What do you buy the murder mystery fan in your household as a present? Well, you could go out and buy a random title from a second hand bookshop – who knows where that might lead? – but if not, you could head in the direction of Kate Jackson, my blogging buddy at Cross Examining Crime.

Well, your first port of call should be a Coffee and Crime subscription – don’t worry if you have taste, you can get tea as a replacement for the foulness – but failing that, you should take a look at The Pocket Detective. Or, indeed, The Pocket Detective 2.

Kate has compiled a second selection of mysteries based around the British Library Crime Classics range, although several other well-known authors get a look-in as well – there’s even a mention for the imminently-to-be-republished Brian Flynn. Thanks, Kate!

There’s a wide variety of puzzles here, crosswords, spot the differences and many more, with only a few requiring detailed knowledge of the range (and some of these have alternative ways of working out the solution – you’ll have to take a look to see what I mean).

Definitely worth putting on the Christmas list.