I was having a stroll around the Crime Time website the other day, and ended up in an excellent section called Crime Scene, which profiles crime fiction on a country by country basis.
At the moment there are four Crime Scene guides – for France, Italy, The Netherlands and Switzerland (the latter includes info on Germany too) – and more will be added in future. They can be viewed online or downloaded as a PDF, and provide a really useful overview of the respective countries’ crime scenes.
Simone van der Vlugt is one of the writers featured in The Netherlands guide
Each is written by an expert on the crime of the country in question, but all look at similar areas, under the guidance of series editor Bob Cornwell:
– a history of the country’s crime fiction
– recent publishing trends
– notable writers (often by category, e.g. police procedural, historical crime fiction)
– major crime prizes
– key publishers
– key suppliers, festivals and websites
– key reference works
I’m extremely impressed with these guides, which pack a lot of information into a relatively small space. Produced in conjunction with the International Association of Crime Writers, they provide a great resource for beginners and more advanced crime readers alike, and I look forward to seeing more in due course.
Mrs. Peabody Investigates 
Mrs. P – Thanks for this treasure trove! It looks like a really excellent resource! I will definitely be visiting there again (and again….).
You’re welcome, Margot – aren’t they great? And more to come in time, I hope.
I’d like to take credit for these, as they’re Crime Time projects, but Bob Cornwell did the heavy lifting. Even my editorial input was minimal!.
Thank you to you both, Barry – they are grand. I’ve learned a lot from reading them, and have also greatly increased the height of my TBR pile (already groaning under the weight of all those lovely Petrona submissions…)
These sound great Mrs P – thanks very much.
You’re welcome! Lots for us to sink our teeth into…
Sounds wonderful, must get to it with a cup of tea and cookies when I have some substantial time to look around. A welcome addition to my global crime fiction blogs.
Tea and cookies? The perfect accompaniment!
Thanks for posting this- an incredibly useful resource! 🙂
You’re welcome, Raven. A good find and I hope they will keep producing more.
This sounds excellent, off to have a look now. Know what you mean about the TBR pile, my Pinterest board for this far outstrips the books actually read one!
A very dangerous destination for those with already teetering TBR piles, Blighty!
This sounds great – if I go travelling I love to find some crime fiction from my destination, so how useful to know where to find suggestions.
Yes, I like to do that too 🙂 I learned a lot about Canada that way when we were there this summer.
These are wonderful and just full of suggestions for winter reading around a cosy fire. Thank you.
You’re welcome – yes, quite a treasure trove!
Thank you Barry/Bob for providing these and thank you MrsP for linking.
You’re welcome – very glad I happened upon them.
‘Happened upon them’, Mrs P? I’d have guessed you checked Crime Time assiduously every night before settling down with your Horlicks…
Well I certainly shall from now on, Barry, especially as you’re monitoring my every move 🙂 Given that it’s Friday, I’ll be adding a splash of whiskey to my Horlicks too. Have a good weekend!