreaking but I guess a book has […]| crossexaminingcrime
Most of you will know the drill by now with these roundup posts, but just in case you’re new to all of this… What is #MurderEveryMonday? #MurderEveryMonday is a book cover sharing activity and it is nice to hear that it has spread on to other social media platforms too, such as Blue Sky and […]| crossexaminingcrime
Today’s read was an impulse charity shop purchase. I have read a few books by this writing duo (Patrick Quentin was a penname for more than one collaboration, but for this novel it was for Richard …| crossexaminingcrime
‘So sweet and funny and old-world. You just can’t think of anything nasty happening here, can you?’ Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt Item: Spider Web This is another Christie re-read and to date I ha…| crossexaminingcrime
This is a new-to-me author, though in my head I somewhat muddle this writer with Dorothy/Doris Miles Disney and Dorothy Salisbury Davis. Clearly Dorothy was a popular name! I did a little bit of pr…| crossexaminingcrime
Back in 2019 I read Dorothy Cameron Disney’s Crimson Friday (1943), and it has taken me this long to try another by her. She is perhaps not the most accessible of authors, which has certainly fed i…| crossexaminingcrime
In Death in the Clouds (1935), Norman Gale says to Jane Grey: “Murder […] doesn’t concern the victim and the guilty only. It affects the innocent too. You and I are innocent, but the shadow of murder has touched us. We don’t know how that shadow is going to affect our lives.” Hercule Poirot also […]| crossexaminingcrime
Today’s a read is a recent edition to the A Very Short Introduction series. I have read various ones over the years, including one on Crime Fiction (2015). This was a particularly bad reading exper…| crossexaminingcrime
Whilst this story is more of a novella than a novel, Potts packs a great deal into it and John Norris’ introduction provides a number of insights into how this tale compares with its reprint compan…| crossexaminingcrime
As promised here is my next Potts review, which again being a Stark House edition means further nuggets of insight from John Norris, who says that this novel is ‘perhaps the most original novel of …| crossexaminingcrime
It has been over a year since I last read a novel by Potts. So, I was excited to be loaned a copy of today’s read, as it is one I had heard good things about. Nevertheless, there was some anxiety, …| crossexaminingcrime
Yes, July saw me binge read all four Adrian Monk mysteries by Hy Conrad. I don’t binge read a series that often, but sometimes it fits where I am at mentally. The blurb for this final Monk mystery …| crossexaminingcrime
Conyth Little, a favourite Australian writing duo of mine, may work with a small palette when it comes to casts of characters, plot events and settings, yet I find in this book they are once more a…| crossexaminingcrime
A little while ago fellow blogger, the Puzzle Doctor, tried his first novel by White, this very one in fact. Yet whilst this is my favourite read by White, it unfortunately wasn’t the Puzzle Doctor…| crossexaminingcrime
This book was a recent online acquisition which I discovered when I came across the clearance page on the Waterstones website. It has been nearly four years since I have read anything by McCloy, so…| crossexaminingcrime
Second-hand copies of early McCloy are difficult to come by, so I was pleased to see Agora Books were going to be reprinting some of them. Also pleasingly, it appears that the Agora copies have ret…| crossexaminingcrime
I’ve read less than a handful of novels by McCloy and so far it has been a mixed reading experience. One of my favourites to date has been Wish You Were Dead (1958), which is an abridged version of…| crossexaminingcrime
Not a planned read, but one I am very glad I did, nevertheless. This title might not be so familiar to McCloy fans, but it was the one given to the abridged version of She Walks Alone (1948), which…| crossexaminingcrime
Today’s read is regarded as one of the classics of the vintage crime fiction. I’ve tried McCloy’s work a couple of times in the past and decided now would be an apt moment to take another sample, g…| crossexaminingcrime
I first sampled this duo’s work last year, reviewing From Information Received (1962). An imperfect title, but one that left me intrigued as to what the rest of their work was like. So it has been …| crossexaminingcrime
This tale of suspense is split into two parts. The first takes place on 1960-61, beginning with Sophronia Holland’s New Year’s Eve party. She is awaiting the arrival of her long lost granddaughter …| crossexaminingcrime
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Book group is my reason for returning to the work of Ellery Queen (penname for Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee) so soon after my April read by this duo. My copy of the novel is from the American…| crossexaminingcrime
One of the reasons the blog has been a bit quieter this year is because I am getting married in August and with 6 months planning time, there was a lot to get done! I knew Jonny was the man for me …| crossexaminingcrime
Over the past 20 or so months I have been working my way through Lee Goldberg’s Adrian Monk mysteries. In January I finally completed the series and naturally, when one has done this, a ranked list…| crossexaminingcrime
At the start of July this was one of the books that I chose to reboot my reading mojo, as by the end of June I was finding it hard to concentrate. The blurb interested me as it indicates that Natal…| crossexaminingcrime
Earlier this year I posted my ranked list of the Adrian Monk mysteries which were written by Lee Goldberg. Whilst it is satisfying to complete a series there is always a bit of sadness that there w…| crossexaminingcrime
On this day ten years ago, I published my first post, a review of Alan Melville’s Quick Curtain. I had read it on the 24th June 2015 and my re-read took place on the 20th, pleasingly close. Normall…| crossexaminingcrime
In terms of my re-reading project, I have pleasingly managed to reach my goal of re-reading two books from my list a month and to be honest after my last two reads which were duds, I needed an auth…| crossexaminingcrime
The celebration of my 10-year blog anniversary continues, with today’s review, as Something Nasty in the Woodshed is Anthony Gilbert’s 10th Arthur Crook mystery. Since 2017 I have been reading myst…| crossexaminingcrime
Earlier in the summer I began my reading project to review vintage crime fiction significantly featuring weddings or honeymoons. I set out with five titles and so far I have completed three. Howeve…| crossexaminingcrime
At the end of last year, I was gifted a good handful of titles by Rae Foley, but for one reason or another, it has taken me this long to try one of them. The 70s artwork on the covers may have put …| crossexaminingcrime
I’ve been slowly but steadily making my way through the Sergeant Beef titles by Bruce and I’ve never read a poor one so far. I was hoping a spot of Beef might restore my reading mojo which has been…| crossexaminingcrime
Leo Bruce is one of the many brilliant writers I have come across since starting my blog and reading everyone else’s (much better) blogs on classic crime, so it’s always great to return to his work…| crossexaminingcrime
Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt Item: Blunt Instrument This is the last novel Bruce wrote featuring his serial characters Sergeant Beef and journalist and writer Townsend, who narrates Beef’s case. …| crossexaminingcrime
This is the fifth book in McCloy’s Basil Willing series, with her sleuth operating as a psychiatrist who supports the District Attorney’s Office and the police. Cue for Murder is my eighth novel-le…| crossexaminingcrime
It was in August 2021 that I read my last Craig Rice novel. Having blasted through many of her easier to get a hold of books a few years ago, my pickings for what to read next by her tend to be sli…| crossexaminingcrime
Source: Review Copy (Orion Books) Before reading this book I hadn’t read anything by Anthony Horowitz, so I was unsure what to expect, though I was aware he had written some continuation novels inv…| crossexaminingcrime
There are a few vintage mystery novels which focus on a jury. The first two that sprang to mind were Verdict of Twelve (1940) by Raymond Postgate and The Jury (1932) by Gerald Bullett. Curtis Evans…| crossexaminingcrime
For someone who as a rule finds putting titles in order of preference a stressful activity, I am baffled and impressed, in equal measure, that I have managed a third such list in two months, (no st…| crossexaminingcrime
Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt Item: Blue Object I have known of this author for a while now, but this is my first time reading his work and I had heard a lot of good things about the Case for Thre…| crossexaminingcrime
It is the first Saturday of December, which is a little later than usual, but nevertheless it means it is time to launch the 6th Reprint of the Year (ROY) award, before I consider tackling the pile…| crossexaminingcrime
