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Black Spring Press

CrimeBits: 100 Opening Gambits for Great Thrillers & Linked Mystery Puzzles

CrimeBits: 100 Opening Gambits for Great Thrillers & Linked Mystery Puzzles

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Short Fiction and Puzzles | Hardback OUT NOW and Paperback coming soon.

CrimeBits is a unique, interactive puzzle book including 100 first pages of thrillers, the best selected by the world-famous crime author Lee Child. Each page is linked to a puzzle, ranging from crosswords to wordsearches to mystery logic puzzles created by a L.A. Times puzzle setter Robin Stears. Read an exclusive introduction by Lee Child himself on crime writing and the importance of a novel's opening. This grab-bag of a book also includes writing challenges, crime trivia, and editor's notes. CrimeBits 2 is set to be selected and introduced by the best-selling Tartan Noir author Val McDermid. 

BSPG recently ran the ‘Black Spring Prize for Best Opening To a Crime Book’. Now BSPG are publishing entries from the top 100 of the finalists, and incredibly, the winner was decided by Lee Child. We are deeply grateful for the world-famous, best-selling author of the 'Jack Reacher' series, whose books have sold over 100 million copies to contribute to this great book!

Lee Child says,

Long ago people would say, “This is a great book, but you need to give it fifty pages.” That's crazy now, in our hyper-fast world. Now readers give you fifty words. Your first paragraph, basically. That's where you win or lose. It doesn't always need to be slam-bam, but it does always need to give the reader absolutely no choice but to race ahead. Send your entry in to Black Spring's contest, I’ll judge the best... and if you win, I'll be first in line to buy your book.

Our resident crime editor, Luca Veste who is the internationally bestselling author of eight novels and the host of the hit podcast Two Crime Writers and a Microphone also contributed an introduction. 

Featuring writing from:

Amy Lyn
Camilla Macpherson
Oliver Marlow
Deirdre McAuley
Alexandra McDermott
Cate McDermott
Samantha Metcalfe
Linda Millington
Donna Moore
Laurel Nicholson
James Nisbet
Angela Nurse
Randy O’Brien
Barry Penfold
David Potter
F.D. Quinn
Deborah Rayner
Callum Reid
Reaghan Reilly
Robin Richards
May Rinaldi
Leslie Roberts
Rodney Rogers
Claire Rozario
Sabine Sapia
Paul Smitham
Rosie Sorenson
Daniel Stewart
Lorelai Tarlow
Michael Telfer
LG Thomson
Marek Turner
Richard Valanga
Graham Wall
Rachael Warecki
Joanne Watkinson
Rachael Watson
Lucy Wetherall
Jill Whitehouse
Judith Wilson
Marcia Woolf
Rebecca Wurth

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