‘The 60s didn’t really know what to do with hats’: #1960book round up

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Every month at Past Offences we review the crime and mystery oeuvre of a particular year, and in December we were looking at 1960. This month we have a theme tune, Man of Mystery, courtesy of the Shads, to listen … Continue reading →

‘You waited for anything and everything these days’: #1945book reviews

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Every month on Past Offences we play Crimes of the Century, in which a rag-tag band of bloggers choose mystery books or films from a particular year. In April we were reading 1945 – the War didn’t seem to slow … Continue reading →

‘Boobs, booze, bigotry and bullets’: 1947 book

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Every month on Past Offences I gather together blog posts about crime fiction written or filmed in a particular year. Regular contributor Santosh picked 1947, which proved to be something of a challenge for lots of us – it seems like … Continue reading →

‘The shadow of war’: #1941book results

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The year is 1941, and the shadow of war encroaches on our nation from both sides. Paris has fallen, and in a few short months the Japanese will bomb Pearl Harbor. You wouldn’t know this, however, if you peeked into … Continue reading →

‘It gets odder when Troy wears a jumpsuit’: #1980book roundup

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First up, an unexpected entrant. Dame Ngaio Marsh surprised us all by still writing in the 80s. Continue reading →

‘The more I read of the Golden Age’ #1934book results

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Every month on Past Offences, as part of the Crimes of the Century strand, we review books and movies from a particular year. Appropriately for a month which saw the first (hopefully) Bodies from the Library conference, we have been … Continue reading →

From ‘The shadowed streets of ancient Peking’ to the Mexican border #1936book

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Thanks to everyone who submitted a review for the April 2015 challenge to review a book or film from 1936. Lucy at The Art of Words chose 1936 and reviewed Thankyou Mr Moto by John P. Marquand, which introduces this month’s front-cover … Continue reading →

‘It was like being at a children’s panto’ #1967book round-up

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Welcome to my monthly crime-fiction-of-a-year round-up. Sorry it’s late, contributors… For March’s challenge, Bernadette of Reactions to Reading chose 1967, picking up an early effort from the great Ruth Rendell’s A New Lease of Death, but regretting it massively: There is no mystery to speak … Continue reading →

The Mystery of the Missing Twins: #1958book

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Another great opening sentence to open this month’s Books of the Year, of the Month: The Mystery of the Missing Twins could never have been solved by an ordinary detective. Which 1958 mystery classic opens with this line? Answer at the … Continue reading →

Unusual suspects: Classic crime in the blogosphere for January and February 2013

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OK, OK, I missed last month’s classic crime update. (What do you mean, you didn’t notice?) Anyway, I’m going to make up for it by covering two months with one post. This time, I decided to venture off the beaten … Continue reading →