Julian Symons: A Three-Pipe Problem

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TV’S SHERLOCK ON TRAIL OF KARATE KILLER THERE’S METHOD IN THESE MURDERS, SAYS TV’S SHERLOCK HOLMES

#1975book sign-up page

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Every month on Past Offences I gather together blog posts about crime fiction written or filmed in a particular year. I’ve called it Crimes of the Century. After 1907 in October, which was a bit of a toughie, I’ve decided to … Continue reading →

Robert Barnard: A Little Local Murder

She drew porridge-flecked air into her majestic lungs, and bellowed: ‘Ernest!’ From the kitchen there came a series of puppyish whines and a clatter of pans, and a minute or two later Ernest Withens, Chairman of the Twytching District Council, … Continue reading →

Anthony Price: The Labyrinth Makers

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Funerals meant going outside, into the field, among strangers. And he was not a field man, never had been and never wanted to be. The back room among the files and the reports was his field. It was far more … Continue reading →

C. Gordon: Solv-a-Crime

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I’m quite partial to the quirkier end of crime publishing, so I was delighted to pick up Solv-a-Crime in subterranean bookshop Skoob Books last week.

Peter Lovesey: Wobble to Death

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Wobble to Death is a Victorian history-mystery – one of those crime novels which is probably memorable more for its context than its mystery, but none the worse for that.

Bonfiglioli, Kyril: Don’t Point That Thing at Me

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Charlie Mortdecai is an aristocratic art dealer with one foot (more likely both feet) firmly in the shadier side of the business. He lives in his London penthouse with his thug Jock, who handles all the rough stuff. I often … Continue reading →

Higgins, Jack: The Eagle Has Landed

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God in heaven, man, kill Churchill when we have already lost the war? In what way is that supposed to help? The Eagle Has Landed is a blockbuster of a thriller with a great hook: what if a squad of German paratroopers secretly … Continue reading →

‘Crass. Crude. Cringe-inducing’. And that was just the music. The #1976book round-up

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Every month at Past Offences we review all hell out of a chosen year, and September’s target was 1976, chosen by Santosh. Karen published a handy bibliography over at Eurocrime, with big titles including Agatha Christie’s final novel, the first (and … Continue reading →

Lionel Davidson: The Sun Chemist

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Lionel Davidson surely deserves a bit of a renaissance. With two titles in the CWA’s 1990 list of the top 100 crime and thriller novels, he ranks alongside John Le Carré, and outranks Ian Fleming; The Sun Chemist is at number 88 in the CWA chart. Davidson won the CWA’s Gold Dagger three times and also won the Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement in 2001. Continue reading →