Kerrie’s Crime Fiction Alphabet came to the end last week, which left me wondering what were its highlights for me. Before I began I decided that I would use it to read books from my to-be-read list and in the main that is what I did.

The rules of the meme are that you have to write a blog post about crime fiction related to the letter of the week and your post MUST be related to either the first letter of a book’s title, the first letter of an author’s first name, or the first letter of the author’s surname.

I thought that I would try to stick to the authors’ names (either first or last) rather than the title and in the main that is what I did, with 21 of the letters.The letters A, P, R and S relate both to the authors’ names and to the titles.

Some were books by old favourites, such as Agatha Christie and some by new-to-me authors, such as Anne Zouroudi.

The ones I enjoyed the most (in A – Z order) are:

• Agatha Christie’s Autobiography – reading it was like listening to Agatha Christie talk to me.
• Colin Dexter – The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn – I wanted to start it again as soon as I’d finished it.
• P D James – The Private Patient – a thoughtful book, with precise descriptions of people and places and yet it is tense and dramatic.
• Donna Leon – Drawing Conclusions – a book I didn’t want to end!
• Dan Waddell – The Blood Detective – even though there are parts (not many) that were just a bit too graphic for me.

Here is the complete list:

• A is for Agatha Christie – An Autobiography
• B  is for  W J Burley – Wycliffe and the Last Rites
• C is for Christopher Brookmyre
• D is for Colin Dexter – The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn
• E is for Edgar Wallace – The Clue of the Twisted Candle
• F is for Frances Fyfield – The Art of Drowning
• G  is for Erle Stanley Gardner – The Case of the Substitute Face
• H  is for Reginald Hill ‘“ Exit Lines
• I is for Ian Rankin ‘“ Rebus’s Scotland
• J is for Janie Bolitho ‘“ Betrayed in Cornwall
• K is for Karen Maitland
• L  is for Donna Leon ‘“ Drawing Conclusions
• M  is for The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
• N is for A number of N’s
• O  is for One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson
• P is for P D James – The Private Patient
• Q is for Q Books
• R  is for Ruth Rendell ‘“ Tigerlily’s Orchids
• S is for Simon Brett – The Stabbing in the Stables
• T is for Peter Turnbull ‘“ Once a Biker
• U is for Nicola Upson ‘“ An Expert in Murder
• V is for Val McDermid Cleanskin
• W is for Dan Waddell The Blood Detective
• X is for X, Y, Z: a Story told by a Detective by Anna Katherine Green
• Y is for Margaret Yorke – Intimate Kill
• Z is for Anne Zouroudi ‘“ The Doctor of Thessaly

My thanks go to Kerrie as I have thoroughly enjoyed reading through the Crime Fiction Alphabet and also reading what my fellow bloggers have read too – some of whom wrote about specific topics instead of sticking to the rules :) – I think they are most ingenious! Kerrie has listed a summary of the A- G posts, with the rest of the alphabet coming soon.