17 December 2023

9


Think of a number, any single digit number between 1 and 400. Need a hint? Let’s refine it to the largest decimal digit, the square of 3, the square root of 81. Another clue? Count the number of Greek Muses. It’s the Hebrew Sabbath day of the month (23:32 וַיִּקְרָא), a number signifying truth and completeness. It’s the number of Brahma the Creator and At-Tawbah (ٱلتوبة‎), the nth Surah of the Holy Qur’an. It’s the atomic number of fluorine, the number of circles in Dante’s Inferno, and the number of innings in baseball. You guessed!

It’s also how high FeedSpot, a RSS feed reader, ranked SleuthSayers out of nearly 400 crime and mystery blogs it follows.

№ 9.

Wow. Rumors that SleuthSayers is respected and well regarded in the criminal community have reached this troglodyte’s outpost. That’s thanks to you, loyal reader (you know whom I’m talking about), and the dedication of two dozen of the smartest writers this side of Dorothy and Dashiell.

We have good company. I’ve read and interacted with other blogs I consider top-notch: Criminal Element (#1), Crimespree (#8), Crime Readers’ Association (#19), Murder is Everywhere (#28), Crime Time (#22), Criminal Minds (#32), Crime Space (#49), and Femmes Fatales (#69).

Look who else is featured: Rob Lopresti (#47) and Michael Bracken (#37).

The list contains a number of intriguing new-to-me crime sites. Although no trophies or fat prizes are awarded, it’s nice to be recognized and be ranked so high.

FeedSpot’s original list offers considerable detail as well as 300 additional entries, but check the list below to get a quick Who’s Who of the mystery blogging world. Again, thank you.

What do you think? Criminal minds want to know. And now, a selection from the list:

1. Criminal Element - Original crime stories, exclusive excerpts, blog posts, giveaways Criminal Element
New York, US
45 The Crime Segments Crime Segments
Florida, US
2. Crime Fiction Lover - The site for die hard crime & thriller fans Crime Fiction Lover
UK
46 Indie Crime Scene Indie Crime Scene
unspecified
3. Crime Reads Crime Reads
unspecified
47 Little Big Crimes Little Big Crimes
Bellingham, Wash, US
4. Crime Writer Sue Coletta - Inside the mind of a crime writer Sue Coletta
US
48 International Noir Fiction International Noir
international
5. Crime by the Book Crime By The Book
New York, NY, US
49 Crime Space Crime Space
international
6. True Crime Diva True Crime Diva
unspecified
50 Vintage Crime - Crime and spy fiction from Poe up to 1950 Vintage Crime
Australia
7. The Venetian Vase Venetian Vase
UK
51 The Crime Fiction Writer's Forensics Blog Writer's Forensics
California, US
8. Crimespree Magazine Crime Spree Mag
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US
52 Crime Always Pays by Declan Burke Crime Always Pays
Ireland
9. Sleuth Sayers SleuthSayers
Ca, Fr, NZ, UK, US, ZA
53 Detectives Beyond Borders Detectives > Borders
international
10 Do You Write Under Your Own Name? Under Your Name?
UK
54 Jane Isaac - UK Crime Fiction Writer, Amazon Bestseller Jane Isaac
Northampton, England, UK
11 Crime Book Junkie Crime Book Junkie
UK
55 True Crime Reader True Crime Reader
unspecified
12 Kittling Books Kittling Books
Phoenix, Arizona, US
56 Scandinavian Crime Fiction Scandinavian Crime
unspecified
13 SHOTS Shots Mag
UK
57 Crime Scene NI Crime Scene N.I.
Northern Ireland, UK
14 The Rap Sheet The Rap Sheet
unspecified
58 Unlawful Acts Unlawful Acts
Wilmington, Delaware, US
15 In Reference to Murder Blog In Reference To Murder
US
59 Where The Reader Grows Where Readers Grow
New York, US
16 BOLO BOOKS Bolo Books
Maryland, US
60 COL'S CRIMINAL LIBRARY Col's Criminal Library
England, UK
17 AustCrimeFiction | Australia & New Zealand Crime Fiction Reviews since 2006 Aust Crime Fiction
Victoria, Australia
61 Rowmark | The Pauline Rowson website crime novels, events, news and blog Rowmark
England, UK
18 Raven Crime Reads Raven Crime Reads
UK
62 International Crime Fiction Research Group - Information and news about the activities of the Inter International Crime
Belfast, N.I, UK
19 Crime Writers/Readers Association Crime Writers' Assoc
UK
63 TheCrimeHouse - Everything crime fiction The Crime House
Sweden
20 Chapter In My Life Chapter In My Life
Glasgow, Scotland, UK
64 Steph Broadribb Steph Broadribb
London, England, UK
21 Hooked From Page One Hooked From Page 1
Essex, Ontario, Canada
65 Historical True Crime Detective Historical True Detective
US
22 Crime Time - There's always time for Crime..... Crime Time
UK
66 Past Offences - Classic crime, thrillers and mystery book reviews Past Offences
US
23 Euro Crime Euro Crime
UK
67 The Crime Warp - Writers' and Readers' Perspectives | A blog reviewing crime fiction and int The Crime Warp
Bradford, England, UK
24 George Kelley George Kelley
N Tonawanda, NY, US
68 Keeper of Pages Keeper Of Pages
England, UK
25 Do Some Damage Do Some Damage
unspecified
69 Femmes Fatales Femmes Fatales
unspecified
26 Cross Examining Crime Cross-Examining Crime
England, UK
70 Jim Fisher True Crime Jim Fisher True Crime
Pennsylvania, US
27 A Crime Readers Blog Crime Reader's Blog
UK
71 Chris Longmuir, Crime Writer Chris Longmuir
Montrose, Scotland, UK
28 Murder is Everywhere Murder Is Everywhere
international
72 Crime Time by Mathew Paust MD Paust
Hampton, Virginia, US
29 Type M for Murder Type M 4 Murder
unspecified
73 Chillers Killers and Thrillers Chillers Killers Thrillers
London, England, UK
30 Promoting Crime Fiction Promoting Crime
UK
74 Crime Fiction Ireland Crime Ire
Dublin, Ireland
31 Murder in Common Murder In Common
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
75 Unlawful Acts - Small Press Crime Fiction Unlawful Acts
unspecified
32 Criminal Minds 7 Criminal Minds
unspecified
76 Mystery Pod – Stephen Usery Mystery Pod
unspecified
33 The Invisible Event The Invisible Event
London, England, UK
77 Crime Scraps Review - All about crime fiction Crime Scraps Review
England, UK
34 JOFFE BOOKS | Leading UK publisher of crime fiction, mysteries, thrillers Joffe Books
London, England, UK
78 Permission to Kill Permission to Kill
unspecified
35 Cath Staincliffe Blog Cath Staincliffe
Manchester, England, UK
79 The Crime Review Crime Review
England, UK
36 Crime Worm Crime Worm
Scotland, UK
80 Fiction Formula Fiction Formula
US
37 Crime Fiction Writer Crime Fiction Writer
Hewitt, Texas, US
81 Northern Crime reviews Northern Crime reviews
Leeds, England, UK
38 Nobody Move! Armed Robbery
Albany, New York, US
82 Fair Dinkum Crime Fair Dinkum Crime
Australia
39 A Crime is Afoot JIE Scribano
Madrid, Spain
83 Mark McGinn Mark McGinn crime blog
Christchurch Canterbury NZ
40 Hawley Reviews Hawley Reviews
unspecified
84 True Crime True Crime
unspecified
41 Crime Watch - Investigating crime fiction from a Kiwi perspective Kiwi Crime
New Zealand
85 Crimezine - #1 for Crime Crimezine
Los Angeles, California, US
42 Chrissie Poulson Blog Christine Poulson
UK
86 Only Detect Only Detect
unspecified
43 Ron Franscell | An American Storyteller Ron Franscell
San Antonio, Texas, US
87 Crime Thriller Fella Crime Thrilla Fella
unspecified
44 Beneath the Stains of Time Moonlight Detective
unspecified
88 Crime Thriller Fella The Reader is Warned
unspecified