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Hip Hip Hooray – My Blog is Ten Years Old this Month!
On the 27th June 2015, Cross Examining Crime came into being. I held back from joining the crime fiction blogging community for quite a long time, anxious that I would not have anything worth saying....
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Ten Recommended Crime Writers Whose Names Begin with J
To kick off my month of my ten-year blog anniversary, I decided to start with a list that I compiled with the assistance of some of my blogging buddies. Each participant had to choose a crime fiction...
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V is for Venom: Agatha Christie’s Chemicals of Death (2025) by Kathryn Harkup
Today’s review is a bonus post for my ten-year blog anniversary celebrations, as when reading this book, I realised that Harkup’s first book on poisons in Agatha Christie’s work (A is for Arsenic: The...
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Something Nasty in the Woodshed (1942) by Anthony Gilbert
The celebration of my 10-year blog anniversary continues, with today’s review, as Something Nasty in the Woodshed is Anthony Gilbert’s 10th Arthur Crook mystery. Since 2017 I have been reading...
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My Top Ten Reads by Anthony Gilbert
It is time for the next list of my ten-year blog anniversary month, and I am looking at a writer whose work I have been enjoying since 2017. Anthony Gilbert was the penname for Lucy Beatrice Malleson...
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What Makes a Good Serial Killer Mystery? A Review of Cat of Many Tails (1949)...
Book group is my reason for returning to the work of Ellery Queen (penname for Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee) so soon after my April read by this duo. My copy of the novel is from the American...
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The Mystery at Orchard House (1946) by Joan Coggin
This is the second, out of the four Lady Lupin mysteries written by Joan Coggin in the 1940s. In recent years Galileo Publishing have been reprinting these stories, which has given me a great excuse...
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Kate’s Epic 10-Year Blog Anniversary Competition
If you have been reading my blog posts this month then you will know that June is my 10-year blog anniversary, and that I have been publishing special posts to celebrate. These have included lists...
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At Bertram’s Hotel (1965) by Agatha Christie
I decided to re-read this mystery, as part of my 10-year blog anniversary celebrations, as it is the 10th Miss Marple novel. However, before I dive into talking about my reading experience, I have a...
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Ten Female Mystery Authors Who Used Male Pseudonyms
For a variety of reasons, women have often deployed a male penname when writing. Famous examples from the 19th century include Mary Ann Evans who wrote as George Eliot and the Bronte sisters who wrote...
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Alibi Innings (1954) by Barbara Worsley-Gough
Although I have been busy celebrating my 10-year blog anniversary this month, I have still been able to take some time to continue 2025’s Green Penguin reading project, which you can find out more...
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10 Things I Loved About Bodies from the Library 2025
Yesterday I attended the 10th Bodies from the Library conference, and whilst absolutely exhausting, it was also, and more importantly, a brilliant and wonderful day. In keeping with other years, I am...
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Ten Things I Look Out For When Writing Reviews
I was initially tempted to call this post, ‘Ten Things that go into Writing my Reviews’, but I feared that it would be a rather short post, focusing on pain, sweat, blood (papercuts are the worst),...
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My Blog is 10 Years Old Today – Revisiting My First Read: Quick Curtain...
On this day ten years ago, I published my first post, a review of Alan Melville’s Quick Curtain. I had read it on the 24th June 2015 and my re-read took place on the 20th, pleasingly close. Normally,...
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Actually, I’m a Murderer (2025) by Terry Deary
Growing up I enjoyed Deary’s Horrible History books and tape cassettes, yet it would seem in the last couple of years that he has been trying to extend his writing range. Firstly, by producing a...
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The Winners of Kate’s Epic 10-Year Blog Anniversary Competition
Last month it was my ten-year blog anniversary and as part of my celebrations I launched a competition, with first prize being ten books, something that was only possible because of the generosity of...
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Grand National Night (1945) by Dorothy & Christie Campbell
When I went down to Bodies from the Library last month, I took as part of my travel reading a copy of this play. Campbell Christie was the brother of Archie Christie, who many of you will know was the...
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Summers End (2024) by Juneau Black
This was another book that I read whilst away at the Bodies from the Library conference in June (yes, I am a little behind in my reviews). Whilst the plotting has become less intricate/complex as the...
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The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie: A Biographical Companion to the Works...
This is a book, which I have been aware of for a while, and I have often seen it referenced in other works. Yet it is only recently that I have finally read it for myself, a copy being gifted to me...
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Death in the Forest (1939) by Moray Dalton
This is my fifth read by Moray Dalton and of these five I would say Death in the Forest (1939) [which shares its name with an Anton Chekhov tale] is the most unconventional in terms of the tropes it...
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