As of January 1st in this year 2025, many copyrighted works produced in the year 1926 have entered the public domain in the United States, which means they are totally free and legal for anyone to use, without paying for usage. This is slated to happen on the first of every year (except it didn’t for twenty years starting in 1998, when Congress passed the Copyright Extension Act, lengthening then-active copyrights from 75 years to 95 years, meaning that the earliest date for works to enter the Public Domain was January 1st, 2019). But, for the last few New Years Days, we’ve rejoiced in the newfound availability of many classic stories.
This year, books and movies from 1930 are available, as are songs from 1925!
And here at CrimeReads, we’ve assembled the most crimey among this year’s available new (old) books, for your accessing pleasure. And wow… there are some good ones!
The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
This gem is the first Miss Marple novel! Now, Poirot and Marple are both in the public domain!
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
Do I even have to explain what this book is?
Strong Poison, Dorothy L. Sayers
Strong Poison is a strong installment of the Lord Peter Wimsey series. It’s the fifth installment… but it’s the first novel in which we encounter Harriet Vane! Hurrah!
Cimarron by Edna Ferber
We now have unbridled access to Edna Ferber’s Pulitzer-prize winning Western (which, fun fact, inspired a Best Picture-winning film that also came out that year, meaning that it is also available in the Public Domain as of New Year’s Day).
Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future, by Olaf Stapledon
This sci-fi novel chronicles the human race across two billion years, as it evolves through eighteen different species varieties until it manifests as a strange, hive-mind super-consciousness.
The Secret of the Old Clock, The Hidden Staircase, the Bungalow Mystery, the Mystery at Lilac Inn by Carolyn Keene
That’s right! The first four Nancy Drew mysteries are in the public domain! These four were written by Mildred Benson under the pseudonym that many would come to use, Carolyn Keene.
