Agatha Christie

Lots of people love Agatha Christie, they love her style of writing, they love all those wonderful BBC dramatisations and they've read all of them umpteen times. What happens though when you've read all the books so many times that you know exactly what's going to happen and you're desperate for something new, but strangely something familiar? There are a few different authors you can turn to and I'm here to talk you through them...

Josephine Tey: let's start with my favourite author. She almost single handily convinced the world of Richard III's innocence in the case of the missing Princes and created another gorgeous and loveable detective, Alan Grant. Her Miss Pym is also delightful and although there are murders and mysteries, it's so fantastically English you'll feel like you're in the middle of your very own BBC drama.

Kerry Greenwood: a bit closer to home, Phryne Fisher has become beloved of the world with her flair and style. The ABC TV show is fun and everything but the books have something the show doesn't, even more beauty, character and charm. The descriptions of Melbourne in the 1920s are evocative and as you read the books wandering around Melbourne it's like having double vision. You see a modern Melbourne and underneath, the architecture, the bones of city still shine through.

Sulari Gentill: in a similar vein to Phryne Fisher's Mysteries are the Roland Sinclair mysteries, also set in Melbourne in the 1920s these are set in an artist commune and you just adore all the main characters. Roland is the most dapper portrait painter you've ever met, and his unrequited love for the outrageous Edna makes you keep coming back to the books again and again. Unlike the Greenwoods, you must read these in order but it's worth every page. Gentil is a lovely writer with flair, passion for her work and is, in my opinion not nearly given enough notice for her amazing skills.