Charity shops are not an overly mined setting or background for a mystery. Elizabeth Ferrars had some bloodied garments brought to a charity shop in The Pretty Pink Shroud (1977), but the charity s…| crossexaminingcrime
WARNING – THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS SO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK IF YOU DO NOT ALREADY KNOW THE SOLUTION TO THIS MYSTERY. This is a novel I have been meaning to re-read for some time, but for one rea…| crossexaminingcrime
January is chugging along so I thought I best get on with my re-reads for the month, starting with this one. I felt this would be a good one to return to, as whilst I remembered how the book starte…| crossexaminingcrime
First re-read of the month and one that has been on the cards for a while. After all I thought it would be nice to go back to the genuine article after what occurred earlier this year. Dr Arthur Ca…| crossexaminingcrime
To view this content, you must be a member of Kate's Patreon at £3.5 or more - Click "Read more" to unlock this content at the source| crossexaminingcrime
To view this content, you must be a member of Kate's Patreon at £3.5 or more - Click "Read more" to unlock this content at the source| crossexaminingcrime
Hi everyone! I’m back. Did you miss me? Thankfully there were fewer tears and howls of despair than anticipated and only one moment where my brains exploded. The black forest brownie slices in the free from section of Tesco certainly helped… But you’re not here for my chocolate-based pudding recommendations. You’re here to find out […]| crossexaminingcrime
Back in February I reviewed the first novel in Gertrude Lynley’s Miss Lamb mystery series, Death Came Secondhand (2022) in which the amateur sleuth Geraldine Lamb has to figure out if one of her fe…| crossexaminingcrime
Posts about Suspects: Eternal Detective Claire Harper written by armchairreviewer| crossexaminingcrime
In case you missed my Be Back Soon (ish) post, I am taking some time off from blogging in October, to dedicate my energy upon two projects. Here’s a link to fill you in on those. However, whilst I …| crossexaminingcrime
3 posts published by armchairreviewer during October 2025| crossexaminingcrime
Back in 2022 I reviewed the first game in this series, which is also called Suspects. Like in the previous game, this is a cooperative game-playing experience and includes three different cases/mis…| crossexaminingcrime
10 posts published by armchairreviewer during September 2025| crossexaminingcrime
It’s actually harder to come across a body in the library than you might expect. Agatha Christie described this trope as one of the ‘cliches’ of ‘the detective story’. Over the course of her career, only 5 people are killed in this room in her mystery novels, although she does have some further library victims […]| crossexaminingcrime
During October I will be taking a step back from blogging, although I won’t be disappearing entirely. What does this mean? What will I be doing with this extra time? I have limited energy, and I have two projects on the go, so I need to ease back on the blogging to make more room […]| crossexaminingcrime
Today I am reviewing Martin Edwards’ latest publication, a non-series title, which also happens to be his first Christmas mystery novel. I have been aware of this book since last Christmas and at the time I was immediately intrigued by the title, which echoes the language of Cluedo, which in turns emphasises the game playing […]| crossexaminingcrime
October sees the British Library adding a new author to their crime classics series, Susan Gilruth. This was the penname for Susannah Margaret Hornsby-Wright (1911-1992). Gilruth was her first married name (she married twice), divorcing James Gilruth in the 1940s. Between 1951 and 1963 she wrote seven mystery novels, which comprised a series featuring Liane […]| crossexaminingcrime
Today I am reviewing the final Nigel Strangeways mystery that I needed to re-read before I could put together another ranked list. I have to admit I have been putting off this task, as my memories of this one were not the best. The Whisper in the Gloom is a Strangeways mystery which has an […]| crossexaminingcrime
Today’s review is part of my 2025 Green Penguin reading project. Julian Symons, like Michael Underwood (who I reviewed earlier this month), is another author I haven’t really engaged with in a while. My last Symons read was in 2019 and I have only read four novels by him (and some short stories) in total. […]| crossexaminingcrime
Today I am posting something a little bit different, as I want to find out more about how readers engage with my blog and my posts. So, to do that I have set up a survey which you can see below. If you could spare a few minutes to fill it in that would be […]| crossexaminingcrime
It has been nearly a decade since I have read a novel by Michael Underwood. Back in 2016 I read Murder on Trial (1954), where someone is shot whilst in the witness box. The courtroom setting certainly added to that story, and I remember enjoying it. But for some mysterious reason I just never got […]| crossexaminingcrime
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 repri…| crossexaminingcrime
Today’s review is for another ultra-obscure author who has been brought back into print by the British Library. Unusually for the period, the book is set in Yorkshire, it also belongs to the niche …| crossexaminingcrime
