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The Christmas Clue by Nicola Upson

By Erin Britton

24 September, 2025

Christmas Eve, 1943. Bored and depressed at spending the War working in a Birmingham munitions factory, Anthony Pratt looks forward to finishing his nightshift and then travelling with wife Elva to the Tudor Close Hotel in Rottingdean, a village outside Brighton. Before World War II,…

Kindle Print Reviews

Murder at Maybridge Castle by Ada Moncrieff

By Erin Britton

18 December, 2023

Daphne King, trailblazing crime reporter and fledgling amateur sleuth, returns to tackle more Christmas chaos in Ada Moncrieff’s Murder at Maybridge Castle. It’s December 1936 and Charles Howton, black sheep of playwright Veronica Howton’s family, has invited Daphne and Veronica to spend a pre-Christmas weekend…

iBook Kindle Print Reviews

Who Killed Father Christmas? and Other Seasonal Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards

By Erin Britton

11 December, 2023

Step into a world where tinsel and crime intertwine as the festive season takes a mysterious and sometimes murderous turn in Who Killed Father Christmas? and Other Seasonal Mysteries. The fifth Christmassy collection from Martin Edwards and the British Library, it includes 15 short crime…

Kindle Print Reviews

Twice Round the Clock by Billie Houston

By Erin Britton

24 May, 2023

Horace Manning is a sinister madman. He is also a scientific genius. This combination of characteristics provides an indication of danger from the outset of Billie Houston’s Twice Round the Clock, although surprisingly, despite an atmosphere of evil hanging around him like a fog of…

iBook Kindle Print Reviews

The Dog Sitter Detective by Antony Johnston

By Erin Britton

20 May, 2023

From Scooby Doo to Sherlock Hound, Kommissar Rex to The Littlest Hobo, canines are no strangers to the fictional crime-solving business. It’s no surprise really, given dogs’ uncanny ability to sniff their way into trouble at every turn, and it’s equally unsurprising that a number…

Kindle Print Reviews

The Case of the Cursed Cottage by Cathy Ace

By Erin Britton

27 February, 2023

Cathy Ace’s WISE women return to tackle another set of perplexing puzzles in The Case of the Cursed Cottage, the seventh book in the WISE Enquiries Agency cosy mystery series. The indomitable band of sleuths have previously tackled disappearing corpses, strange shenanigans in a bookshop,…

Kindle Print Reviews

Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood

By Erin Britton

5 January, 2023

The crossword and the classic murder mystery are two types of puzzle that exploded in popularity following World War I. Both relying on clues, they have been inextricably bound for over a century. While a cryptic crossword clue must comprise two elements – a definition…

Kindle Print Reviews

A Christmas Murder of Crows by DM Austin

By Erin Britton

28 September, 2022

There’s nothing better than a nice murder to warm the cockles at Christmastime. In fact, the fine tradition of festive homicide has given rise to such literary gems as Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, Francis Duncan’s Murder for Christmas, J Jefferson Farjeon’s Mystery in White…

Crime Fiction Lover

The Christmas Clue by Nicola Upson

Murder at Maybridge Castle by Ada Moncrieff

Who Killed Father Christmas? and Other Seasonal Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards

Twice Round the Clock by Billie Houston

The Dog Sitter Detective by Antony Johnston

The Case of the Cursed Cottage by Cathy Ace

Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood

A Christmas Murder of Crows by DM Austin

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