Crime writer

Seven years ago, Louise Ross swapped her career in financial law for a life of crime (writing). She has eschewed the traditional model of agents and publishers deciding instead to do it all herself, selling more than seven million copies in the process. Howdunnit?

Lynda La Plante is a bestselling crime novelist and an Edgar Allen Poe Award winner. She's known for her series Prime Suspect and its TV adaptation of the same name. The Jane Tennison series is a prequel to the Prime Suspect series, following Tennison at the beginning of her career.  Read more

In July 1992, Guido Brunetti arrived as a new protagonist on the mystery scene in Donna Leon's first novel, Death at La Fenice, which combined her love of opera with her gift for character and her deep appreciation of Venice. Kirkus ReviewsThis offers more than 400 pre-publication reviews of books published in America in 24 print issues a year. It also has an archive of more than 300,000 reviews dating back to 1933 - the most extensive single-source reviews database anywhere. A subscription costs $37.50 a month. www.kirkusreviews.com called it "deftly plotted and smoothly written," and the St.  Read more

What's a mystery all about? The ending? Well, of course, you say-the denouement, the unraveling of the clues, the big reveal. If it's too easy to guess the ending before that very moment, or if the ending doesn't seem to mesh with the clues provided by the author you're disappointed with it. It's a lousy mystery, right?

2020 hasn't been the greatest year but, if you're a fan of crime fiction, it does come with an important anniversary. In October 1920, the world had the first opportunity to read a murder mystery by a new writer called Agatha Christie.  Read more