So CrimeFest has officially started. So far we have had wonderful weather I hope
that it will remain that way. If you
have read my previous blog posts about CrimeFest then you will realise that
they tend to be rather light-hearted and at times extremely effervescent. I tend to write about not only the panels but
also other things happening whether it is in the bar, outside or (and I have
been known to do so) what I am going to wear for dinner.
The 11:00am train from Paddington had quite a number
of attendees on the train. It was lovely
to meet up with Nicci Praca and also bump into Vicki Mellor from Headline and
her colleague, Kate Lyall- Grant from Severn House and also Patrick Easter.
Arriving at the hotel the first person I bumped into
was Sophie Orme from Macmillan, swiftly followed by Sarah Hillary and Linda
Wilson of Crime Review. It has been
wonderful seeing everybody.
I have to admit that I was rather surprised when I
arrived at the hotel with Kirsty Long. I
was anticipating that I would be told that our room was not ready but to our
surprise it was.
I did manage to attend one panel today and that was
the Locked Room & Closed Locations:
Writing Yourself into a Corner panel which featured Nev Fountain, Antonia
Hodgson, Thomas Mogford, L C Tyler and Charles (Caroline) Todd who was a
participating moderator.
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The panellists discussed a number of issues
surrounding locked room mysteries. One
of the points that came up was whether or not John Dickinson Carr’s The Hollow Man is the best-locked room
mystery. It was in fact voted the best-locked
room mystery by the CWA. It appears that
the best-locked room mysteries are all short stories as there is something
about a locked room mystery that is challenging. Antonia Hodgson explained that she wanted to
write about a period that she enjoyed hence she decided to set it in a prison. Thomas Mogford on the other hand had to
stretch his imagination to keep his main protagonist trapped in Gibraltar. Len Tyler pointed out that in all his books
he liked to play with conventions of crime.
Nev Fountain stated that he thinks he wrote (as in his books) The Da Vinci Code for atheists.
The panel were also asked what was the worst problem
of the locked room mystery? Thomas
Mogford indicated that he felt that the solution seems to be a let down. Furthermore people have a specific
expectation as to what a locked room mystery should be. According to Nev Fountain he felt that we
should not make the locked room bit the only focus. The locked room mystery according to Antonia
Hodgson is perfect for the short story.
Each of the panel members were also asked if they would do a locked room
mystery again? Len Tyler stated that
after thinking about it and being on the panel then he next book may just be a
locked mystery. His novel Herring on the Nile was a take on Agatha
Christie’s Death on the Nile. One of the other questions that were asked
was whether or not it was fair for the victim to do away with oneself in a
locked room mystery.
The panel members also discussed the enduring
affection for locked room mysteries and it was agreed that if it is done well
then it is extremely satisfying.
Furthermore, as the crossword puzzle and detective fiction came out at
the same time the locked room mystery is seen as a cryptic crossword. It was also thought that life, death, and cliff-hangers
are important to locked room mysteries.
Thomas Mogford felt that humour also leant itself to locked room
mysteries. It was an extremely
interesting panel and I thought that we could have easily spent a lot more time
talking about looked room mysteries.
One of the good things about CrimeFest is always the
pub quiz. What made it even more
interesting this year is that a few new rules were instituted which made me
laugh a lot. Due to their vast knowledge
it was decided that my Shots colleagues Mike Stotter and Ali Karim were not
allowed to be on the same team together.
Nor could Ali and Mike be on the same team with Martin Edwards. If you know Martin Edwards then you will
appreciate the fact that his knowledge is absolutely phenomenal. Martin is the only crime writer to have won
Criminal Mastermind three years in a row.
He is also the historian for the CWA.
Anyway, back to the quiz. There were five rounds to the quiz with
headings such as The Dear Departed, Dead & Alive, The Flickers, Set Up, and
Denouement. The winner of the pub quiz was table 12
calling themselves table 13 better known as the Faber table! Congratulations to them. The Defective
Detectives team, which I was on which also included Mike Stotter, didn’t do
too badly. We came fourth out of twelve
teams. Peter Guttridge once again played quiz master.
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As per usual after the pub quiz everyone converged in
the bar to hang out. Stupidly not
remembering to get some food I had to nip out across the road to pick up a sandwich. I shall certainly not be doing that again.
I was also very good and didn’t stay up too late,
which surprised me. I was actually in my
room just before midnight. However, I
doubt that will be the case today.
Hopefully the bar will also stay open late and not close at
midnight. After all these years don’t
they know that members of the crime fiction community whether they be readers,
writers or critics like to stay up late!
Look out for tweets, as we will be using the Twitter
handle ♯CrimeFest14
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