#booklook — Public Fediverse posts

New book releases I’m keeping my eyes on

On the 29th of September, we will have The Classic Crime Companion by Martin Edwards. This is not a totally new book, but it adds more than 20 titles to a previous edition, so it’s quite exciting. I wrote about the older edition here, if you are curious about it. I love this title and I’m always picking it up from the shelf. It is also a book you can read to know about the history of the genre, but also to check the entry of the book you’re reading or to choose your next read.

Kate Jackson, from Cross Examining Crime, has a new book, The Golden Age of Classic Crime Quiz Book, to be published on 20th of October 2026. Jackson has an extensive amount of knowledge about the genre, as her blog is proof of, so besides the questions, puzzles, and mysteries, I’m sure you will also discover new to you authors and titles. Her previous book, How to survive a classic crime novel, was one of my favorite readings from 2023, so you can’t go wrong with her books and I’m really excited about this new one. She also has a Patreon, if you want to join.

From 30th of October 2026 to 20th of June 2027, The British Library will have a major exhibition on about Agatha Christie and will publish Agatha Christie: A World of Mystery when the exhibition opens. The book is edited by Martin Edwards and Lucy Rowland and besides objects related to Christie, it also includes essays by Martin Edwards, John Curran, Mark Aldridge, Caroline Crampton, David Suchet, Zoë Wanamaker, and many others. The book is already available for pre-order, but it is quite expensive for my budget (more than 50€). There is no indication of a paperback edition, so I probably will have to wait some years to get it second hand. If you can afford it, I’m sure it will be a wonderful book.

In January 2027, we will have Writing Partners, a new book from the collection Bodies from the Library and it is introduced and contextualised by John Curran. This volume, inspired by Agatha Christie’s Partners in Crime (I know they’re not so well known characters, but I do love Tommy & Tuppence), features short stories from forgotten authors. This collection has six volumes and two extra ones edited by Tony Medawar and publishes short stories or novellas that either were never published before or were only published in magazines. It is a favorite collection of mine.

In February 2027, The Swinging Christies by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown will be released. The book goes through Agatha Christie novels and life during the 1960s and its cultural and historical context. This book comes from The Swinging Christies’ podcast started by the same authors two years ago, and which you can subscribe. Aldridge is a researcher and he published previously Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World and Marple: Expert on Wickedness, which I loved and can’t recommend enough.

Last, but not least, we will have in 2028 a new book by the members of The Detection Club: The Detection Club Murders. Not much information yet, but you can read about it at the Club’s President, Martin Edwards, blog here. I love the experimentation and creativity from the Club’s books and as you probably know I even keep a page on this blog with a list of the published titles, so of course I’m very excited with this new book!

New book releases I’m keeping my eyes on

On the 29th of September, we will have The Classic Crime Companion by Martin Edwards. This is not a totally new book, but it adds more than 20 titles to a previous edition, so it’s quite exciting. I wrote about the older edition here, if you are curious about it. I love this title and I’m always picking it up from the shelf. It is also a book you can read to know about the history of the genre, but also to check the entry of the book you’re reading or to choose your next read.

Kate Jackson, from Cross Examining Crime, has a new book, The Golden Age of Classic Crime Quiz Book, to be published on 20th of October 2026. Jackson has an extensive amount of knowledge about the genre, as her blog is proof of, so besides the questions, puzzles, and mysteries, I’m sure you will also discover new to you authors and titles. Her previous book, How to survive a classic crime novel, was one of my favorite readings from 2023, so you can’t go wrong with her books and I’m really excited about this new one. She also has a Patreon, if you want to join.

From 30th of October 2026 to 20th of June 2027, The British Library will have a major exhibition on about Agatha Christie and will publish Agatha Christie: A World of Mystery when the exhibition opens. The book is edited by Martin Edwards and Lucy Rowland and besides objects related to Christie, it also includes essays by Martin Edwards, John Curran, Mark Aldridge, Caroline Crampton, David Suchet, Zoë Wanamaker, and many others. The book is already available for pre-order, but it is quite expensive for my budget (more than 50€). There is no indication of a paperback edition, so I probably will have to wait some years to get it second hand. If you can afford it, I’m sure it will be a wonderful book.

In January 2027, we will have Writing Partners, a new book from the collection Bodies from the Library and it is introduced and contextualised by John Curran. This volume, inspired by Agatha Christie’s Partners in Crime (I know they’re not so well known characters, but I do love Tommy & Tuppence), features short stories from forgotten authors. This collection has six volumes and two extra ones edited by Tony Medawar and publishes short stories or novellas that either were never published before or were only published in magazines. It is a favorite collection of mine.

In February 2027, The Swinging Christies by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown will be released. The book goes through Agatha Christie novels and life during the 1960s and its cultural and historical context. This book comes from The Swinging Christies’ podcast started by the same authors two years ago, and which you can subscribe. Aldridge is a researcher and he published previously Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World and Marple: Expert on Wickedness, which I loved and can’t recommend enough.

Last, but not least, we will have in 2028 a new book by the members of The Detection Club: The Detection Club Murders. Not much information yet, but you can read about it at the Club’s President, Martin Edwards, blog here. I love the experimentation and creativity from the Club’s books and as you probably know I even keep a page on this blog with a list of the published titles, so of course I’m very excited with this new book!

New book releases I’m keeping my eyes on

On the 29th of September, we will have The Classic Crime Companion by Martin Edwards. This is not a totally new book, but it adds more than 20 titles to a previous edition, so it’s quite exciting. I wrote about the older edition here, if you are curious about it. I love this title and I’m always picking it up from the shelf. It is also a book you can read to know about the history of the genre, but also to check the entry of the book you’re reading or to choose your next read.

Kate Jackson, from Cross Examining Crime, has a new book, The Golden Age of Classic Crime Quiz Book, to be published on 20th of October 2026. Jackson has an extensive amount of knowledge about the genre, as her blog is proof of, so besides the questions, puzzles, and mysteries, I’m sure you will also discover new to you authors and titles. Her previous book, How to survive a classic crime novel, was one of my favorite readings from 2023, so you can’t go wrong with her books and I’m really excited about this new one. She also has a Patreon, if you want to join.

From 30th of October 2026 to 20th of June 2027, The British Library will have a major exhibition on about Agatha Christie and will publish Agatha Christie: A World of Mystery when the exhibition opens. The book is edited by Martin Edwards and Lucy Rowland and besides objects related to Christie, it also includes essays by Martin Edwards, John Curran, Mark Aldridge, Caroline Crampton, David Suchet, Zoë Wanamaker, and many others. The book is already available for pre-order, but it is quite expensive for my budget (more than 50€). There is no indication of a paperback edition, so I probably will have to wait some years to get it second hand. If you can afford it, I’m sure it will be a wonderful book.

In January 2027, we will have Writing Partners, a new book from the collection Bodies from the Library and it is introduced and contextualised by John Curran. This volume, inspired by Agatha Christie’s Partners in Crime (I know they’re not so well known characters, but I do love Tommy & Tuppence), features short stories from forgotten authors. This collection has six volumes and two extra ones edited by Tony Medawar and publishes short stories or novellas that either were never published before or were only published in magazines. It is a favorite collection of mine.

In February 2027, The Swinging Christies by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown will be released. The book goes through Agatha Christie novels and life during the 1960s and its cultural and historical context. This book comes from The Swinging Christies’ podcast started by the same authors two years ago, and which you can subscribe. Aldridge is a researcher and he published previously Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World and Marple: Expert on Wickedness, which I loved and can’t recommend enough.

Last, but not least, we will have in 2028 a new book by the members of The Detection Club: The Detection Club Murders. Not much information yet, but you can read about it at the Club’s President, Martin Edwards, blog here. I love the experimentation and creativity from the Club’s books and as you probably know I even keep a page on this blog with a list of the published titles, so of course I’m very excited with this new book!

New book releases I’m keeping my eyes on

On the 29th of September, we will have The Classic Crime Companion by Martin Edwards. This is not a totally new book, but it adds more than 20 titles to a previous edition, so it’s quite exciting. I wrote about the older edition here, if you are curious about it. I love this title and I’m always picking it up from the shelf. It is also a book you can read to know about the history of the genre, but also to check the entry of the book you’re reading or to choose your next read.

Kate Jackson, from Cross Examining Crime, has a new book, The Golden Age of Classic Crime Quiz Book, to be published on 20th of October 2026. Jackson has an extensive amount of knowledge about the genre, as her blog is proof of, so besides the questions, puzzles, and mysteries, I’m sure you will also discover new to you authors and titles. Her previous book, How to survive a classic crime novel, was one of my favorite readings from 2023, so you can’t go wrong with her books and I’m really excited about this new one. She also has a Patreon, if you want to join.

From 30th of October 2026 to 20th of June 2027, The British Library will have a major exhibition on about Agatha Christie and will publish Agatha Christie: A World of Mystery when the exhibition opens. The book is edited by Martin Edwards and Lucy Rowland and besides objects related to Christie, it also includes essays by Martin Edwards, John Curran, Mark Aldridge, Caroline Crampton, David Suchet, Zoë Wanamaker, and many others. The book is already available for pre-order, but it is quite expensive for my budget (more than 50€). There is no indication of a paperback edition, so I probably will have to wait some years to get it second hand. If you can afford it, I’m sure it will be a wonderful book.

In January 2027, we will have Writing Partners, a new book from the collection Bodies from the Library and it is introduced and contextualised by John Curran. This volume, inspired by Agatha Christie’s Partners in Crime (I know they’re not so well known characters, but I do love Tommy & Tuppence), features short stories from forgotten authors. This collection has six volumes and two extra ones edited by Tony Medawar and publishes short stories or novellas that either were never published before or were only published in magazines. It is a favorite collection of mine.

In February 2027, The Swinging Christies by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown will be released. The book goes through Agatha Christie novels and life during the 1960s and its cultural and historical context. This book comes from The Swinging Christies’ podcast started by the same authors two years ago, and which you can subscribe. Aldridge is a researcher and he published previously Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World and Marple: Expert on Wickedness, which I loved and can’t recommend enough.

Last, but not least, we will have in 2028 a new book by the members of The Detection Club: The Detection Club Murders. Not much information yet, but you can read about it at the Club’s President, Martin Edwards, blog here. I love the experimentation and creativity from the Club’s books and as you probably know I even keep a page on this blog with a list of the published titles, so of course I’m very excited with this new book!

New book releases I’m keeping my eyes on

On the 29th of September, we will have The Classic Crime Companion by Martin Edwards. This is not a totally new book, but it adds more than 20 titles to a previous edition, so it’s quite exciting. I wrote about the older edition here, if you are curious about it. I love this title and I’m always picking it up from the shelf. It is also a book you can read to know about the history of the genre, but also to check the entry of the book you’re reading or to choose your next read.

Kate Jackson, from Cross Examining Crime, has a new book, The Golden Age of Classic Crime Quiz Book, to be published on 20th of October 2026. Jackson has an extensive amount of knowledge about the genre, as her blog is proof of, so besides the questions, puzzles, and mysteries, I’m sure you will also discover new to you authors and titles. Her previous book, How to survive a classic crime novel, was one of my favorite readings from 2023, so you can’t go wrong with her books and I’m really excited about this new one. She also has a Patreon, if you want to join.

From 30th of October 2026 to 20th of June 2027, The British Library will have a major exhibition on about Agatha Christie and will publish Agatha Christie: A World of Mystery when the exhibition opens. The book is edited by Martin Edwards and Lucy Rowland and besides objects related to Christie, it also includes essays by Martin Edwards, John Curran, Mark Aldridge, Caroline Crampton, David Suchet, Zoë Wanamaker, and many others. The book is already available for pre-order, but it is quite expensive for my budget (more than 50€). There is no indication of a paperback edition, so I probably will have to wait some years to get it second hand. If you can afford it, I’m sure it will be a wonderful book.

In January 2027, we will have Writing Partners, a new book from the collection Bodies from the Library and it is introduced and contextualised by John Curran. This volume, inspired by Agatha Christie’s Partners in Crime (I know they’re not so well known characters, but I do love Tommy & Tuppence), features short stories from forgotten authors. This collection has six volumes and two extra ones edited by Tony Medawar and publishes short stories or novellas that either were never published before or were only published in magazines. It is a favorite collection of mine.

In February 2027, The Swinging Christies by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown will be released. The book goes through Agatha Christie novels and life during the 1960s and its cultural and historical context. This book comes from The Swinging Christies’ podcast started by the same authors two years ago, and which you can subscribe. Aldridge is a researcher and he published previously Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World and Marple: Expert on Wickedness, which I loved and can’t recommend enough.

Last, but not least, we will have in 2028 a new book by the members of The Detection Club: The Detection Club Murders. Not much information yet, but you can read about it at the Club’s President, Martin Edwards, blog here. I love the experimentation and creativity from the Club’s books and as you probably know I even keep a page on this blog with a list of the published titles, so of course I’m very excited with this new book!

Happy 136th birthday to Agatha Christie!

Happy 136th birthday to Agatha Christie!

Miss Marple is back! Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel by Lucy Foley #BookReview

Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel is a new murder mystery with Miss Marple as detective, written by Lucy Foley.

Miss Marple and Mrs. Bantry (Dolly) go on an holiday to a luxury hotel in the Swiss Alps. And, of course, murder happens!

There were many things I liked about the book. If you read Agatha Christie, you are in for a treat: you will spot many references to other Christie books. I think these references combined with descriptions and dialogues of Miss Marple give Christie’s readers a sense of familiarity and known territory. If you are new to Miss Marple, these references will help you by giving you context to the characters.

I think the choice of the setting is really impressive, not (only) because a more or less isolated place can turn into a closed circle with the possibility of snowstorms, that we recognise from other Christie’s books, but more so because Lucy Foley decided to put Miss Marple in a setting that feels much more like James Bond, which give us something new to the character: we know this frail, old lady is much tougher than she looks, but how will she navigate a so different setting?

I did guess some things about some of the characters, but did not guess the murderer (bonus points to Foley!). I must confess that I probably got too invested in the story because at some point I was rooting for one of the characters to be the murderer, thinking it could be (another) wonderful homage to Christie. Still, I appreciated more the twists and turns.

I noticed Foley was careful in tying the loose ends, which is something important for me in this type of story. During the reading, there will be information that can be clues or not and at the end it is important to go back and explain them, it does not need to be “Poirot revealing the murderer in a room with all the suspects”, a Christie trademark, but it needs to be done and it is something that adds up to the comfort of reading.

The book starts in a slower pace, but will get quicker and with more action towards the end, so don’t let that put you off.

Except for the short story in “Marple, Twelve New Stories“, titled “Evil in Small Places” and one of my favourites, I didn’t read other books by Lucy Foley, but I did like her writing style. The only thing that didn’t work as well for me was the structure: each chapter is narrated by a different character in the present tense, which makes you feel like the scene is developing in front of your eyes, almost like a film. Maybe this could bring younger generations of readers to the Miss Marple world (that would be awesome), but for old Christie re-readers like me it felt a little bit too different.

The book will be out on the 8th of September and we can already pre-order it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance reading copy.

It’s Weekend, Let’s Read: 100 years of The Blue Castle

Today I’m bringing you a suggestion I have on my TBR, The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery, the same author of Anne of Green Gables. Contrary to Anne, this book was written for adults, so check its trigger warnings.

The Blue Castle was first published in 1926, so it’s a good excuse to read it this year and celebrate its centenary. You can get the book through Project Gutenberg or, if you have a Kobo, through the specific format at Standard Ebooks.

What are you reading?

#MurderEveryMonday Crime fiction title with an evaluative adjective

When Kate reminded us of this week’s #MurderEveryMonday theme, my first thought was for H. R. F. Keating because I had noticed a pattern in some of his books:

• The Bad Detective
• The Good Detective
• The Soft Detective
• The Rich Detective

These are standalone’s and I never read anything by Keating, but I’m curious about his writing. He was president of the Detection Club between 1985 and 2000. I do have two related books in my immediate TBR: Agatha Christie: First Lady of Crime, essays edited by him, and The Verdict of Us All – edited by Peter Lovesey, a collection of short stories by The Detection Club’s members in honour of Keating’s 80th birthday, which include before each work a memory or contact these writers had of H.R.F. Keating.