Capital Crime is a yearly celebrate of murder, mayhem and thriller, that takes place in London (hence the clever name). For reasons that don’t need explaining, this year’s event was sadly cancelled. However, the book-loving brains behind the festival have come up with a way that means great crime fiction can reach even more people. So they launched the Capital Crime Book Club. Each month, subscibers will receive two specially curated paperbacks, along with access to author content and community activities.

I was contacted by Capital Crime to see if I would like to find out more about the book club subscription service and to try the first book for free. Of course I lept at the chance.

This is what Capital Crime founders Adam Handy and David Healey had to say about the subscription service.

Capital Crime co-founder Adam Hamdy, says “Capital Crime is an inclusive festival with a strong
sense of community. It is in this spirit that we’re launching the Capital Crime Book Club, a home
for all fans of crime fiction. With a monthly subscription fee in the region of £10 for two
paperbacks and access to exclusive community content, we’re intent on offering a great value
service that’s accessible to everyone.”

Capital Crime co-founder and Goldsboro Books Managing Director, David Headley, says
“Capital Crime has always been about connecting fans of crime fiction with their favourite
writers. We see this as another string to our bow complementing our physical festival and
capitalcrime.digital platform. We’re supporting authors and publishers and helping them
connect with readers in celebration of this much-loved genre.”

So what was in the inaugural box?

The first book was The House Guest by Mark Edwards along with a signed postcard and a nifty pen/come torch. This happens to be a book I don’t own and haven’t read so it really was lovely to receive a copy.

There was also a signed copy of The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, published by Viking on 3 September. Now, you don’t have to be a big bookworm to know that this is already a best seller, outselling the next book in the charts by thousands  of copies. I’m lucky enough to have already read this book but I didn’t have a signed hardback. Well now I do.

There are three levels of subscription:

3 month subscription for £14.99 a month which equates to £44.97 for 6 books.

6 month subscription for £12.99 a month which equates to £77.94 for 12 books.

12 month subscription for £10 per month which equates to £120 for 24 books.

You can find out more about the Capital Crime, the book club subscription service and how to sign up here.

I am fortunate to receive a few books through the post so I am always wary of subscription services, just in case I get a duplicate. I was impressed with this month’s titles, despite already owning one of them. I shall be keeping an eye on the next few months subscriptions to see what they bring. I can’t see any information on the site about what would happen if a book happens to be one that is already owned, so it may be that if I take up a subscription, duplicate books will have to be given away as presents.

So, if you are a crime book lover who likes to receive surprise books through the post, this book club subscription may be the one for you.

(If book boxes and subscriptions are your thing, or you’d like to find out more about them, keep a look out for an article coming up soon about the wide variety available. )

*I received the first month’s subscription titles for free. This review is as a result of that. I have not received any other payment or any future payment*