National Crime Reading Month

                                                     "June is National Crime Reading Month. 

Libraries, booksellers, publishers and festivals are taking part in National Crime Reading Month this month, while crime writers are contributing videos and blogs to the dedicated site with more posted almost every day of June. 

National Crime Reading Month is a unique festival, held throughout the UK, which promotes the crime genre. Hosted by the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA), it will take place throughout the month of June, 2022. 

A spokesperson for the CWA said: “We want to invite bookshops, libraries, publishers, conventions and festivals that celebrate the crime genre, to take part. Our sister network, the Crime Readers’ Association (CRA), is one of the largest communities of crime genre readers in the world, so this June is a unique opportunity to get an author event or reading initiative in front of that dedicated audience.”

 I decided to celebrate the occasion by posting a favourite book of mine every day for the month of June, flinging them all into the mix to see what kind of response I'd get.

I thought it would be easy to think of 30 books. It wasn't.

 I found myself thinking more of the books that had stayed with me, rather than the books I had enjoyed ... or maybe been told that I might enjoy.

So here are the first few...

These books are just too funny for words. (pun intended)

Dominic Queste meets Silence Of The Lambs meets Carry On Killing.

 One of the greatest books ever written, in my humble opinion,

 but I'm not alone in thinking that!

When does a crime start?

 When are the seeds of a murder sown?

 might be my fav AG book.

A clever, evil little book.

Audrey Hepburn is in it.

Once of my favourite of books.

 Christopher Fowler is such a great writer. Witty, acerbic but always humane. 

Arthur Bryant is like the grumpy old uncle who tweaks the ears of naughty children.

 A classic book.

Just classic.

Either you know, or you don't know.

I do.

 I wish I didn't then I could read it again.

 I hooked onto these in my second year at school.

Doing this little project brought back to mind that I haven't read one of these for ages....

From the reponse on social media, this choice was very popular.....

A book set, as the cover suggests, in a  day. One street.

And what happens when people believe rumours rather than the truth.

A cosy for the selection. Nobody does the English tea and scones murder like Simon.

But he does take people's heads off and boil them... so maybe not that cosy after all.

Just love the Morse books,  not sure if the plots held up to forensic scrutiny  but for character and lovely words, you can't beat a Dexter.

Yes, it is a crime novel, somebody was awful to Beauty when he broke his knees on Ludgate Hill, and look what happened to Ginger!

The first proper book I owned.

I managed to read them all and not grow up racist or a facist.

Which Bagley started off with the flower speaking to the man? It's a quote from Lewis Caroll I think.

It's the one where a man ( Giles Dennison) wakes up and he has somebody elses face on.

What a start to a book.

Then it gets better.

I've included this because of the story of the cello, the rest of the novel is tense and gripping but that story of the cello......

Difficult to choose which BV/RR but I went with this one. I liked the Wexfords but they haven't stood the test of time as well as some others. In case you don't know, this book is set all round the London Underground, hence the title.

What would you put in?