Prepare to Celebrate the Nation's Favourite Genre with National Crime Reading Month

By LoveReading | Posted: 22nd May 2023 | Updated: 11th June 2025

Book lovers are invited to join us this June to celebrate National Crime Reading Month 2025.

The month-long festival, which takes place across the UK and Ireland, is run by the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) in partnership with national charity, The Reading Agency. It is designed to celebrate the UK’s most popular genre and get the nation reading. Research from The Reading Agency shows that just 30 minutes of reading each week helps adults to report greater life satisfaction. All the more reason to #PickUpAPageTurner this June.

One of the UK’s most prominent crime writing societies, the CWA works to support, promote, and celebrate the crime writing genre. NCRM culminates with the prestigious CWA Dagger awards ceremony, hosted at the end of June.

Karen Napier, CEO, The Reading Agency said: “Through our reading advocacy work, we know how important crime fiction is both for lifelong reading lovers and for those who are just starting out on their reading journey. Thanks to its structured plot-driven narratives, crime fiction often rights wrongs and solves mysteries so we experience a sense of justice and resolution in the pages of a novel, which we often can’t find in the real world. This is part of its huge appeal.”

Regular reading has far-reaching social impacts; improving health, wellbeing, life chances and social connections.

Research from The Reading Agency, who work across the UK to empower people of all ages to read, shows that adults who read for just 30 minutes a week are 20% more likely to report greater life satisfaction. However, only half (50%) of adults now read regularly, and 1 in 10 find reading difficult.

Readers can got to www.crimereading.com to see all the latest events near to them and keep an eye as new events are added throughout the month.

Speaking on the allure of ‘cosy crime,’ which continues to dominate book sales, Janice Hallett said: “Cosy crime fiction is a celebration of the conundrum. It's a workout for your critical mind as you attempt to untangle the fiendish knot of the plot…once you start reading, you'll be captivated, absorbed, enthralled, and ultimately entertained.”

For cosy crime reading inspiration and beyond click here to explore our collection.

Sam Blake, the NCRM organiser and CWA board member, said: “Crime fiction has drawn audiences since the Penny Dreadfuls. It’s hugely popular and dominates our bookshelves and TV screens. There’s something for everyone and we hope by demonstrating the breadth of the genre that NCRM will engage even more readers and encourage them to discover authors they haven’t read before.”

Because we're big fans of reading any and all types of crime writing we have an extensive line-up of collections to appeal to every crime reader. Whether you want the thrill of the courtroom, or to follow your favourite detectives with police procedurals we have plenty of suggestions. You can also find true crime recommendations and read more about organised crime. Perhaps you're more interested in female-led crime fiction or you're wanting your next read to be set in a different country: across the pond or brought to you by skilled translators. Maybe you like your crime reading to have something unique that sets them apart, they may have a festive twist or accolades to their name. Whatever your predilection there's a collection for every mood and interest.