A returning killer from a previous book in the series, who I will therefore call X, commits a murder in Central Park, New York on Christmas Eve. In Richmond, pathologist Dr. Kay Scarpetta is performing an autopsy on a young drug dealer, when she receives the news that a body has been found which bears … Continue reading "From Potter’s Field (1995) by Patricia Cornwell"| Countdown John's Christie Journal
Following the success of our 1930s and 1940s Top Tens my online mystery bookclub has moved back to the 1920s. Again the one criterion is that an author (including any pseudonyms) could only be…| Countdown John's Christie Journal
My online mystery bookclub has been finding it increasingly difficult to find new authors that everyone wants to try, so this month we did an experiment to each select our top 10 mysteries from the…| Countdown John's Christie Journal
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Ever since I saw that this was going to be published, I have been so excited – a hybrid mystery featuring murder and time travel – what more could a fan of Agatha Christie and Doctor Who have asked for! But would it live up to its promise? The answer is a resounding “Yes!” On … Continue reading "Turning Japanese #27: The Man Who Died Seven Times (1995) by Yasuhiko Nishizawa (translated by Jesse Kirkwood)"| Countdown John's Christie Journal
Tony Hill, a Home Office profiler, is convinced that a serial killer is operating in Bradfield. So is Detective Inspector Carol Jordan, who is working on one of the three recent murders of men in the city. Despite all three victims having been tortured and dumped in the city’s gay district, Superintendent Tom Cross insists … Continue reading "The Mermaids Singing (1995) by Val McDermid"| Countdown John's Christie Journal
Brother Cadfael, as a later volume puts it, is A Rare Benedictine: once a crusader with Godfrey de Bouillon at Antioch and later a sea captain fighting corsairs off the coast of the Holy Land, he h…| Countdown John's Christie Journal
Rhoda Comfrey was on her way back to the family home after visiting her father in hospital when she was stabbed to death. Inspector Wexford knew that: …death by murder is in a way not an end but a beginning. The lives of the naturally dead may be buried with them. Hers would now gradually … Continue reading "A Sleeping Life (1978) by Ruth Rendell"| Countdown John's Christie Journal
Ulrich Schmied, a police lieutenant from Bern, is found shot dead in his car at the side of a country road. The local policeman who finds him makes a complete mess of the crime scene, moving the co…| Countdown John's Christie Journal
Steven Rinehardt “the magnate who got mauled by a maniacal macaque in Malaya” has returned to Chicago and demands that the police take action against Ivan “The Flesher” Flor…| Countdown John's Christie Journal
Cliff Hardy, private investigator, is hopeful that his new client, who can afford to wait two days before meeting him, will bring him a more interesting case than he has become accustomed to. Professor Henry Wakefield tells him all about the sinking of the Dunbar in 1857 in Sydney Harbour. History says there was only … Continue reading "The Dunbar Case (2013) by Peter Corris"| Countdown John's Christie Journal
Two years since the publication of their fourth case Monkey See, Monkey Murder Rowan Manory and Walter Williams return in this collection of five (long) short stories, whose title is an homage to M…| Countdown John's Christie Journal
“You’ve been bugging me for a week about this? You want me to investigate the murder of someone – you don’t know who -who isn’t even dead? Are you screwing around with me?” Gabriel Alzira is very unhappy because on his last birthday a psychic predicted that he would kill someone within the next year. … Continue reading "Southwesterly Wind (1999) by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza (translated by Benjamin Moser)"| Countdown John's Christie Journal
Following the success of our 1930s Top Ten towards the end of last year my online mystery bookclub has moved onto the 1940s. Again the one criterion is that an author (including any pseudonyms…| Countdown John's Christie Journal
As long-time readers of this blog know, I took a break from blogging for the last eight months, and the fruits of that break can now be made available. A small number of paperbacks were printed for…| Countdown John's Christie Journal