Welcome to Classics in September 2013

The other day we were on Twitter talking about our intention to run our second annual themed month, Classics in September. One of our followers asked: ‘Why September?’ A very good question, and just the sort a lover of mysteries who follows the logic of the most famous detectives in crime fiction should ask. You might be surprised to know there is actually an answer. Because in September, when the kids go back to school and students go back to university, here at crime fiction lover we go back to the classics.

When the leaves on the trees start to turn, we ourselves start turning the leaves of some of the best crime fiction books the past has to offer. And we love it.

All of our contributors have come up with ideas for articles dealing with books and authors they’re passionate about. We’re going to look at forgotten gems from the Golden Age that are getting a new lease of live on digital formats like Kindle. There’s an article on the way about early female crime fiction detectives, and another on why Alexander McCall Smith’s No1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series deserves classic status. Dorothy L Sayers today would be a listed building were she made of bricks and mortar and we’re going to look at why her rock-solid writing has been inspiring crime writers for seven decades.

Also planned is a look at The Black Mask, an influential pulp magazine that ran in the 30s, 40s and 50s. And I shouldn’t forget – we’ve invited one of the UK’s foremost experts on the genre, Barry Forshaw, on board as a guest to share his top 10 classics of Nordic noir.

Your crime classic
Finally, we want to know what your favourite classic crime novel is. Send an email headed My Crime Classic to info <at> crimefictionlover.com with the name of the novel and its author, plus 100 words on why you think it’s so darned good. Your nomination could appear in a feature we’ll be running at the end of the month – we’ll try to fit as many in as possible.