The Puzzle Doctor

BREAKING NEWS: An otter is a bit sleepy.

Seeds Of Murder (2023) by Rosie Sandler Steph Williams has her first proper gardening position, the head gardener of Beaulieu Heights, but all is not sweetness and light in the domain of the wealthy. Gardens full of potential, beautiful …

Cosy time, and it's off to the garden for Seeds Of Murder by Rosie Sandler #BookSky #CosyCrime
classicmystery.blog/2026/03/02/s...

Sorry that Vaseem pipped you to it this month - but I did love Killing In The Shadows. It's really hard to have a real ghost story sitting side by side with a proper mystery and this worked perfectly. Looking forward to more from Joe. And Wesley, of course...

The Puzzly – The ISOTCMN Book Of The Month – February 2026 So farewell, February. Some good books, some less-so-good books, some decent films, at least one terrible film and twenty-eight days running being woken at 5:30 in the morning by my elderly cat who…

Book of the month time and, oddly, it’s between the only two authors who I’ve ever taken selfies with - @kateellisauthor.bsky.social and @vaseemkhanuk.bsky.social … #BookSky #BookOfTheMonth

classicmystery.blog/2026/02/28/t...

Ooh, very tempting…

Montgomery Bonbon – Murder At The Museum (2023) by Alasdair Beckett-King The Hornville Museum in Widdlington is a stunning place to visit, especially if you like looking at taxidermy created by someone with a disinterest in making sure the front half of the creature mat…

The debut adventure for the World's Greatest (10 Year-Old) Detective! Montgomery Bonbon in Murder At The Museum by @misterabk.bsky.social - and it's marvellous!
#BookSky #Mystery
classicmystery.blog/2026/02/27/m...

Murder By The Book (2026) by M R G Davies The Quaint Bookshop in Norcester High Street is the home to a reading group – not a book group – consisting of Professor Stone, a retired professor of Mathematics (yay), Lauren Sherwood, a would-be…

New review - it's cosy time with Murder By The Book by @mrgdavies.bsky.social #BookSky #CosyMystery
classicmystery.blog/2026/02/22/m...

The Burning Court (1937) by John Dickson Carr – a re-read Miles Despard lies dead, a victim of gastroenteritis – apparently. But why was a woman wearing period dress seen in his bedroom on the night of his death, a woman who left the room through a door t…

A classic mystery that you need to read before someone tells you why it’s a classic… #ClassicMystery #BookSky

classicmystery.blog/2026/02/21/t...

Withered Murder (1955) by A & P Shaffer Mr Fathom/Verity is staying at the Barnacle Hotel at Crab Point, off the Cornish Coast, in an attempt to acquire some rare antiquities from a local Captain. When that turns out to be a fool’s erran…

A book that's impossible to find but, good news - it's okay, but not that brilliant...
#BookSky #ClassicMystery
classicmystery.blog/2026/02/19/w...

Then There Were More (2025) ed Martin Edwards It’s a bit tricky to write blurbs for short story collections, especially loosely themed ones. So, here’s a range of stories from the past forty years of the Crime Writers’ Association, collated by…

A really interesting short story collection from members of @thecwa.bsky.social edited by @martinedwardsbooks.bsky.social #Mystery #ShortStories #BookSky

classicmystery.blog/2026/02/18/t...

Dream Reprint 2025 – The Nominations Following on from yesterday’s post, I’ve offered to do Kate a favour and present a summary of the nominations for the Dream Reprint 2025 poll that will run next weekend at Cross Examining Crime. Ju…

Here’s some info on the nominees from me

classicmystery.blog/2026/02/10/d...

2025’s Dream Reprint – Let’s Get Voting Last Saturday a group of bloggers, including myself nominated a classic crime novel, which we enjoyed and read last year, and felt should be reprinted, so more people can read them. For more detail…

2025’s Dream Reprint - Let's Get Voting crossexaminingcrime.com/2026/02/15/2... - courtesy of Kate at Cross Examining Crime

#BookSky #ClassicMystery #Reprint

Dream Reprint 2025 – The Nominations Following on from yesterday’s post, I’ve offered to do Kate a favour and present a summary of the nominations for the Dream Reprint 2025 poll that will run next weekend at Cross Examining Crime. Ju…

A little favour for my blogging buddy Kate with a round-up of the candidates for the Dream Reprint Poll - coming soon to her blog
#classiccrime #BookSky #Reprint

classicmystery.blog/2026/02/10/d...

Killing In The Shadows (2026) by Kate Ellis Lexi Verity, the star of the small screen, thought she had a sanctuary in the Yorkshire village of Eaglethorpe, but it clearly wasn’t as safe as she thought. When her body is found floating in her …

Out now - the latest from the wonderful @kateellisauthor.bsky.social . The return after ten years of Joe Plantagenet in a marvellously twisty and spooky mystery from @littlebrown.bsky.social #BookSky #Mystery

classicmystery.blog/2026/02/09/k...

About 30% through this book now and laughing out loud. #booksky

Dream Reprint 2025 – My Nomination So Kate is running the Dream Reprint Of The Year award over on Cross Examining Crime, and because she’s a busy old thing, I’ve volunteered to help out a bit. Today is the day for nominations, and t…

Time for the Dream Classic Crime Reprint nominations - here's mine #BookSky #ClassicCrime #ClassicMystery
classicmystery.blog/2026/02/07/d...

The Edge Of Darkness (2026) by Vaseem Khan 1951, India, and Persis Wadia, India’s first female police detective has crossed one line too many and finds herself exiled to the Naga Hills District, miles from Bombay and everything she knows an…

Out now from @vaseemkhanuk.bsky.social and @hodderfiction.bsky.social - the sixth Malabar House mystery, The Edge Of Darkness
#BookSky #Mystery #HistoryMystery
classicmystery.blog/2026/02/05/t...

The Hound Of The Baskervilles (1902) by Arthur Conan Doyle London, 1889, and Dr James Mortimer is in need of the help of Sherlock Holmes. His friend, Sir Charles Baskerville, is dead, apparently scared to death outside Baskerville Hall, his home on Dartmoo…

Trigger Warning - in this one, the dog dies! That's not a spoiler, is it? #BookSky #SherlockHolmes #Mystery

classicmystery.blog/2026/02/02/t...

Stockport Noir 2026 Stockport, the jewel of the North-West. Well, it was yesterday, anyway, not that I saw an awful lot of it apart from the immediate environs of the Masonic Guildhall. But yesterday was the second ru…

Yesterday I went to the fabulous @stockportnoir.bsky.social book festival in, well, Stockport and I thought I'd share the experience as best I can. #BookSky #CrimeFiction #Mystery
classicmystery.blog/2026/02/01/s...

Oops, should have tagged that post #BookSky

The Puzzly – The ISOTCMN Book Of The Month – January 2026 January has been and gone along with the second Stockport Noir Book Festival – more on that in my next post – and it’s time for my round-up of the month’s reading. It’s been a bit of a funny month …

Book Of The Month time - and quite an easy win this month for @robparkerauthor.bsky.social #BookTwitter #Puzzly #BookOfTheMonth
classicmystery.blog/2026/02/01/t...

"A proper mystery with interesting and varied characters, and Ace the border collie is absolutely fabulous! Another entertaining read in one of my favourite new series"

Great review of The Dog Sitter Detective Takes the Lead from The Puzzle Doctor:

The Wicked Go To Hell by Frédéric Dard, translated by David Coward The Wicked Go To Hell was something of a pleasant surprise. I am not sure how it happened, but I had forgotten I had one more translated Dard to read. My guess is that the book, being quite thin, wasn't prominent on my shelf. Whatever the cause, it was nice to find I had another of his works to tackle.

Today's post sees me take a look at The Wicked Go To Hell, a short novel by Frédéric Dard. The concept: two men are put in a jail cell together. One of them is a dangerous spy, the other an undercover cop. But which is which?
⚡️📚

The Dog Sitter Detective Takes The Lead (2024) by Antony Johnston Gwinny Tuffel’s attempts to reawaken her acting career is going well, with a lead role in a West End play. Until, that is, she turns up to rehearsal to find she has been recast as the “old lady” ch…

Another first-rate canine murder mystery in one of my favourite new series from @antonyjohnston.bsky.social and @allisonandbusby.bsky.social #Mystery #BorderCollie #BookSky
classicmystery.blog/2026/01/29/t...

Sky High (1955) by Michael Gilbert In the quiet village of Brimberly, the only concern seems to be the upcoming choir competition – it’s very important that they beat Bramshott after all. But when an explosion shatters the peace – t…

Out now from the @britishlibrary.bsky.social Crime Classics range - Sky High by Michael Gilbert, with an introduction by @martinedwardsbooks.bsky.social #BookSky #CrimeClassics
classicmystery.blog/2026/01/24/s...

It's a great book, best of a great series and some delightful clues hidden in plain sight. Great job - hope it does well.

Forbidden Waters (2026) by Rob Parker All Cam Killick was looking for as he searched the depths of a hidden fishing lake was an expensive lure that an angler wanted returned. The good news is that he found the lure – the bad news is th…

Out now from @robparkerauthor.bsky.social, the follow-up to the equally impressive The Troubled Deep, the absolutely first rate Forbidden Waters #Thriller #BookSky
classicmystery.blog/2026/01/16/f...

The Mysterious Affair Of Judith Potts (2026) by Robert Thorogood Judith Potts and friends/fellow sleuths, the free-spirited Suzie and Becks, the vicar’s wife, should be celebrating the capture of the murderer of Oliver Beresford but despite unmasking the killer …

It was my December Book of the Month but it's finally out in the wild for anyone to read! The latest from @robthor.bsky.social and @hqstories.bsky.social and the only Murder Club that matters! #BookSky #Mystery
classicmystery.blog/2025/12/11/t...

The Department Of Queer Complaints (1940) by Carter Dickson Got a problem that no one else can solve? Well, presumably if the A-Team aren’t in town, you might want to pop round and see Colonel March in the Department Of Queer Complaints. Whether it’s the sh…

A fun collection of short stories from the master of the locked room mystery #JohnDicksonCarr #BookSky #LockedRoom

classicmystery.blog/2026/01/12/t...

The Wooden Overcoat (1951) by Pamela Branch Benjamin Cann has walked free from the Old Bailey, cleared of murdering his mistress. Except for the fact that he did – well, it might have been an accident, but then again, it might not have been.…

"A comedy of manners with the occasional murder." Kind of wish it had been the other way round... #Mystery #ClassicCrime #BookSky
classicmystery.blog/2026/01/10/t...