A U.S. survey has come out with an interesting statistic: more murders take place during the holidays than at any other time of the year. It seems the season of “good will to all” has a caveat. Don’t the holidays bring out the best in people? Makes you look at your holiday-celebrating family and neighbors…
Read this exclusive guest post from Paige Shelton about Charles Dickens's experience with prison and how it shaped his writing—especially A Christmas Carol—and make sure you're signed in and comment below for a chance to win a hardcover copy of The Cracked Spine and an advanced copy of Of Books and Bagpipes! When I began…
In a stunning follow-up to the acclaimed In the Company of Sherlock Holmes, Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger present a brand-new anthology of stories inspired by the Arthur Conan Doyle canon. When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died in 1930, I'm certain he had no idea where his most famous creations—Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson—were…
Read this exclusive guest post from Katherine Bolger Hyde, author of Arsenic with Austen, about the importance of reading the classics, and then, make sure you're signed in and comment for a chance to win a copy of the 1st book in the new Crime with the Classics series! Nowadays, it’s generally assumed that crime fiction…
It is a fairly widely known fact that I will watch practically anything relevant to Sherlock Holmes and walk away happier than I was previously, always excepting Rupert Everett and his pair of execrably brooding eyebrows in “The Case of the Silk Stocking.” (Each of them, both singly and at times even in concert, gave…
As traditional as counting down the shopping days to Christmas or making plans to visit out of town family is the appearance of Christmas and holiday mysteries. When did the tradition start? Why are these books so popular? Are they primarily English and/or historical? Who deserves the top of the tree, gold star accolade for…
On June 8, 1870, in the middle of composing the twelve part serial The Mystery of Edwin Drood, the story came to a jarring standstill when, after a long day's work on what would become his last set of characters, Charles Dickens suffered a stroke and passed away the following day. Chapman & Hall went…
You only live once. Right? Chances are, unless you believe in reincarnation and are also peculiarly in touch with your past lives on this harsh and often beautiful planet, then your experience will be confined to one existence (never discounting the kindly tips you’ll pick up from friends and strangers). Perhaps you are a 32-year…
The final episode of Endeavour Series 2 was a corker. We don’t do spoilers on Masterpiece Mystery programs, but I would suggest that you go and watch “Neverland” right now if you haven’t already. Then go back and watch it again, knowing what you know. It’s better the second time. We begin, as we tend…
From Shakespeare to Sherlock, Hercule Poirot to James Bond, London has always had a rich literary history. And now you can sit on it! Thanks to The National Literacy Trust, along with its public art promotor Wild in Art, 50 benches have been commissioned that will be painted to look like open books portraying scenes…
