Crime in the Court at Goldsboro Books!

So what do you call a gathering of a large group of crime writers, fans and bloggers?  In my opinion a fantastic affair!

This year Crime in the Court took place on Tuesday 5 July and was once again graced with a large number of people who despite the rather miserable weather turned out to spend time with their favourite crime writers. Amongst those in attendance were Laura Wilson, Len Tyler, Erin Kelly, Mark Billingham, SJ Watson, SJ Bolton, Lindsey Davis, Claire McGowan, Barbara Nadel, SJ Parris, Alison Bruce, Will Carver, Ali Knight, AJ Cross, David Hewson, Lynn Shepherd, Matt Hilton, Peter James, Adrian Magson, Mari Hannah, Sophie Hannah, Rory Clements, Charles Cumming, Julia Crouch, Alex Marwood to name a few.

Also in attendance were a number of editors, publishers and literary agents including Lucy Ramsay and Jane Wood from Quercus, Sam Eades and Ben Willis from Headline, Jamie –Lee Nardone from Duckworth, Broo Doherty, Catherine Burke and Thalia Proctor from Little, Brown, Nic Cheetham and Becky Sharpe from Head of Zeus and bloggers including Chris Simmons from Crimesquad and Mike Stotter Editor of Shots and Mike Ripley.  I am sure that I have forgotten a number of people so my apologies.

Despite the fact that it threatened to rain heavily on a number of occasions David Headley and Goldsboro Books were lucky and all we had to deal with was the odd drizzle of rain that was not enough to send people rushing into the shop to avoid it.

This is the second year of Crime in the Court and it has become one of the best-run crime fiction events and a staple on any discerning crime fiction writer, blogger or fans list of events that has to be attended.   It is not often that you get an opportunity to hang out with so many people in such a wonderful atmosphere without a lot of speeches.

There was only one speech and that was from David Headley and it was very much welcomed.  He took the opportunity to not only thank everyone for attending but to also thank people for their continued support of independent bookshops.

One must say a big thank you to David for putting on such a wonderful event and also thanks to Daniel and Pavla as well. 

I do hope that next year there will be another Crime in the Court as there are many of us that will be looking forward to it again with gusto!

2nd Annual Crime in the Court

So, did you miss out on the very first sold out Crime in the Court that took place last year during Independent Booksellers week?  If so now is your chance to make up for it! Goldsboro Books are once again hosting Crime in the Court and crime fiction fans will have the opportunity to chat with some of their favourite crime writers.

This year the line up includes –

Ben Aaronovitch, Tom Benn, Mark Billingham, Alison Bruce, Will Carver, Kimberley Chambers, Rory Clements, Julia Crouch, Lindsey Davis, Steven Dunne, Mark Edwards, Gordon Ferris, Christopher Fowler, Mari Hannah, Sophie Hannah, David Hewson, Matt Hilton, Peter James, Christobel Kent, Erin Kelly, Ali Knight, Adrian Magson, Alex Marwood, Claire McGowan, Aly Monroe, Barbara Nadel, S J Parris, Christopher Radman, Linda Regan, Kate Rhodes, Michael Ridpath, Lynn Shepherd, Stav Sherez, Simon Toyne,  L C Tyler, Tim Weaver, S J Watson & Laura Wilson

So don’t miss out!  Come and join one of the best crime fiction events of the year.

Tickets for Crime in the Court can be bought here or by calling 020 7497 9230.

Crime in the Court will next take place on 3rd July 2012 6.30 - 9.30pm

Crime Fiction News

A new poster for the forthcoming film The Raven which is based around the author Edgar Allan Poe. John Cusack who plays Poe becomes entangled in the search for a serial killer who is using the more gruesome pieces of his work as motivation. The new poster is definitely eye-catching, the blood-red wings creating a real sense of menace. The Raven is due to be released in the UK on 9 March 2012.

Date for your diary! The successful Crime in the Court that first took place last year in July and organised by David Headley of Goldsboro Books will once again take place this year. The date is 5 July and is to coincide with Independent Booksellers Week. Watch this space for further information.

Calling all budding US based writers! Poisoned Pen Press have announced the first annual Discover Mystery Award, a first book contest for unpublished writers trying to break into the mystery genre. This spring, join them by entering your mystery manuscript of 60,000-90,000 words in an effort to win a $1000 prize, the Discover Mystery title, and a publishing contract from Poisoned Pen Press.

At Poisoned Pen Press, they take their mission to “Discover Mystery” very seriously. They have always prided themselves on the discovery of new writers, and now they are on the hunt for fresh voices and new stories. They are not afraid of something different, either, so if you’ve got a mystery, they want to see it! Poisoned Pen Press is waiting to discover you!

Here’s what to do:
Visit www.poisonedpenpress.com/contest

Read the guidelines carefully and fill out the form on our website, pay the $20 entry fee, and attach your manuscript. All entries are due by 11:59 pm (Pacific), April 30th, 2012. A winner will be announced by May 31st, 2012. Entries will be judged based on their synopses and manuscript text, with the assistance of celebrity judge, Dana Stabenow!

Entry Requirements and Guidelines:
· Unfortunately, we will not be able to help you decide if your book is a good fit for our contest. If you have questions about the kinds of books we publish, please visit www.poisonedpenpress.com.
· Due to the number of entries, Poisoned Pen Press will not be able to answer questions regarding your contest entry.
· This is a first-book award. It is open to writers who have not published a full-length book in the mystery genre.
· Manuscripts previously submitted to Poisoned Pen Press are eligible for entry in Discover Mystery, provided that those manuscripts have undergone major revisions.
· Manuscripts previously published in print or digitally, including self-published, are not eligible.
· Manuscripts must be between 60,000 words and 90,000 words in length.
· The Poisoned Pen Press Discover Mystery Award is open to all authors writing original works in English for adult readers who reside in the United States .
· Non-fiction of any kind, including autobiography is not appropriate for this contest.
· To avoid conflict of interest and to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, friends and former students of a judge or a Poisoned Pen Press employee are ineligible to enter the competition for that year.
· Poisoned Pen Press makes every effort to vary the judges by region and aesthetics, so that writers, if ineligible one year, will certainly be eligible in future years.
· You may not submit your manuscript to other publishers while it is under consideration by Poisoned Pen Press.
· Poisoned Pen Press cannot consider manuscript revisions during the course of the contest. Winning authors will have an opportunity to revise their works in collaboration with our editorial staff before publication.
· Should no entry meet editorial approval, Poisoned Pen Press reserves the right NOT to declare a winner.
· Failure to pay the entry fee will exclude you from the contest.
Write. Win. Publish.
www.poisonedpenpress.com/contest

The third series of Whitechapel starts tonight at 9pm on ITV. The storyline for tonight’s episode is based around four people being butcher at a fortified tailor’s workshop in the East End. Soon everyone in the area are obsessed with horror and panic at this seemingly impossible and grisly murder.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will not be shown in India after all. India’s Central Board of Certification asked for five scenes to be cut which the director David Fincher refused to do. The film was due to be released on 10 February. The full article in the Guardian can be read here. The Telegraph’s take on it can be read here.


Very interesting and thought provoking article by Philip Hensher in the Guardian about Elmore Leonard under the subtitle “the great American novelist”. Whilst I admire Elmore Leonard a lot, I am not sure that I agree with him being cast as the great American novelist. I know that it is all about a matter of taste, but Chandler aside (who is my all time favourite crime writer) what about James Ellroy, George Pelecanos, Philip Roth, James Lee Burke, Hammett, James M Cain and Patricia Highsmith (and those are just a few off the top of my head) to name a few, they are all great American novelists as well.

A very interesting interview with Philip Kerr is in the Telegraph. Certainly worth reading for an insight as to how he started to write the Bernie Gunther novels.

As interviews go, a brilliant one in the Chicago Sun-Times with Walter Mosley who talks about the reaction he received when announced that his Easy Rawlins series was likely to end. Needless to say a lot of people were not happy with the news.

Not sure how I missed this but Hugh Bonneville of Downton Abbey fame has signed on according to Daily Screen to play the lead role in the feature version of Peter James’s Dead Simple.

Rather sadly it appears that the US are planning a remake of Spiral the French police procedural drama. According to the Guardian it will be transferred to the streets of Philadelphia and is being developed by Sam Mendes. It will be interesting to see how this turns out, as the original series that was shown on BBC 4 was a hit.

Newsy Stuff

If you have not yet registered for Crime in the Court then please do so. More authors have been added to this fantastic line-up. Crime in the Court is due to take place on 21 June 2011 and is being hosted by Goldsboro Books. For more information as to how to obtain tickets please go here.

The Walter Scott Historical Fiction Shortlist has been announced and congratulations to all those nominated. The six novels cover imperial Japan, Tudor England, Tsarist Russia, and 19th Century Jamaica as well as turn-of-the-century Ireland and inter-war London.

The shortlist for the 2011 award is:

The Long Song by Andrea Levy

C by Tom McCarthy

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell

Ghost Light by Joseph O'Connor

Heartstone by C J Sansom

To Kill A Tsar by Andrew Williams

Congratulations also go to David Shelley at Little Brown who has been promoted from Deputy Publisher to Publisher of the group.

2011 is certainly the year of Michael Connelly and Orion aim to ensure that his presence is strongly promoted here in the UK. According to the Bookseller , Orion are planning a number of events for the author whilst he is in the UK in October.

Little Brown imprint Atom have according to the Bookseller acquired a mystery series by debut author Christi Daugherty described as "The Secret History for the YA audience” in a major two-book deal. The first book in the series Night School will be published in 2012.

According to Hollywood.com John Travolta is due to play John Gotti Sr in the biopic of his life which will focus on Gotti senior’s relationship with his son.