A HYPOTHETICAL: what would make a good Christmas gift for an avid reader of crime fiction?  Faced by a pile of recent reads, I soon realised this was an almost impossible task. Too much choice; too many vying for the top spot. And such a broad range of  preferences among devotees of the genre. Much easier to choose a selection. A bit of an each way bet, perhaps, and a coward’s way out of making a decision. But slightly less stressful than whittling the pile down to a single choice. Also covering a wider range of  themes, locations and styles. Continue reading

FOR those of a certain age (i.e. anyone born in the last century) one word will be sufficient to evoke fond memories of unmissable criminal court dramas. A reminder of tantalisingly clever tales rich in humour, wry comment and a panoply of credible and almost loveable rogues. And that word is Rumpole. Horace Rumpole, barrister. Irascible and grumpy. Denizen of the Old Bailey. Scourge of judges, fellow legal eagles and the police in almost equal measure. Pricker of the pretentious and the pompous. Fondly regarded by London’s underworld as the go-to man when “up before the beak”, he made a… Continue reading