2024 Classic Crime Reissues

I have not seen as many classic crime reissues this year as in previous times. Dean Street Press hasn’t published anything for a while, though there are signs that that will change, and they have an excellent backlist. Oreon Press also seems to have stopped publishing anything.

But, other publishers, particularly the British Library and Galileo Publishing, continue to reissue some lovely classic crime novels. Here are some of my favourites from this year.

There are many traditional elements of classic crime novels which I especially like, and one of these is a village setting. An excellent example of this is Max Murray’s The Voice of the Corpse (1947). It is concerned with the murder of a thoroughly dislikeable writer of poison pen letters. The village background is done well, and I liked the older woman who appeared vague, but actually knew exactly what was going on. I really enjoyed it.

Another book with a rural setting is Impact of Evidence (1954) by Carol Carnac (who you may also know as ECR Lorac). Here though we are in the Welsh borders, and looking at how people cope on their remote farms with flooding and the discovery of a body. I thought this setting added a lot to the book’s interest, and found it a satisfying read with some good characters

If you like an urban setting, then I can recommend London Particular (1952) by Christianna Brand, who has written some of my favourite classic crime novels. There is an atmospheric beginning with someone being murdered in the fog. This is another novel with good characterisation, and there are brilliant court scenes; probably the best I have ever read. The social history aspect is also interesting as it looks at the morals and conventions of the time. Overall, I think it’s a very impressive crime novel, and I loved it.

I also much appreciated two rather different crime novels by Clifford Witting.  A Bullet for Rhino (1950) has a lot of traditional elements, including its setting (a reunion at a boys’ public school), while The Case of the Busy Bees (1952) has much gang activity and becomes rather sensational. Both are very good reads.

I always buy any Clifford Witting reissue, but I was initially more hesitant about R Austin Freeman’s Mr Pottermack’s Oversight (1931) because we see a lot of events from the perspective of the murderer. I am not always keen on these ‘inverted’ crime novels, but I actually really enjoyed this one. It helped that the murderer was presented sympathetically, and the victim was depicted as being very unpleasant.

These are not the only new reissues by any means. There is, for example, John Dickson Carr’s entertaining The Problem of the Wire Cage (1939), but I don’t want to go on at too much length. I hope you can find something that appeals to you.

Frances

(If you are interested in any of the books on this recommendations list, just give us an email and we’ll order them in for you!)