He has reviewed crime novels for various publications and websites since 1987 and has written columns for print and online magazines such as "Sherlock" and "Bookdagger". In 2017, he wrote a lengthy commentary, acclaimed as “superb” to the detective fiction reviews of Dorothy L. Sayers, which he collected in "Taking Detective Stories Seriously" on behalf of the Dorothy L. Sayers Society. He has contributed essays to a wide range of reference books about the genre, including "The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing". He has written introductions to new editions of a wide range of books, including "The Red Right Hand" by Joel Townsley Rogers, "Death in the Dark" by Stacey Bishop, several books in Harper Collins’ Detective Story Club series of reissues, three anthologies published by Flame Tree Press, Folio Society reprints, and novels in the Chivers Black Dagger Series such as "The Man Who Didn't Fly" by Margot Bennett and Cornell Woolrich's "The Bride Wore Black". In 2014, he was appointed Series Consultant to the British Library's highly successful Crime Classics series.