When I set out on Kerrie’s Crime Fiction Alphabet I promised myself two things.
The first was that I would read nothing just for the sake of filling a slot, that I would only read books that I would have picked up sooner or later anyway.
I’ve managed that, though I did have to bend the rules a little for the difficult letter X and I had to throw in an emergency short story when the book I’d picked for letter Y let me down.
The second was that I would mix things up, and choose some familiar and some less familiar books.
And so my list is made up of:
- Persephone books for H and X, and a classic short story by a Persephone author for G.
- A Virago Modern Classic, and a winner of the CWA Gold Dagger to boot, for K.
- A wonderful anthology of new writers at W.
- Victorian crime for S and Victoriana for U. I would have liked to read more of both, but I ran out of time and letters.
- Crime fiction in translation at L and V.
- A Cornish book, set in very familiar countryside, at B.
- Agatha Christie re-reads at A and F. A for Agatha seemed to be the perfect place to start, and once I had re-read one book a number of others called me.
- Neglected woman authors, who were published in numbered green Penguins, at E, M, P and R. If I have learned one thing through the alphabet, it is always to look carefully at green Penguins as there are some real gems there.
- Male authors from the middle of the last century, who aren’t as lauded as some but really should be, at I, N and Q.
- A lovely range of contemporary crime fiction at C, D, J, O, T and Z.
- And that excellent, emergency short story at Y.
Mission accomplished, I think!
Here’s the A to Z in full.
| A is for Agatha | The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie |
| B is for Bolitho | Framed in Cornwall by Janie Bolitho |
| C is for Crombie | Where Memories Lie by Deborah Crombie |
| D is for Darkside | Darkside by Belinda Bauer |
| E is for Ethel | The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White |
| F is for Five | Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie |
| G is for Glaspell | A Jury of her Peers by Susan Glaspell (short story) |
| H is for Holding | The Blank Wall by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding |
| I is for Innes | Death at the President’s Lodging by Michael Innes |
| J is for Jane | The Burning by Jane Casey |
| K is for Kelly | The Spoilt Kill by Mary Kelly |
| L is for Läckberg |
The Stone-Cutter by Camilla Läckberg
|
| M is for Mary | Death and the Pleasant Voices by Mary Fitt |
| N is for Not | Not to be Taken by Anthony Berkley |
| O is for Other | The Other Half Lives by Sophie Hannah |
| P is for Potts | The Man with the Cane by Jean Potts |
| Q is for Question | A Question of Proof by Nicholas Blake |
| R is for Roth | Shadow of a Lady by Holly Roth |
| S is for Study | A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan-Doyle |
| T is for Tyler | The Herring in the Library (and others) by L C Tyler |
| U is for Unburied | The Unburied by Charles Palliser |
| V is for Van der Vlugt | Shadow Sister by Simone Van Der Vlugt |
| W is for Written | Written in Blood: a Honno Anthology |
| X is for Expendable | The Expendable Man by Dorothy B Hughes |
| Y is for You | You are a Gongedip by Sophie Hannah (short story) |
| Z is for Zouradi | The Messenger of Athens by Anne Zouroudi |
And that really is the end of the alphabet.
So where does my crime fiction reading go now? Well, I have The Quarry by Johan Theorin, A Herring on the Nile by LC Tyler, Now You See Me by S J Bolton, and two books by Erin Kelly in my library pile. My own green Penguins and my Agatha Christie collection are calling too, Plus those authors I discovered, and rediscovered, along the way and want to read again. And recommendations I picked up from others along the way ….
No end of possibilities …
Fleur in her World 