September 2025 – crossexaminingcrime
10 posts published by armchairreviewer during September 2025| 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
Examining books thematically and considering how they interact with other works of fiction is something I really enjoy doing, so I have been looking forward to reviewing Victoria Dowd’s latest novel, Death in the Aviary, the first in her Charlotte Blood 1920s series, as it affords me the opportunity to do just that. Synopsis ‘New […]| 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
