Magazine Watch - Crime Scene issue 2

Collectable Cover 1

Issue 2 of Crime Scene Magazine is currently available in this shops - this is only the second issue and they are already trying to tempt readers to buy an extra copy by releasing two different covers for this issue - does anyone actually do this? It seems to be quite a common ploy by news-stand magazines - I noticed that this month's Empire magazine is out with a zillion different Star Wars covers, and Classic Rock also did this to celebrate Iron Maiden's new album a few months ago. I guess the theory is that collectors will buy multiple magazines.

Ze capatalist magazine producers...come ze revolution...

Still I don't need marketing gimmicks to buy an extra copy of this magazine - I regard this publication so highly that I buy an issue to read until it is falling apart and another to keep mint in my collection. I did this with issue one and I've just picked up two issues of this second issue, A Nordic Noir themed issue.

Collectable Cover 2

It's a glossy magazine and in layout resembles publications like Total Film but this magazine is dedicated to the crime genre and is written by journalists that understand and love the genre. This second issue features interviews with Idris Elba, Martina Cole, Sofia Heflin and others, and the Nordic centrepiece features an unpublished interview with the late, Henning Mankell. There are detailed set reports from the forthcoming Sherlock Christmas Special as well as  the second season of Fargo. On the true crime front there is an interview with Brooke Magnanti,a  forensic scientist, who talks about the realities of forensic investigations.

The history of the genre is also taken care with an article on the first detective, Poe's  Auguste Dupin. The story Murders in the Rue Morgue, published in 1841 is often called the first detective fiction.


I really do like this magazine - its excellently written and the first issue introduced me to the documentaries The Jinx and The Staircase which I have poured through this past month. And WOW! they made for compelling viewing.

The features are rounded out with  book, film and TV reviews and while reading these I found myself making a wish list. At £7.99  the magazine is a little on the expensive side but at 130 pages it is well worth the expense.