Courtroom Theatrics by Guy Morpuss

The actor Philip Glenister (Life on Mars and Mad Dogs) advised his daughter: ‘If you want to be an actor and earn some money, become a barrister.’

With the state of legal aid, most criminal barristers would question the wisdom of that advice. It does however highlight the close links between acting and the law. Many barristers would like to make the opposite journey and be treading the boards in the West End.

A trial is rather like a play. We wear our costumes. We perform to the audience. And on a good day no one gets murdered.

That is the tag line for my new novel, A Trial in Three Acts, where the worlds of the theatre and law collide. An actress is murdered live on stage, her head chopped off with a guillotine. Suspicion falls on all cast members, but it is her ex-husband, Hollywood superstar Leo Lusk, who is charged with her murder. At his Old Bailey trial, he is defended by English barrister Charles Konig KC, and New York trial lawyer Yara Ortiz. They realise that the clues to the murder lie in the play itself, and that to save their client they need to identify the real murderer.

When, more than thirty years ago, I started out as a barrister, I thought that winning cases was about persuading the judge that you were right on the law. Over time, and particularly after I became a KC, I began to realise that the law has very little to do with the outcome of most trials. In truth barristers win cases by telling the judge a better story than the other side. Every trial is a one-off performance for an audience of one. Judges are human, and you win by showing the judge why they should want to decide in your client’s favour. To borrow from the US legal philosopher Jerome Frank, laws are merely the formal clothes in which judges dress up their decisions.

So, to be a good barrister you need to be a good actor: to be able to put on a performance, to convince the judge that you believe that your client is in the right.

Of course, there are differences between the stage and the courtroom. As barristers we cannot make things up; we have to work with the facts that we are given. And unlike theatre, there is no script. A trial is an improv performance where the underlying material is constantly changing. It is a play where your fellow ‘cast members’ (the witnesses, the judge, your own client) can suddenly start wandering off in unexpected directions or making up their own lines. I have seen trials lost with a single bad answer in cross-examination.

It was a film adaptation of an Agatha Christie play that inspired me to become a barrister: Witness for the Prosecution, starring Charles Loughton and Marlene Dietrich. I remember being transfixed by the skill with which Loughton, as the defence QC, held centre-stage in court, moulding the jury to his will. I wanted to do the same. Little did I realise that it was Loughton who was actually being manipulated by Dietrich.

An excellent new production of the play in London has blurred the lines between theatre and law. It is set as though in a courtroom, and members of the audience get to sit in the jury box and decide the fate of the accused. It is very cleverly done.

In writing A Trial in Three Acts I have tried to achieve a similar blurring of the lines between theatre and courtroom: my homage to the Queen of Crime. And like Christie, I have provided readers will all the same clues as are available to Charles Konig KC – buried, of course, amongst a multitude of red herrings. The book contains a number of scenes from the play in which the murder takes place. Study these scenes carefully, and you may spot the solution.

I will provide one further clue. Charles Konig KC solves the crime not by identifying the murderer, but by working out how the murder was carried out. Readers can do the same.

Happy hunting. Break a leg.

A Trial in Three Acts by Guy Morpuss (Viper Books) Out Now

A trial is rather like a play. We wear our costumes. We perform to the audience. And on a good day no-one gets murdered. Six nights a week the cast of the smash-hit play Daughter of the Revolution performs to a sold-out audience. A thrilling story of forbidden marriage and a secret love child, the critics say it'll run for years. That is until one night the third act ends not in applause but in death, when leading lady Alexandra Dyce is beheaded live on stage. Every cast member has a motive, but it is the dead woman's co-star - and ex-husband - Hollywood legend Leo Lusk who is charged with the crime. When defence barrister Charles Konig is brought in last minute, he knows this ought to be the case of a lifetime. But Charles would rather be on his holiday trekking up K2, and he isn't interested in celebrities, especially ones that seem to be mysteriously trying to derail their own defence. But as he and his co-counsel New York lawyer Yara Ortiz sift through the evidence, it becomes clear that clues may lie in the play itself. And that Charles's only chance of victory is to identify the real murderer...

More information about the author and his books can be found on his website.  He can also be found on 'X' @guymorpuss.

2025 ITW Thriller Award Nominees

Congratulations the finalists of the 2025 ITW Thriller Awards have been announced.

BEST STANDALONE THRILLER NOVEL

The Paris Widow by Kimberly S. Belle

The Chamber by Will Dean

Worst Case Scenario by L.J. Newman, 

The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak, 

The Truth about the Devlins by Lisa Scottoline, 

BEST STANDALONE MYSTERY NOVEL

Negative Girl by Libby Cudmore, 

The Night We lost Him by Laura Dave

Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett, 

The Life and Death of Rose Doucette by Harry Hunsicker, 

What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan, 

Lake County by Lori Roy

BEST SERIES NOVEL

To Die For by David Baldacci, 

The Last Few Miles of the Road by Eric Beetner, 

The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves, 

Shadowheart by Meg Gardiner, 

Flashback by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen, 

A Forgotten Kill by Isabella Maldonado, 

BEST FIRST NOVEL 

Rabbit Hole by Kate Brody, 

After Image by Jaime deBlanc, 

The Astrology House by Carinn Jade,

Blood in the Cut by Alejandro Nodarse, 

Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney

BEST AUDIOBOOK 

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth, Narrated by Jessica Clarke

Hollywood Hustle by Jon Lindstrom, Narrated by Jon Lindstrom

No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall, Narrated by Karissa Vacker

Beyond All Doubt by Hilton Reed, Narrated by George Newbern

Listeen for the Lie by Amy Tintera, Narrated by January LaVoy and Will Damron

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

Influencer by Adam Cesare, 

The Other Lola by Ripley Jones, 

Darkly by Marisha Pessl, 

49 Miles Alone by Natalie D. Richards, 

Girls Like Her by Melanie Sumrow, 

BEST SHORT STORY 

Not a Dinner Party Person by Stefanie Leder, 

Double Parked by Twist Phelan, 

Jackrabbit Skin by Ivy Pochoda, 

The Doll's House by Lisa Unger, 

And Now, an Inspiring Story of Tragedy Overcome by Joseph S. Walker,

Congratulations t all the nominated authors - Winners will be announced at ThrillerFest XX on Saturday, June 21, 2025 at the New York Hilton Midtown, New York City. 

CFP Neo-Victorian Criminalities, Detection, and Punishment

CFP Neo-Victorian Criminalities, Detection, 

and Punishment

University of Wolverhampton, 23rd-24th June 2025

Keynote speakers: Professor Claire Nally, Lee Jackson, and Nat Reeve

Organisers: Dr Helen Davies, University of Wolverhampton, and Dr Maria Isabel Romero-Ruiz, University of Malaga

The contemporary fascination with Victorian criminalities and the popularity of the detection genre within Neo-Victorianism necessitates close critical attention. In particular, neo-Victorian literary and visual representations of criminals, murderers, serial killers, etc. as well as of sleuths raises ethical issues connected with the avidity of audiences for sensation and drama.

The neo-Victorian city becomes the scenario both of petty crimes and dreadful killings that are shaped by current perceptions of the Victorians and our own cultural context. The city is the place where identities become changeable, and choices can have deadly consequences. In this context, the question of ethics comes to the fore as revealing the identity of criminals and victims and dealing with issues connected with the dark side of society can be questionable and exploitative, especially when discussing the Victorian past.

At the same time, we need to explore the intersection of crime and detective fiction in connection with gender, ethnicity, class and disability, together with the LGTBQI+ community; certain groups were more likely to be criminalised in the Victorian era, with a troubling legacy in terms of contemporary social and cultural attitudes. Therefore, establishing the boundaries between historical crime and fictional crime and identity politics in neo-Victorianism become essential in the representation of both criminals and victims as well as sleuths in popular genres such as crime fiction and detection.

This event will run over two days, with public engagement events on 24th featuring Lee Jackson and Nat Reeve.

We invite contributions that include but are not limited to the following topics in relation to Neo-Victorian representations of crime:

-Historical crime versus fictional crime

-Neo-Victorian sensationalism and detection

-The aesthetics and ethics of crime 

-Detection, crime and identity politics

-Gender and detection

-Crime and ethnicity

-Crime and class 

-Crime and Disability

-LBTBQI+ sleuth identities

-LBTBQI+ criminals and victims

-Neo-Victorian remediations of past crimes

Please send a c. 250 word abstract for 20 min papers and c. 100 word biography toneovictoriancrimes@gmail.com by 14th March 2025.

March Books from Bookouture

Meet Ally McKinley: dog lover, guesthouse owner and accidental detective, as she tackles her next case in the beautiful Scottish Highlands! Recent retiree Ally McKinley has stepped out with her puppy Flora for a walk by the loch in the tiny village of Locharran, taking a break from running the cosiest little guesthouse in the Highlands. But Ally’s peace and quiet is sunk when she and Flora find the body of a mysterious woman floating in the water… Before she knows it, Ally finds herself wading into the middle of a new investigation. Who was the mystery woman and why was she killed? Her enquiries take her all over the village: from the corner shop and the nearby hotel to the turreted castle, home of local earl Hamish Sinclair where preparations are underway for his upcoming – and much gossiped about – wedding. The body in the loch soon has the rumour mills buzzing. But then Elena, the earl’s new bride, is also found poisoned to death the morning after her marriage! With two deaths to investigate, the police appear to suspect almost everyone in Locharran, even Ally herself… Determined to uncover the truth and clear her name, Ally finds poison at the home of one of her suspects and thinks she might be on the right path to solving both murders. But with a killer on the loose in the Scottish Highlands, can Ally unravel the clues before the next person in a watery grave is her? Murder at the Loch is by Dee MacDonald.

I can see her through the glass door. She’s smaller in real life than I expected. She looks the exact opposite of the type of woman that might murder her husband.  Everyone’s heard of Simone Fischer. The young mother accused of killing her husband in cold blood, one sunny afternoon, while their son played in the room next door. So when journalist Esme secures an exclusive interview with her it feels like the opportunity of a lifetime. Simone has remained silent since her husband’s death but after a decade in prison, she is willing to talk to Esme. And Esme, recently freed from her own toxic marriage, is confident she can get Simone to open up.  At their first meeting, when Esme sees Simone sitting across the table from her in jeans and a lemon tunic top, she is stuck by her ordinariness. Then Simone begins to tell her story of an abusive relationship where she was a prisoner in her own home, and Esme decides that the truth needs to come out.  But not everyone is pleased that Esme is telling Simone’s story. And when Esme’s beloved sister is left for dead in a nearby wood, Esme’s life begins to unravel. Forced to question what Simone has told her, she can’t help but wonder if murder was the only way out of Simone’s marriage. Why has it taken Simone so long to tell the world the truth? And will the consequences be devastating for Esme?  The Evidence is by K L Slater.

Make Yourself at Home is by Wendy Clarke. ‘You don’t really know your husband,’ my sister-in-law whispers, and a chill runs down my spine. ‘Can you really trust the man you married?’ Gary and I have always been happy. Our fridge is covered in the love notes I leave him every morning, we always start the day on the doorstep with a goodbye kiss, and I make sure we never, ever fight. But since Gary’s sister Lisa moved in, things have been different… The day Lisa arrived at the school where I work, asking for help, I knew we had to welcome her into our home. Gary hasn’t spoken to his parents in years, and his childhood was far from perfect. But now every time Lisa enters a room, I watch him sneak out the door. He’s no longer home for dinners, spending longer hours at the office. It’s me who’s chatting to Lisa all night as we cook. Learning more and more about the family Gary told me nothing about. And then I spot them through the front window on my way home from work. Arguing. Shouting. Gary thrusts an envelope into Lisa’s hand. He looks nothing like the man I love. Lisa won’t tell me what’s going on, but she whispers to me that I shouldn’t trust the man I married. When I met Gary, I thought I was finally safe. But Lisa’s arrival in Victoria Avenue is forcing my husband’s secrets to surface. She thinks I’m innocent, that my own past is picture-perfect, but she has no idea how far I’ll go to protect the ones I love.

A Village Murder is by Katie Gayle. There’s nothing quite like a night at the theatre. But Julia Bird is expecting a night of sweeping drama, not an onstage murder! At the end of Berrywick’s amateur theatre’s latest production, a shot rings out amongst the rapturous applause. But when Julia Bird peeks through the curtain, she sees lead actor Graham is lying still on the stage, his co-actor Oscar looking down at his prop gun in shock. She knows that Graham has been murdered, but with nearly everyone in the village helping with the play, anyone could have tampered with the props. And why was a beloved family man the target? Graham’s wife Jane collapses in a puddle of tears as Oscar is comforted and led away from the stage. But days later when Julia spots prim and proper Jane kissing Oscar, she wonders if the grieving widow’s tears were fake. Graham served Jane divorce papers the day of the tragedy – was he killed before he could spill the beans on his wife’s affair, and sully her perfect reputation? Meanwhile, the aptly named director, Roger Grave, wants the show to go on. The play is up for a local award, and this might just be Roger’s big break. But when failed actor Hector is not assigned the lead role he assumed he’d get, the mood among the cast quickly turns sour. Could Hector have killed Graham out of jealously for the leading role, Julia wonders? Then another member of the crew is found dead and Julia discovers there’s a dark secret at the heart of Berrywick’s local theatre society. But who would kill to protect it? Can Julia find the murderer before it’s curtains for another victim?

The first lie got him in trouble. Our romantic date night was meant to fix us. But when my husband grabs my hand and says he needs to tell me something, I can tell from the look in his eyes that our marriage is in deep trouble. The second lie ruined our marriage. We’ve been here before. I wonder who she is. Is she younger than me? For a moment I wonder if I’ll forgive him. But I always do. It’s the only way to keep our family together.  But before I can say anything, my daughter calls, terrified. “Mom, I need you to come home. Please!” The third lie could get someone killed. Flashing police cars light up the nightmare that’s unfolding in my beautiful home. Blood is found in our garage and in an instant, I know what my husband has done.  I hold my children close as our perfect life shatters before my eyes. But as he is dragged away from us in handcuffs, something snaps inside of me. I’ve stopped at nothing to get the life we have. And even if my husband is a killer, I will do whatever it takes to keep my family together. Three Little Lies is by Danielle Stewart

Then She Vanished is by Carla Kovach. It’s dark as the young woman leaves work. Crossing the empty car park alone, she thinks about the warmth of her little house. But she doesn’t make it home that night. Or ever again… Thirty years ago, Ruth Pritchard’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Elissa, went missing. Police were called, neighbours were interviewed, and even Ruth’s own husband was investigated, but the case went unsolved. Elissa disappeared forever. Now, Ruth watches the local news and hears about another girl gone from the same streets where her beloved daughter was last seen, and her heart races. A distinctive red scarf was found at a crime scene, and she recognises it instantly. It belonged to Elissa. After Ruth alerts the police, they rush to speak to her, but nobody answers the door. Her small home stands eerily quiet. Just like her daughter before her, Ruth has vanished into thin air. Friends say that Ruth suspected someone close to home took Elissa. Others say she never trusted her husband again after he was questioned by police. Did she finally discover the truth behind her daughter’s disappearance? And will her friends and family ever see her again?

Fear prickles her skin. “Noah?” Photos and trinkets from their simple but perfect life together litter the carpet. The coffee table is cracked, blood along its edges. She should be taking in details, but her heart is racing too fast. A strangled cry works its way from Josie’s chest. Where is her husband? Detective Josie Quinn’s world shatters when she returns home to find her house ransacked, and her husband, Noah, missing. When she kissed him goodbye hours earlier, called to the discovery of a woman’s body at a protest, they were putting the finishing touches to a nursery for their first adopted child. But now the house is empty, Noah’s bloodied handprints trailing the walls. Every fiber of Josie’s being screams to investigate. But her team warn her to keep her distance as they follow a connection to a recent robbery in Denton. But Josie can’t quiet the voice telling her the handprints Noah left are leading her somewhere, and the trail ends at an upturned box of her long-dead abusive mother’s possessions: faded photos, jewelry, a lock of hair, and a few old newspaper clippings. Beside herself with worry for Noah, and unexpectedly confronted by the trauma of her past, Josie throws herself into work. The woman’s body found during a demonstration outside a children’s hospital belongs to Gina Phelan, daughter of the powerful and influential Phelan family. Trawling the CCTV is a welcome distraction, but everything changes the moment fingerprints from the knife that wounded Gina match to prints found in Josie’s own home. Her head spinning as the two cases collide, Josie’s only option is to delve into the life of the monster who terrorized her as a child. The key to everything is hidden in the box of her mother’s mementoes. But is Josie strong enough and fast enough to find it in time? And at what devastating cost to those she loves most? Husband Missing is by Lisa Regan 

Fear For Her Life is by D K Hood. She stumbles over knotted roots as she races through the dark, unforgiving forest. Her legs ache and her teeth chatter from the biting cold. She hears a branch snap behind her. Her worst nightmare is about to begin. They have found her… As Sheriff Jenna Alton and her deputy David Kane rush into the remote pine forest surrounding Black Rock Falls, Jenna’s pulse races when she sees the glint of metal behind a line of trees: a prison bus, the lifeless body of its driver slumped over the steering wheel, and its four prisoners escaped into the wilderness… Jenna’s heart pounds at the thought of the violent murders each of the fugitives committed, among them the The Ice Pick Killer who drove women to remote locations before taking their innocent young lives. And worse, female warden, Amy Clark, is missing from the bus. Amy is new to the job, and her family have been calling for news on the lost van for hours. Jenna scans the acres of dangerous woodland around her, vowing to search every inch to bring Amy back to her family. Nearby gunshots put Jenna on the killers’ trail, but as she descends on a small cabin, it’s clear from the deadly silence that the men have already moved on, leaving behind the body of an innocent old man. Jenna screams his granddaughter’s name into the woodland. But Serena has vanished, just like Amy. As night draws in, Jenna fears the murderers are on a direct path toward Black Rock Falls, and she dreads to think what could happen if they made it to the quiet small town. Pushed to her limit chasing four twisted killers, will she catch them in time to save the lives of the two missing girls?

I look at the wedding photo on the wall and my heart freezes as I recognise the groom. I spent the night with him, just a few days ago. I had no idea he was married. And now he is dead… I feel my new friend Harper’s eyes on me as I try and make myself comfortable in her living room while our little boys play together. But when she leaves the room to get cupcakes out of the oven, I let out the breath I’ve been holding. Does Harper know who I am? That I’m the woman who spent the night with her husband? The last person to see him alive? She was so excited to invite me and my son Dex over. I thought it was because of our boys. But now I wonder… How much does she know about me and my past? How long have I been in her sights? And did she plan for me to meet her husband, the night he was murdered? The Last One to See Him is by Kathryn Croft.

The Secret Detective Agency is by Helena Dixon. Meet Miss Jane Treen – the coffee-drinking cat lover dressed head to toe in tweed, who just happens to be a secret super sleuth! London, 1941: Miss Jane Treen is at her desk, strong black coffee in hand and fluffy ginger cat by her side, when her top-secret government work is interrupted by an urgent call to Devon. A woman has been found dead in a lake in a place where she shouldn’t have been. Jane needs to gather the clues and find the killer before someone else from the agency gets hurt… Shy and handsome code-breaker Arthur Cilento is bewildered by the arrival of the efficient Miss Treen and her cat Marmaduke. She bursts into his life unexpectedly, forcing him out of his comfort zone. The reluctant colleagues huddle near the warmth of a crackling fire in Arthur's country home, working to piece together the murderous puzzle at hand. In the sleepy Devon village, someone is hiding something: but is it the busybody vicar and his sister, the dutiful housekeeper and her secretive son, the stern librarian, or someone else altogether? And who were the people with the woman in the lake on the day she died? No sooner have Arthur and Jane have drawn up a list of suspects, than a parcel reveals a clue that sends them in hot pursuit of a coded diary stashed in a village church. But as the heavy wooden door slams behind them and a key turns in the lock, one thing is sure: they need to unravel the truth and crack this code before the killer decides their number is up… But if they can catch the culprit in time, might this unusual pair become the finest crime-solving partnership since Holmes and Watson hung up their hats…?

My Husband's Mistress is by Willow Rose. Should I believe the woman who ruined my life, or protect the husband who’s already betrayed me? I walk past rows of immaculate white roses into the Kane family’s picture-perfect home, thinking that I’d never guess what’s happened behind closed doors. The woman standing with my colleagues in handcuffs looks so innocent in her blue, silk dress. But they say she’s killed her husband. When I see her face, I recognise her immediately. She’s my own husband Bradley’s mistress… She was found beside the body with blood on her hands. But in a quiet voice, with tears streaming down her face, she says Bradley was the one who did it. A chill goes down my spine. I’ve hated this woman since the day I saw her through the window of that little Parisian restaurant, holding hands with Bradley. I know my husband wouldn’t kill anyone. He’s a good father, a respected lawyer… But then, I never thought he’d have an affair. She mustn’t share her theories with anyone else. As the cop working the case, I need to make her trust me, and only me. Because she and Bradley thought they could lie to me. But one of them is a murderer. And they have no idea how far I’ll go to keep my children safe…

A Recipe for Murder is by Verity Bright. Cream cakes, cucumber sandwiches, apple tarts and… poison? Lady Swift is trying to plan the menu for her wedding, until murder strikes in kitchens across the village! Lady Eleanor Swift’s marriage to dashing Chief Inspector Hugh Seldon is just days away. There’s a lot to organise from the dress to the catering, including, of course, the all-important wedding cake. But Eleanor is heartbroken when their chef, apple-cheeked Annie Tibetts, dies of poisoning. And as the doctor confirms her death wasn’t an accident, accusations fly around the whole community. With more of the village struck down by the poison, Eleanor must unmask a killer who seems intent on spreading chaos amongst her nearest and dearest. Everyone is accusing their neighbour… and Eleanor is in a pickle as the seating plans for the wedding fall apart. But she soon has bigger fish to fry when the source of the poison is traced to a trusted establishment in town. Eleanor is certain they are being framed and that sabotage is afoot… And when a sample of poisoned wedding cake is delivered anonymously to Hugh working at his station miles away in Oxford, Eleanor realises that while she has been planning for the future, her past has been catching up with her. Eleanor must race across the countryside to save her love from certain death. Can Eleanor find the proof in the pudding and save Hugh in time? And will the poisoner finally get their just desserts?

Call for Papers - Silent Echoes: Golden Age Crime Fiction and Trauma

 

Silent Echoes: Golden Age Crime Fiction and Trauma

FSU (Florida State University) London Study Centre, 

12–13 September 2025

The Golden Age of crime fiction, roughly associated with the interwar and immediate post-war period, has been commonly defined as a therapeutic and comforting form of literature. As Alison Light famously puts it, after the First World War, especially in Britain, detective writing became a ‘literature of convalescence’ (Forever England, 1991, 69). The conventions of Golden Age detective fiction – fair play, a closed circle of upper-class characters, isolated settings, ‘sacrificial’ bodies (Plain, Twentieth-Century Crime Fiction, 2000), and the final restoration of social and moral order – have been interpreted as mechanisms for containing, exorcising, and defusing the cultural anxieties emerging in the wake of war. 

However, the extent to which Golden Age crime fiction reflects, articulates, and reshapes the trauma shaping its consumption remains underexplored. While such a form of literature typically concludes with the apprehension of the criminal, the underlying trauma of profound cultural and individual disruption remains pervasive. War experience, as Wyatt Bonikowski writes, has a traumatic aspect: ‘there is something in the nature of modern war experience, both physical and psychical, that resists representation; it overwhelms the senses, disturbs memory, and leaves traces in the form of disruptive symptoms that persist years after the events have passed’ (Shell Shock and the Modernist Imagination, 2013, 3). Additionally, other traumas in the twentieth century – international, national, domestic, and personal – are inextricable from the pages of Golden Age crime novels, thematically, as backdrop, and ‘behind the scenes’ in writing and reception.

For this conference, we thus invite papers examining how, to what extent, and with what implications – textual, literary, sociocultural, political, medical, legal, and historical – the concept of trauma shaped crime writing between the 1910s and the 1950s. It aims to explore the influence of trauma on a variety of aspects (daily life, mental health, gender roles and relations, the environment, levels of violence, cultural memory, national identity, medical theory, and legal practice), examining how Golden Age crime fiction articulates the spatial, temporal, and psychic echoes of trauma.

Potential topics include but are certainly not limited to:

• Mental health
• Remembrance and convalescence
• Space and trauma
• Narrative structure and trauma
• Veterans and the military sphere
• Violence 
• Place and Setting
• Time and history
• Identity, the self, and community
• Gender roles, identities, and constructions
• Disability
• Ideas of ‘echoes’, ‘mirroring’ and ghostly presence as trauma 
• Language and articulation
• Crime, detection, and cultural memory
• Spiritualism and death
• Questions of genre
• Crime, detection, and national identity
• Colonialism and racism
• Crime and emotions
• Crime and insanity
• Psychoanalysis and the unconscious mind
• Medicine and detective narrative

Please submit a short abstract (up to 300 words) and brief biographical note for a 20-minute conference presentation to Directors of Golden Age Mysteries Ltd, Dr J C Bernthal (University of Suffolk), Dr Sarah Martin (Manchester Metropolitan University), Dr Stefano Serafini (Georgetown University, University of Padua) and Dr Mia Dormer: info@goldenagemysteries.co.uk no later than 5th May 2025. You may direct queries to the same address. Tickets to this event are non-refundable. 

The conference is generously sponsored by FSU (Florida State University) and takes place at its London Study Centre on 12 and 13 September 2025. This project has also received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) grant agreement no. 101105463.

Women and the Art of Intrigue by Tania Malik

Before Julia Child was the cooking icon who brought an appreciation for French cuisine to American shores, she was entrenched in the world of espionage. She began her career as a copywriter at a furniture store and, wanting to help with the war effort, found her way into the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). She went from a research assistant to having top security clearance as Chief of the OSS Registry.

Regular citizens drawn into counterintelligence and other cloak-and-dagger activities can be the stuff of reality (think Mata Hari) and also make for thrilling novels with life-and-death consequences and characters who are often flawed, are morally ambiguous, and are dealing with demons that comprise their already complicated lives. While most stories focus on men, a growing genre puts the female protagonist front and center of the intrigue.

In The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott, two secretaries from the CIA’s typing pool become instrumental in smuggling copies of Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago back into Russia during the Cold War. As it happened, Doctor Zhivago was banned in Russia for its unflattering portrayal of life in the Soviet Union. Set in more recent times and dealing with online privacy concerns, in Kathy Wang’s Imposter Syndrome, a lowly tech worker at a Facebook-like company discovers untoward activity on the company’s servers that trace back to the CEO, who may be an enemy sleeper agent. And then there is Who is Vera Kelly? by Rosalie Knecht. A witty and astute young woman working nights at a radio station finds herself infiltrating a group of revolutionaries in Argentina and must use every skill to come out alive when caught in the middle of a coup.

War can complicate the best of espionage plans or help them come to fruition. In my novel, Hope You Are Satisfied, a twenty-five-year-old guest worker is employed by a local tour operator in 1990s Dubai, UAE. When Iraq invaded Kuwait and coalition forces began amassing in the region, Dubai became a major base of operations, and the world prepared for what may be the next world war. Unlike Dubai today, the city then was a small trading port and was a popular destination for tourists from the UK and Western Europe. As the threat of chemical and biological attacks throws her future into question, she becomes the lynchpin to the plans of an international arms dealer. Caught between her bosses and the intelligence agencies operating in the growing theater of war, her daring undertaking will impact her future and affect the direction of the impending Gulf War, thus having consequences for the world at large. Like the furtive figures who fight in the shadows for their beliefs and lives, no one will ever know what she risked and how wrong it could have gone.  

Women, it turns out, are uniquely suited to the covert operations that require intelligence, quick thinking, dexterity, and courage. They make friends easily and are good listeners. Strong analytical abilities and an intuitiveness about people are assets. A lifetime of navigating a world where they could be attacked in their homes, at work, or going for a jog teaches them to be hypervigilant. They know where the exits are, have a Plan B for most situations, and are practiced at making quick getaways. It is almost second nature at this point. They can fade into the background and are adept at hiding different facets of themselves.

My protagonist in Hope You Are Satisfied is forced to confront the absurdities and challenges that come from the world teetering on the cusp of a new global conflict while doing her day job. Like her, the women in these espionage narratives must make choices because of geo-political events and the manipulations of sometimes unknown, albeit powerful, decision-makers. Their stories, relating to being a woman in a particular kind of world, often contemplate ramifications of power, privilege, and gender, all while wrestling with complex moral calculations, family relationships, and unwanted emotions.

Julia Child had the right idea. After a period of vital, dangerous service for self and country, the simple pleasures of a glass of fine wine and a hearty boeuf bourguignon are well deserved.

Hope you are Satisfied by Tania Malik (Published by Verve Books) Out Now

Hope You Are Satisfied welcomes you to Dubai as you've never seen it before...

1990. Twenty-five-year-old Riya works for Discover Arabia, a tour guide company in the far-flung outpost of Dubai. In the months leading up to the first Gulf War, the city's iconic skyline and global reputation are just a gleam in developers' eyes. For Riya, it's a desert purgatory that spreads out between her family back home in India and her unknown future. As political tensions run high, international arms dealers, American soldiers, CIA consultants, corrupt bosses and wayward vacationers all compete for Discover Arabia's attention. Meanwhile, Riya and her colleagues begin to plan their exit strategies. Will a favour from Dubai's most notorious fixer offer Riya the chance to fulfil her financial obligations and escape to the United States?

More information about the author can be found on her website. You can also find her on Instagram and ‘X’ @taniamalik and on Facebook.

Photograph© Paul Stonehouse

Forthcoming Books from HQ Fiction

January 2025

Murder on the Marlow Belle is by Robert Thorogood. Verity Beresford is worried about her husband. Oliver didn’t come home last night so of course Verity goes straight to Judith Potts, Marlow’s resident amateur sleuth, for help. Oliver, founder of the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society, had hired The Marlow Belle, a private pleasure cruiser, for an exclusive party with the MADS committee but no one remembers seeing him disembark. And then Oliver’s body washes up on the Thames with two bullet holes in him – it’s time for the Marlow Murder Club to leap into action. Oliver was, by all accounts, a rather complicated chap with a reputation for bullying children during nativity play rehearsals, and he wasn’t short of enemies. Judith, Suzie, and Becks are convinced they’ll find his killer in no time. But things are not as they seem in the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society, and this case is not so clear-cut after all. The gang will need to keep their wits about them to solve this case, otherwise a killer will walk free …

1994: When Gardaí Julia Harte and Adrian Clancy are called out to a sleepy housing estate in Cork to investigate a noise complaint, they are entirely unprepared for what they find. What happens next will haunt Julia for the rest of her days, leaving her plagued with nightmares and terrified of the dark. There is a serial killer at work in Cork, one as clever as he is deadly. Julia may not be a detective yet, but after the harrowing events of that night, she is determined to be the one to catch him… 2024: Julia Harte has chosen just the right place to disappear. Now a retired detective with an illustrious career behind her, she has moved to a tiny cottage in a remote part of Ireland where she hopes to find peace. But then she receives a phone call from her old Superintendent – two women have been murdered, their bodies marked and staged, just like in ’94. It’s happening again. Only this time, the stakes are even higher. Julia must return to Cork to face down a vicious killer and the memories that haunt her still. Yet Julia is no longer a naïve junior officer but a seasoned, tough professional who proves more than a match for any murderer… The Dark Hours is by Amy Jordan. 

I Bet You Look Good in a Coffin is by Katy Brent. Our favourite anti-heroine, Kitty Collins, is back! Expect more wit, sass, and, of course, murder… My name is Kitty Collins and I’m a serial killer. I don’t want to kill. It’s just so hard to resist. Some men really, really deserve it. Men like Blaze Bundy, an anonymous influencer spreading misogyny online. He’s making it very hard for me to control my murderous urges. Meanwhile I’m in the South of France to watch my mother marry a man I’ve never met. I should be drinking cocktails and focusing on my tan, not plotting a murder. But a woman’s work is never done. Surely one more teensy little kill wouldn’t hurt, would it?

One of these guests has a date with death… Arbuthnot ‘Arbie’ Swift arrives at Dashwood House, a glamorously modern hotel in the up-and-coming resort of Galton-next-the-Sea, but all plans for a relaxing stay are scuppered when one of the guests is found dead. The body is found in the writing room, the victim part of a set visiting the seaside town for an engagement party, which happens to include Arbie’s old friend, Val. Familiar with Val and Arbie’s previous experience in solving puzzling crimes, the bride asks the pair to investigate. They quickly discover that the victim had no shortage of enemies, and many of the guests are up to no good. But who is simply hiding a secret, and who is hiding murder? The Last Word is Death is by Faith Martin.

February 2025

The Forgotten Cottage is by Helen Philfer. Things finally seem to be looking up for police officer Annie Graham. After a tumultuous couple of years, she is settling into a normal, happy life. Her wedding is fast approaching, and her fiancé Will has found a forgotten but beautiful little cottage for them to make their own. But as Annie begins to have increasingly vivid nightmares, she realises their new home may not be as unoccupied as it first seemed. Her arrival has stirred up the ghosts of a tragic past, and she needs to put them to rest once and for all. But while Annie’s distracted, another threat is emerging from the shadows. And if she doesn’t act fast, her days may be numbered…

March 2025

The Crime Writer is by Diane Jeffrey. 2019. Leona Walsh, a 34-year-old wife and mother vanishes on a bitterly cold afternoon while out jogging on the edge of Exmoor. It’s a mystery which captures public interest and ignites wild speculation. The police have a prime suspect: Leona’s husband, Matthew, a renowned crime writer. He can plot the perfect crime. But is he capable of committing the perfect murder? Despite extensive searches, the police find no trace of Leona and her disappearance remains shrouded in mystery. As public interest dwindles, Matthew returns to raising their two daughters, aware the cloud of suspicion is never far away. 2024. Some human bones are discovered in a garden. Could they be Leona’s remains? And if so, is there enough evidence to find out what really happened five years ago? Journalist Gabriela Conti covered the news story back in 2019. The police may have stopped watching Matthew, but Gabriela hasn’t forgotten him. And she is determined this case will define her career… even if that means getting close to a murderer.

When Shadows Fall is by Neil Lancaster. A tragic death. When the body of Leanne Wilson is found at the bottom of a Scottish mountain, it is classified as a tragic accident. There is no evidence to suggest otherwise. A rising body count. Then DS Max Craigie discovers that five other women in the last year have died by falling off mountains, and something feels very wrong. They were all experienced climbers and alone when they died. This can only mean one thing: there’s a killer on the loose. A killer on the shadows. The more Max investigates, the more he believes that they are dealing with something much bigger than a lone serial killer. With five victims and conflicting clues, how do you catch someone committing the perfect crime?

April 2025

Abigail uprooted her life to move to Soap Lake, Washington. A once-popular tourist destination, the town is now home to a dwindling population and the menacing shadow of an urban legend. With her husband away on a work trip, Abigail is alone when a young boy emerges from the desert scrub, catatonic and covered in blood. His mother, Esme, lies stabbed to death in a nearby car. When Abigail discovers Esme was a local woman who moved away after a series of tragedies, she is compelled to find answers. Esme’s is not the only mysterious death this town has witnessed. But her search attracts unwanted and dangerous attention. Drawn into a complex web of conspiracies and violence, Abigail will learn that the smallest towns can hide the biggest secrets. Midnight in Soap Lake is by Matthew Sullivan.

A missing maid. A murder most foul. A highly impudent adventure. Only her fine eyes can discover the truth. Two years after the events of Pride and Prejudice, Miss Caroline Bingley is staying at her brother's country estate within an easy ride of Mr and Mrs Darcy's home, Pemberley, and wondering if there's more to life than playing cribbage and paying calls on country neighbours. So when Georgiana Darcy's maid, Jayani, vanishes – and worse, Georgiana disappears in search of her – Caroline races to London to find them both, and quickly discovers a shocking, cold-blooded murder. Soon Caroline and Georgiana are careering through the gritty, grimy underbelly of London assisted by Caroline's trusty manservant, Gordon, and demanding answers of shady characters, police magistrates and mysterious East India Company-men to discover the killer. Along the way they uncover the cost of Empire on India and its people … and Miss Bingley's incomparable powers of investigation. As Caroline puts her superior new talents to work, she finds out exactly what an accomplished, independent woman with a sharp mind and a large fortune can achieve – even when pitted against secrets, scandal, and a murderer with no mercy. Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Detective is by Kelly Gardiner and Sharmini Kaur.

Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) is by Jesse Sutanto. Tea-shop owner. Matchmaker. Detective? Vera Wong is perfectly content as a teashop owner. She is definitely not seeking opportunities for amateur sleuthing. But what else is she to do when a distressed woman called Millie asks for her help? Okay, perhaps Vera wheedled the story out of her. And maybe the case file for Millie’s missing friend Thomas didn’t exactly fall into her lap. Everyone knows a locked briefcase is just asking to be opened by someone handy with a hairpin. Not even the aroma of chrysanthemum tea can stop Vera from catching the scent of this mystery. However dangerous it is, Vera intends to uncover the truth in the only way that this Chinese mother knows how: by spilling the tea.

The Abbotts’ new lodger Luke hasn’t told them much about himself, but they can’t expect to know everything about a stranger who’s just moved in. But Luke keeps asking about their family photos and looking through their things. Why does he want to know everything about them? And why does daughter Jen think someone is watching her? Then, suddenly, Mum Mel texts the family to say she needs a break. But Mel has never gone away alone before. And now it’s been days, and no one has heard from her. The Abbotts’ house is full of secrets. They say people never tell the whole truth. The Liar is by Louise Jensen.

Murder on Bluebell Hill is by Jane Bettany. In a quaint village in the Peak District, murder is brewing… Violet Brewster is settling into the quiet life in Merrywell. The last thing she needs is to get mixed up in a police investigation… When a snazzy tearoom opens at the local garden centre on Bluebell Hill, residents flock to visit the establishment. But not everyone is happy about the new business venture… Matters escalate when the owner of the tearoom is found dead on the premises. As Violet unwittingly finds herself at the centre of another murder mystery, can she shift suspicion away from those closest to her and find the true culprit?

A serial killer on the loose. A mystery that must be solved before time runs out. Elderly Martha Beckett is a prisoner in her own home, and has been ever since her older brother disappeared at just nine years old. Six months on from her last brush with the paranormal, police officer Annie Graham, now Annie Ashworth, dreams of settling down and starting a family. But now that serial killer Henry Smith has escaped, she knows that trouble is coming. She thwarted him once, and he’s out for revenge. When a local man vanishes in mysterious circumstances, Annie realises there may be darker forces at work. And when she takes a glimpse of a monster with a thirst for blood, her worst fears are confirmed. With a serial killer on the loose and an unknown horror stalking the sewers, Annie is in a race against time to stop them before they kill again. But will she be able to save herself from their clutches? The Lake House is by Helen Phifer.

No Mercy is by Max Connor. The old unit will reunite to complete one last mission in honour of their fallen comrade. But all she wants is revenge …  When their old comrade, retired veteran and decorated Royal Marine Frankie Chapman, dies during a home invasion, the 11/06 club come back together to recover his stolen military medals. After they find out the medals have fallen into the hands of a wealthy billionaire who dabbles in human trafficking, they form a plan to steal the medals back – and Frankie’s daughter, Josie, wants in on the action. But Josie wants more than just her father’s medals returned. She wants retribution, and she’s out for blood …

May 2025

The Chemist is by AA Dhand. Local pharmacist and pillar of the community, Idris Khan, spends his days doling out methadone to the hundreds of addicts in his care. They trust Idris with their secrets, and so he knows more than his mild manner suggests. So when his childhood sweetheart, Rebecca, doesn't turn up for her daily methadone dose, Idris is worried. Worried enough to go looking for her in the most deprived area of Leeds, alone. The mess Idris finds catapults him into the middle of a turf war between the two most powerful drug cartels in Yorkshire. Now, he must use every bit of intelligence and cunning he has to keep those he loves safe. Because a war is on the way. And when Idris goes after his enemies, they won't see him coming.

What’s the one thing you need to do to stay married? A propulsive domestic thriller with an urgent message for fans of Lisa Jewell and Jessica Knoll that asks, What’s the one thing you need to do to stay married? and blows apart the uncomfortable answers. Elle never dreamed she’d end up with a man like Dom. He’s handsome, successful, the perfect father to their baby girl. But Elle doesn’t feel the joy she knows she should. She's struggling with being a mum, failing at work, even her post-baby body doesn’t feel like her own. Not that Dom cares. He worships Elle and craves intimacy as deeply as troubled Elle wants to shy away from it. Elle starts relying on red wine and the attention of new colleague Gabriel to get through her day. But the morning after a team away day, a bewildered and hungover Elle wakes up with a lifeless body in her bed. She knows devoted Dom is the only person who’ll give her any chance of getting out of there a free woman. Elle would never have ended up in such danger if she’d followed the Marriage Rule, the one thing she’s been told a wife needs to do, even if it breaks her… The Marriage Rule is by Helen Monks Takhar.

No Turning Back is by Steve Frech. Lucas and Julia are about to become parents, but there’s something Lucas hasn’t told his wife. Two months ago, he lost his job and has been secretly working as a rideshare driver in a desperate attempt to make ends meet. But that’s about the be the least of his problems. One evening he picks up a passenger in the Hollywood Hills. The man, Damon, puts a gun to Lucas’s head, and tells him to drive. Because Damon has a list of men he intends to kill, and he needs Lucas’s help. If Lucas complies, his family will be safe, but others will suffer. If he fights back, Damon will target his wife and daughter. It’s an impossible choice, but what’s clear is that Lucas’s life is about to change forever. If he survives the night.

June 2025

Don’t go into the woods. Because you’re in for a big surprise… Annie Ashworth is currently off duty. With her baby bump growing fast, she is under strict instructions to stay away from police work and look after herself, especially as she has a history of leading danger right to her door. So when her police officer husband, Will, is called to the discovery of a skeleton buried out in the local woods, Annie tries to keep out of the investigation. But as another body is discovered and her own niece suddenly goes missing, staying away just isn’t an option. As Annie is soon to discover, a picture really does tell a thousand stories. But which one leads to a killer? The Girls in the Wood is by Helen Phifer.

What Happens in the Dark is by Kia Abdullah. Lily and Safa were best friends growing up. Now, Lily is the nation’s favourite breakfast TV presenter and Safa, once a renowned journalist, is reeling from a recent fall from grace. When news breaks about suspicious bruises on Lily’s body, Safa attempts to rekindle their old friendship. But Lily claims the bruises are nothing to worry about. And then one night the police are called to Lily’s home. Lily is strangely calm – and a body lies dead at her feet. Lily pleads not guilty, and then says nothing more. Driven by her desire to give a voice to all victims, Safa begins her own investigation into what happened that night. But Safa is not prepared for what her quest for justice will uncover …

Someone in the Water is by Sarah Clarke. For the same two weeks every year, Frankie leaves her daughter Lola to go on a yoga retreat. But the truth is, there is no retreat. Just a remote cottage and enough pills to deceive her natural body clock into staying awake whenever it’s dark outside. As long as she stays awake, the nightmare won’t come. But it always does. A nightmare that began decades earlier when she spent the summer working in Corsica, and was witness to something terrible. Frankie has no idea that Lola has plans of her own this summer. She’s going to Corsica, and the truth from all those years ago is about to come out.

Rayna Dumont is getting a fresh start in Amsterdam. Following a nasty divorce, she takes a jet-setting new job and embraces the single life. All seems to be going well until she wakes up in the bed of Xander van der Vos, her one-night stand from the night before, only to find him brutally murdered in the room next door. To make matters worse, millions of dollars’ worth of diamonds are missing from his safe. Quickly, Rayna becomes the prime suspect and is thrown into a deadly game of cat and mouse with forces beyond her wildest imagination. From her lavish home in the heart of the city, Willow Prins is enraptured by the case. The wife of Thomas Prins, CEO of the House of Prins and Xander’s former boss, Willow is too familiar with what it’s like to be the outsider in the elite world of luxury goods. But as the House comes under scrutiny, tensions rise in her already strained marriage and Willow starts to wonder if Rayna might be the solution she’s been looking for. As both women dive into the dark underbelly of the diamond industry, their hope for survival hinges on navigating a web of power and revenge. And as Rayna fights to clear her name, will she unravel the truth or find herself another victim? The Expat Affair is by Kimberley Belle.