St Hilda's College Crime Fiction Weekend

Dear Aiders and Abettors,

The 5 August deadline for this year's Crime Fiction Weekend (held over 16/17/18 August) is fast approaching.

And have you heard the latest?

STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS   

It's become traditional to celebrate the PD James Dinner with a specially written celebrity "whodunnit" featuring a cast of your favourite authors. This year not only will Natasha Cooper pen the mystery, but Blackwell's Oxford will award the winner a year's subscription to their Crime Fiction Club, sending the super sleuth a new crime fiction title every month!

It's going to be another golden year of enthralling authors and thought-provoking content. But, don't take my word for it, ask Val!

Further details and booking info here.

Theakston's 2017 Crime Novel of the Year

Chris Brookmyre has scooped the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award for Black Widow.

Celebrating its thirteenth year, the Award is considered one of the most coveted crime writing prizes in the country.

Black Widow is a story of cyber-abuse, where ‘even the twists have twists’. It features Brookmyre’s long-time character, reporter Jack Parlabane. Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that she had been given the novel as an early Valentine’s Day present by her husband, declaring it ‘brilliant’.

Brookmyre said: “I’m really quite taken aback. I’ve been shortlisted three times before for this award, always the bridesmaid, today I get to walk up the aisle. A book is not just the work of the author behind it. I’d like to thank my editor, Ed Wood, for his calibre and daring that made a good book greater. I’m mainly just very proud.”

Brookmyre was presented the award by title sponsor Simon Theakston and broadcaster Mark Lawson at the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. The annual Festival, hosted in Harrogate, is the world’s biggest celebration of the genre.

Chris beat off stiff competition from the shortlist of six, whittled down from a longlist of 18 crime novels published by British and Irish authors whose novels were published in paperback from 1 May 2016 to 30 April 2017.

The 2017 Award is run in partnership with T&R Theakston Ltd, WHSmith, and The Mail on Sunday.

Brookmyre collected a £3,000 cash prize, as well as a handmade, engraved oak beer cask made by Theakston Old Peculier.

A special presentation was made to Lee Child - the winner of the eighth Outstanding

Contribution to Crime Fiction Award.

Lee Child joins Val McDermid, Sara Paretsky, Lynda La Plante, Ruth Rendell, PD James, Colin Dexter and Reginald Hill as recipients of the Award.

Lee Child said: “It’s an honour - probably undeserved - to be placed in the same category as the previous recipients of this prize.  In particular I would like to thank Simon Theakston for his generous and visionary support of the genre.”

Child has been dubbed a ‘billion-dollar brand’ for his blockbuster Jack Reacher series, adapted to film by Tom Cruise.

Title sponsor and executive director of T&R Theakston, Simon Theakston, said: “We’re particularly delighted to be honouring Lee Child. He is nothing short of a phenomenon. The Jack Reacher series tops bestseller lists worldwide, with a staggering 100 million books sold.  Lee is very deserving of this accolade, and will have his rightful place in a pantheon of legendary crime authors who have achieved this honour to date.”

Another Crime, Another Place: the role of location in crime fiction.’ - St Hilda's Mystery and Crime Conference 2017

St Hilda’s College Mystery and Crime Conference 18 / 20 August 2017

‘Another Crime, Another Place: the role of location in crime fiction.’

Yrsa Sigurðardóttir is our Conference Guest of Honour and Natasha Cooper will chair the conference

Friday 18th August

6.45pm RECEPTION

7.30pm THE GUEST SPEAKER DINNER

With Mark Billingham - Where jokes go to die …

Saturday 19th August

8.00 - 9.00am BREAKFAST

9.10am Welcome: The Committee

9.20 – 10.50am

Val McDermid - "I now describe my country as if to strangers."

Lin Anderson and Lorna Dawson - Place, People, Particulates and Provenance: How soil trace particulates help track a killer in ‘None but the Dead’

10.50 - 11.20am COFFEE BREAK

11.20 - 12.50pm

Andrew Taylor- The Cinderella of Crime: is setting is the unsung heroine of crime and other fictions?

Manda Scott - Six Senses: Miss Smilla, Snow and the creation of place

12.50 - 1.50pm LUNCH

2.00 - 3.30pm

Belinda Bauer - The Devil’s In The Detail You Can’t See On Google Maps.

Sharon Bolton- The Entirely Unnecessary Research Trip or, as Einstein put it: "Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

3.30 – 4.00pm TEA BREAK

4.10 -- 5.40pm

Abir Mukherjee - Place, time and committing murder to scratch an itch: how writing a crime novel helped me make sense of my heritage.

Miranda Carter - Wheredunnit: Crime fiction’s worlds and how they got me to Thuggee

5.45 – 6.30pm SIGNING SESSION FOR ALL AUTHORS
7.15pm DRINKS
7.45pm THE CRIME AND MYSTERY DINNER

With A Murder Mystery written and hosted by Ann Cleeves and Professor Lorna Dawson

Cast : The Usual Suspects …

Sunday 20th August

8.30 -- 9.30am BREAKFAST

9.30 – 11.00am CONFERENCE LECTURE by our Guest of Honour, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

11.00am – 11.30am COFFEE

11.30am – 1.00pm

Jake Kerridge - Mayhem Parva: The Perfect Place for a Murder

Henry Sutton - On The Edge: East Anglian Noir

1.00pm CLOSING REMARKS

1.15 LUNCH

Conference speakers and contributors, 2017:
Lin Anderson, Tartan Noir novelist and screenwriter, author of the Rhona MacLeod forensic crime thriller series, and a co-founder of the annual Bloody Scotland crime-writing festival.

Lorna Dawson, head of the Soil Forensics Group at the Hutton Institute and honorary professor in Forensic Science at Robert Gordon University, who has worked as tv drama forensics advisor on Vera and Silent Witness, and with crime authors including Ann Cleeves and Lin Anderson.

Belinda Bauer, former journalist and screenwriter, who won the Carl Foreman BAFTA for her screenplay The Locker Room. Her debut novel Blacklands earned her the CWA’s Gold Dagger, and Rubbernecker won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2014.

Mark Billingham, TV writer and stand-up comedian whose series of Tom Thorne novels, starting with Sleepyhead, have been adapted for TV in an acclaimed series starring David Morrissey. Winner twice of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year.

Sharon Bolton (previously S. J. Bolton) is the critically acclaimed author of some of the most bone-chilling crime books ever written. She has been shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger and the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. In 2014 she won the CWA Dagger in the Library for her whole body of work.

Miranda Carter, As historian, writer and biographer her biography of Anthony Blunt won the God Dagger for Non-Fiction. Now, under the name MJ Carter, she writes the Victorian thrillers, the Blake Avery series.

Natasha Cooper, novelist, first turned to crime with the lighthearted Willow King series, then with the Trish Maguire novels. She chaired the Crime Writers' Association in 1999/2000. She broadcasts, reviews, writes features and short stories and talks to reading groups and literary festivals in the UK and US.

Ann Cleeves is the 2017 winner of The Diamond Dagger, the highest honour in British crime writing. Best known for the Vera Stanhope books and the Shetland Island /Jimmy Perez novels, both these series have been adapted into award-wining television favourites.

Jake Kerridge, journalist and critic who writes on arts and books for several publications and ‘takes an unhealthy interest in violence and murder as the Telegraph's crime fiction critic.’

Val McDermid celebrated, best-selling and multi-award-wining Scottish crime writer, best known for a series of suspense novels featuring her most famous creation The Wire in Blood, and the Kate Brannigan and the Lyndsay Gordon series. Val is an Alumna and Honorary Fellow of St. Hilda's College.

Abir Mukerjee, who was working as an accountant when won the Telegraph-Harvill Secker Crime Writing Competition with his debut novel, A Rising Man. Set in India in 1919, it is hoped to be the first of a series featuring Capt Sam Wyndham and Sergeant Banerjee.

Manda Scott, Edgar-nominated author of the best-selling Boudica series and the Sebastos Pantera Roman novels, who began her career with a series of crime novels set in Scotland.

Yrsa Sigurðardóttir is the internationally bestselling Icelandic crime author of the award-winning Thóra Gudmundsdóttir series and several stand-alone thrillers. She made her crime fiction debut in 2005 with Last Rituals, which has been translated into more than 30 languages.

Henry Sutton, Award-winning crime novelist and academic whose novels include My Criminal World and Get Me Out of Here. He is Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia and co-director of the MA in Prose Fiction UEA Creative Writing Course.

Andrew Taylor winner of the Cartier Diamond Dagger and the triple winner of the Historical Dagger. His books include The American Boy, the Roth Trilogy (filmed for TV as Fallen Angel); The Anatomy of Ghosts, shortlisted for the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year; and, most recently, The Ashes of London.

And announcing Conference Guest, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, the Queen of Nordic Noir. Author of the bestselling Thora Gudmundsdottir crime series and several stand-alone thrillers including ‘I Remember You’ (Icelandic Crime Fiction Award.)

The Conference Dinner will be held in aid of The P D James Fund which supports to the work of the English School and students at St Hilda’s College kindly endowed by Honorary Fellow PD James.


The Mystery and Crime Weekend

Launched in 1994, this conference, which offers authors an opportunity to explore a theme, has become a most significant entry in the calendar of crime fiction conferences and is a wonderful way to spend a weekend with like-minded devotees of crime fiction. The theme this year is’ Another Crime, Another Place: the role of location in crime fiction’ and the remit to the speakers is to examine the many areas crime fiction covers: the police detective, historical, ‘hard- boiled’, clerical, classical fairy tales, domestic, the golden age gems, the light-hearted, etc. We offer challenging talks, excellent meals, on-site accommodation, Oxford itself and amazing camaraderie.

The Conference Programme

The Weekend begins with a Reception and the Conference Dinner on Friday evening. The conference (Saturday & Sunday) is divided into morning and afternoon sessions with breaks for tea/coffee. The Conference Lecture, on Saturday morning, will be given by the Guest of Honour, this year Yrsa Sigurðardóttir. Lunch is offered both days and there is a second Dinner on Saturday evening. Plenty of opportunity is given for discussion, questions and just relaxing with the speakers and other participants.

About St Hilda’s

St Hilda’s College, Oxford University is on the banks of the River Cherwell overlooking the meadows and spires of Oxford. Its lovely gardens sweep down to the river, which is famous for punting and picnics. The centre of Oxford is a few minutes walk away, but the College itself lies in a pleasantly secluded area away from the noise and bustle of the city. B&B is offered and can be extended before or after the conference. Access by train is good and there are excellent coach services to Oxford from Central London and from Heathrow & Gatwick airports. And it is one of the few places in Oxford with parking.

Bookstore

A bookstore, kindly provided by Blackwell’s, will be open continuously throughout the weekend and will aim to have as many of the speakers’ books as possible and of the other crime-writers attending the conference.

Accommodation

Accommodation at St Hilda’s is mainly in single rooms but we do have a few twin rooms and where a twin room is not available couples are put in adjoining rooms. Unfortunately the college cannot guarantee en-suite accommodation but all rooms have washbasins and all buildings have bathrooms with showers which are private, individual units that have recently been modernised. Tea & coffee making facilities are provided in every room.

Queries

For further information including booking extra B&B dates or with any special requirements not mentioned on this site please call Triona Adams at St Hilda's College Development Office 01865 276 828 or email triona.adams@st-hildas.ox.ac.uk


Booking information can be found here and here.

Love & Crime at St Hilda's -

Andrew Taylor - St Hilda's 2015

It is hard to believe that St Hilda's has been going strong for 22 years.  It is also hard to believe that it is again over for another year.  But this in fact the case.  This year St Hilda's Crime and Mystery Conference took place between 14th and 16th August.  The Conference was dedicated to the memory of P D James who was a staunch supporter of the Conference and who had attended on a number of occasions.  Anne Cleeves was the Conference Guest of Honour and Andrew Taylor was Chair.

The River Cherwell - St Hilda's 2015

For longstanding attendees the art to enjoying St Hilda's (or I should say my art to enjoying St Hilda's) is by turning up early enough to wander into town and have some lunch with friend's (trying hard to ensure that you sit by a window) and watch as other fellow attendees arrive in Oxford for St Hilda's and wave at each other frantically as they wander past!  For me my other enjoyment about St Hilda's is that I normally have  a pretty good idea where my room is going to be and I believe that I have only been wrong twice.  The first time being when I gave my first paper at St Hilda's and Eileen Roberts and Kate decided that as a speaker I should have an ensuite room.  Not that I minded have the ensuite room which was wonderful.  I just missed what I and a number of others who normally have rooms near to one another called "our corridor" . The second time this happened was last year when due to the fact that there were other students still in the halls I was put somewhere else.  My normal room is always in the main building in the South block.  The reason that I like being there is because I have a gorgeous view of the River Cherwell as I look out the window. What's not to like? 

St Hilda's actually starts when we all congregate @ 6:45pm for early evening drinks before dinner.  It is a chance to dress up, catch up and generally look forward to the conference.  This year the Conference dinner speaker was Simon Brett.  If you have ever heard Simon speak then you will understand that he can have you in fits of laughter in minutes.  However, as much as Simon made us laugh and smile he also shared with us all some of his treasured memories of P D James as well. It was a wonderful after dinner speech.  As per usual most of us made our way into the Senior Common Room or SCR as most of us know it by to relax, drink and talk before slowly meandering our way off to our various rooms. 

Ayo Onatade - St Hilda's 2015

St Hilda's always kicks off in earnest on the Saturday morning just after 9:00am after a welcome from Kate Charles.  This year I was giving a paper.  The title was Crimes of Passion: Detecting Couples - the Light and Dark Side of Love and Crime and my talk was partly on the different ways in which love has been used as a motive for murder and also the various detecting couples or sleuthing teams. I along with Alison Joseph were first up.  Alison's paper was on the romance of the lone detective.  The full title of the paper was Heavier than Broken Hearts: the Romance of the Lone Detective.

Natasha Cooper & Len Tyler (L-R) St Hilda's 2015

After a coffee break it was the turn of Natasha Cooper and Len Tyler.  Natasha Cooper talked about The Dark Side of Love using Scott Turow's first novel Presumed Innocent as a reference point. One of the points that she made was the fact that murder always had its roots in failed relationships. The title of Len Tyler's paper was Revenge: When it all Turns Sour and as an example of the ultimate revenge Len Tyler discussed the case of John Wayne Bobbitt and Lorena Bobbitt. 

After lunch, the next two papers were presented.  The title of the first paper was Reader, I Murdered Him  and was given by Ann Granger.  She spoke about how she became a crime writer after initially starting out as a romance writer.  She kept on putting murder etc in her romance novels and she kept on being asked to take them out.  She explained that she realised that she would prefer to write crime novels instead.  The second speaker was Nicola Upson and the title of her paper was Devices and Desires: The Tangent of Love in English Crime Fiction.  Of course the eagle-eyed amongst you will recognise the P D James connection.  Nicola Upson spoke not only about her friendship with PD James but also the encouragement that she received from her.  She also talked about deciding to use Josephine Tey as  a character and the doubts that she had about doing so. She explained that she received a lot of access to Tey's friends especially with the first book.    She believed that Tey would have hated to have anything written about her and that she would have not have liked the biography that has been done and is due out soon.  Ann Granger on being asked which author (if she were to make them a character) would she choose?   She said that she would choose Charles Dickens but that she would be frightened to use an author as a character and would not do so.

Alison Joseph indicated that she is writing a series of novels with Agatha Christie as a protagonist and wondered where one drew the line. The issue of the legal ramifications of using a real person were also mentioned.  Ann Granger pointed out that using a real person would hamper her.  It was however pointed out that one cannot slander the dead. Natasha Cooper pointed out that we all write novels that we think we completely understand. Te question was raised as to whether anybody could write a fictional book with PD James as a character?   Nicola Upson revealed that a character in her next book had been named after Pd James and that the character would (like PD James) be working in a theatre in Cambridge. One of the last points mentioned by Ann Granger was the fact that Georgette Heyer was not appreciated enough and it was thought that the reason for this is because she wrote too many books.

Val McDermid St Hilda's 2015

The last two speakers on Saturday were Frances Fyfield and Val McDermid.  The title of the paper being given by Frances Fyfield was The Usefulness of Hatred whilst Val McDermid's was Love: The Perfect Motive for Murder. in her she pointed out that 45% of women are killed by their partners. Questions are always asked after the papers are given or comments made. In answer to one of the questions, Frances pointed out that hatred in crime fiction is useful and that is was sometimes more useful than others. Val McDermid in response to a question was interested in knowing which was harder, to forgive the unrepentant or to hate the repentant? It was felt that hatred is a complete negative option.  Val McDermid pointed out that revenge can sometimes take things out of your system.

Always after the final two speakers on the Saturday afternoon then there is always time for attendees to get their books signed. This year as a result of the anthology that I did with Len Tyler which was published last year I found myself in the rather strange position of being asked to sign copies!

The after dinner speaker on Saturday was Canadian author Alan Bradley who is best known for his books featuring Flavia de Luce.  He gave a very humorous after dinner speech about book reviews and reviewing.

The common practice on Sunday morning is for there to be free time for punting, going to church, reading the newspaper, relaxing and so forth until mid-morning when the conference lecture is given.  Yes I did sneak off to relax and no I am not telling you were I snuck off to. 

This year the Conference Lecturer was given by Ann Cleeves who was the Guest of Honour.

Ann Cleeves - St Hilda's 2015

The title of her lecturer was Love in Amsterdam: Nicolas Freeling, Sex and Sentimentality.   Part of the title coming from Freeling's first novel in the Van de Valk series the 1962 book Love in Amsterdam which was also known as Death in Amsterdam. In her lecture Ann Cleeves pointed out that Nicolas Freeling and his protagonist Van de Valk predated the Martin Beck series by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. She explained that he began writing after being sent to jail for three weeks and that it was Nicolas Freeling that triggered her love of translated crime.  However, when he killed off his protagonist unlike with Sherlock Holmes he refused to bring him back. After giving her lecture questions were asked and one of the questions that was asked by Andrew Taylor was whether or not she was tempted to set a novel further afield from the Shetlands?  In response, Ann explained that she did not like doing research unless she could do it somewhere like the South of France for three months tax free! Otherwise she preferred the North.  She went on to explain that she could not get into a book unless the atmosphere and tone was right. Also that very tiny details brought things to life, showing not telling. Ann also stated that a sense of voyeurism is what translated fiction was to her.  One of the best points that was made was when Ann made the point that she did not understand how one could be a writer if they did not use public transport.

It was also considered whether the war had been good for Nicolas Freeling's novels?  It was also pointed out that because crime fiction was now so broad that we could now go back and read the early work such as those from the "Golden Age" period.  Natasha Cooper said that she would rescue the early Gavin Lyall novels. 

Kate Charles - St Hilda's 2015

Unfortunately I did not catch the end of Ann Cleeves's lecture or the two that were given after lunch being Tom Harper whose paper was Love of Money: The Root of all Evil and Jo Hines whose paper was entitled Deadlier Than the Mother as I had to leave early for once..  

The dates for St Hilda's next year is from 19th August to 21st August 2016 and the theme is "The Question of Genre - What is Crime Fiction?".  The Conference speaker and Guest of Honour is Lee Child!  What a coup!!!.

Watch this space for more information about next year's Conference!

Ayo Onatade & Val McDermid - St Hilda's 2015

all pictures copyright Ayo Onatade @2015

Of Broadchurch, Murder and More...

Little, Brown has bought world rights to a novel inspired by ITV crime series "Broadchurch".

Sphere Fiction commissioning editor Jade Chandler bought the book from Cathy King at Independent Talent, representing "Broadchurch" screenwriter Chris Chibnall, who will co-write the novel with thriller author Erin Kelly.

As well as including previously unseen material, the novel—to be published next August—will "elaborate on the existing plot, delving deeper into the lives and back stories of the existing characters".

Chibnall paid tribute to Kelly's writing, describing it as "beautiful, emotive and suffused with tension", while Kelly commented: "Like everyone else I know, I was gripped and moved by 'Broadchurch'. I’m utterly thrilled to be writing the novel, not least because it gave me an excuse to watch the whole series again, multiple times. It’s testament to the writing, the performances and the photography that I was spellbound even when I knew the outcome. I can’t wait to delve even deeper into the hearts and thoughts of the characters and to bring the town to life on the page."

US rights in the novel have been sold to Minotaur at St Martin's Press.

"Broadchurch", set in a small Dorset town and starring David Tennant and Olivia Colman as a mismatched detective duo, had viewing figures of nine million and has been recommissioned for a second series. The drama has just won four TV Daggers at the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards and has been sold to 100 territories worldwide, including the US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, the Netherlands and China.

Audiobook publisher and retailer AudioGO has confirmed that it has filed for administration.

Sad news for the BBC Audiobook company it has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators on Friday (25th October), with firm BDO expected to be appointed to the role this week.

The company suspended its business operations earlier this month, following "recently discovered significant financial challenges". Hopes that the company would find a buyer or investor before administration have now receded.

Based in Bath, AudioGO has a workforce of around 100 employees and employs a stable of freelance producers, editors and actors. The company has confirmed that "significant redundancies" are expected later this week.

AudioGO were responsible for producing crime and thrillers for authors such as Agatha Christie, David Baldacci, Dick Francis, Lindsey Davis, M.C.Beaton and John le Carré – to name but a few.

Novelist Solves Decades-Old Crime?

The 1931 murder of Julia Wallace has been one of Britain’s most notorious crimes--at least until now, if the findings of novelist P.D. James are correct. Though, given James’ experience in thinking about death and murder through 20 novels, one would think she’d be in the know.

According to The Guardian, James isn’t the first novelist to be fascinated by the case “which Raymond Chandler described as the ‘the nonpareil of all murder mysteries’. Dorothy L. Sayers wrote that it ‘provides for the detective novelist an unrivalled field for speculation’.”

Writing in the Sunday Times magazine, James claimed that the murder of Julia Wallace in Liverpool, which “compares only to the Ripper murders in 1888 in the amount of writing, both fiction and non-fiction, which it has created”, was misunderstood from the beginning by the police, the judge and jury.

Her 1982 novel, The Skull Beneath the Skin, the fictional murder of Lady Ralston, is thought to parallel the Wallace case, and she refers to it directly in the detective chief-inspector Dalgliesh novel, The Murder Room (2003).

The Guardian goes on to detail the available clues that convinced James her positing was correct. The case is “essentially tragic and has psychological subtleties to which it would take a Balzac to do justice,” James wrote. She builds a picture of Wallace as a man worn down by failure and disappointment who eventually cracked: “Perhaps when he struck the first tremendous blow that killed her, and the 10 afterwards delivered with such force, it was years of striving and constant disappointment that he was obliterating.”

Julia Wallis

Back in 2002, Patricia Cornwell put forth a similarly forceful theory with regards to the true identity of Jack the Ripper, a theory she outlined closely in her non-fiction book Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper--Case Closed.

Blow the Bloody Doors off!

London's Barbican Hall is to host an evening of music by Sonny Rollins, Quincy Jones, John Barry and Roy Budd from Michael Caine's most iconic films on 6 February 2014 @ 19:30
The four films singled out for concert performances here are classics with music composed by an exceptional quartet of musicians - Alfie (Sonny Rollins), The Ipcress File (John Barry), The Italian Job (Quincy Jones) and Get Carter (Roy Budd).
These composers represent the best of British and American music of the time. Musical director Terry Edwards (whose recent Barbican performances include Beck: Song Reader Live and Big Star’s Third) has assembled a crack team of versatile musicians from places as far-flung as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Polar Bear and Madness.

The evening places the music centre stage, intercut with excerpts from the films. Click here to book.

WhoWunnit?

On the night of their 60^th anniversary the Crime Writers’ Association will announce the hotly anticipated results of the CWA Best Ever Poll.

On a dark and stormy Guy Fawkes night, three-score years ago, a group of shadowy figures met in a candle-lit room, to sign in blood the document that would bind them together in a mysterious organisation known as... the Crime Writers' Association. Ok, so they probably had a pen, but what is true is that in 2013 the CWA are celebrating 60 years of supporting and promoting the work of crime writers, one of the most popular of literary genres, with a staggering capacity for reinventing itself. 

And on the night of their 60^th anniversary the CWA will announce the results of a poll to determine the Best Ever Crime Writer, Crime Series and Crime Novel as voted for by members of their association.

A panel of experts, including Barry Forshaw (Nordic Noir), Zoë Sharp (Die Easy), Belinda Bauer (Rubbernecker) and David Stuart Davies (Brothers in Blood), discuss the poll's findings and reflect on the past, present and future of the genre.

It has been fifteen years since the CWA did a similar poll. On that occasion the Dead triumphed convincingly over the Living.

But a lot can change in fifteen years and Alison Joseph, Chair of the CWA, thinks many contemporary crime writers will give the Late Greats a run for their money.  She says:

‘Crime fiction has always had a deservedly huge readership, but, more than ever, readers expect a lot.  We see authors today stretching the limits of the genre, examining the truth of criminality, its causes, its effects, yet still telling page-turning stories.’

So, for example, could Val McDermid depose Agatha Christie as Queen of Crime?  Elmore Leonard take over Chandler’s Mean Streets?  P D James or Ruth Rendell ring the changes on Dorothy L Sayers?  Ian Rankin replace Arthur Conan Doyle as crime’s Top Scot? 

Or will the posthumously-famous Stieg Larsson leap over the lot of them? 

Joseph concludes: ‘Personally I think it will be close-run thing. A great work of fiction, in whatever genre, whenever it was written, is a rare thing, and it may well be that Sayers, Chandler et al, still merit their place at the top.  Watch this space.’

The results will be announced on the 5^th November at The Gallery, Foyles, Charing Cross Road, London 6pm – 8.00pm. Tickets for this event are free to CWA members but must be booked in advance. Non-members prices are £5.00/£3.00 (concessions) and can be booked directly via Foyles.

This poll and CWA reception is kindly sponsored by HW Fisher, chartered accountants.

                                                           (Ends)

Notes To Editors:

Membership of The Crime Writers’ Association is open to an author with one crime novel produced (or about to be produced) by a bona fide publisher, with associate membership also offered to those in the publishing industry. 

John Creasey, founder of the CWA, wrote over seven hundred books under almost thirty names.

Alison Joseph is a crime novelist and radio dramatist.  A Violent Act, her latest novel, is out now.

HW Fisher are chartered accountants www.hwfisher.co.uk

For further information please contact Lucy Santos, Director of the CWA, at director@cwa.co.uk or on tel: 0792125291

St Hilda's Crime and Mystery Conference - Saturday 17 August 2013

(L-R) Natasha Cooper, Tom Harper & Penelope Evans © Ayo Onatade

St Hilda’s started properly after breakfast and after a welcome by Kate Charles.  As Kate explained, as the theme was “From Here to Eternity: The Present and Future of Crime Fiction” all those present giving a talk over the weekend had over the last 19 years given a talk at St Hilda’s.  Tom Harper and Penelope Evans were first up.  Tom’s talk had a lot to do with Plato, Aristotle, and philosophy and also Raymond Chandler. It was also slightly disconcerting to hear my self being referenced barely three minutes into his talk in relation to the interview that I did with Margaret Doody whose historical crime series features Aristotle as a detective.  It was extremely interesting.  Penelope Evans held us spellbound when she spoke about two different incidents that tied into her talk.  The first being when she answered her phone to someone that she thought that she knew only to hear a gentleman at the end of the phone claiming that he had been watching and following her.  The second revolved around a teacher who claimed to be ill and soaked up all the support that was erroneously given to the said teacher not only by fellow teachers but also students.  When it became clear that there was nothing wrong with the said teacher the ensuring repercussions had a rippling effect on all concerned.  It was incredibly chilling and telling even more so as one could easily see how the lies being told were effective and disturbing.

After a short break the next two authors that we heard from were PD James and Frances Fyfield.  The title of the talk by PD James was Goodbye to Mayhem Parva whilst the one by Frances Fyfield was entitled Comparative Values.  Listening to both authors was amazing.  St Hilda’s always has the most interesting speakers.  P D James in her talk spoke about what the Golden Age of crime fiction had bequeathed to us.  She indicated that there were certain characteristics of the Golden Age mysteries and this included a strong storyline, locked room situations and also the ability to tell a good yarn.  Furthermore the detective was always a man, romantic and upper class. Golden Age writers were also very careful about their writing.  The criticism was that in relation to Dorothy L Sayers and Margery Allingham that they were snobbish.  PD James said that she agreed with that

(L-R) PD James, Frances Fyfield & Natasha Cooper© Ayo Onatade

point of view.  She also felt that Ngaio Marsh was snobbish in her books as well.  They were however good writers, not careless and good with dialogue.  Agatha Christie in particular was very workman like in her writing.  She did not worry too much about description.  All the Golden Age writers had secrets that they did not want to have exposed.  For example, Dorothy Sayers had an illegitimate son but did not tell anyone.  This did not however stop her from writing within the convention and also from obeying the rules of writing.  Dorothy Sayers was an old girl of Somerville College in Oxford.  PD James felt that it was difficult to set a novel in a large institution but Sayers had managed to do it with Gaudy Nights.  According to PD James, this was a very clever thing to do.  Still referencing the element of snobbery in Golden Age novels, PD James reiterated the element of snobbery to be found in these novels by pointing out the fact that Lord Peter Wimsey proposed to Harriet Vane in Latin!  Ronald Knox’s 10 rules of crime writing were also discussed.

Frances Fyfield at the start of her talk stated that she wished that she could write funny crime fiction.  She also said that the future of our crime novels depends on what is going on around us and that crime writers need shocking activities.  Frances Fyfield is a former lawyer and she pointed out that that libel had to be published to ruin someone and that a man’s reputation is worth a lot.  This was part of the storyline in her book The Nature of The Beast.  She also pointed out that one of the greatest changes in crime novels came with the removal of the death penalty.  She also felt that crime novels were about morality and that they (i.e. crime novels) would be around for ages.  Frances also explained that she used to resent the fact that some people considered crime novels to be lowbrow but that crime novels do make people uncomfortable and that crime writers are the best novelists of our age.  She also did not agree with the behaviour of literary writers e.g. John Banville who decided that they should “slum” it by writing a crime novel.

Both Francs Fyfield and PD James answered questions and they included whether or not PD James was conscious of the fact that she changed the face of crime fiction with the introduction of realism.  In her response she indicated that she felt that she contributed towards it. A question was asked about Patricia Highsmith’s contribution.  PD James also stated that whilst the Booker Prize would not nominate a crime novel as they appeared to have a great prejudice against genre fiction that crime writers need not worry about this fact.  She felt that crime writers would survive not being nominated for the Booker Prize.  This then led on to the question as to whether or not a best known Booker Prize winner would be able to write a good crime novel?  It was felt that they might be able to write a good crime novel but not a good detective novel.

PD James also indicated that she disliked any television programme that had too much violence and especially violence against women.  It also led on to the question as to whether or not public morality was becoming the reason for murder.  It was also agreed that writers could get people to re-evaluate their views via their writing and that it said a lot about society by the crimes that were being committed. PD James was asked who would she kill if she had the opportunity and her response to the delight of the audience was those who were selfish to others along with politicians whom she felt would not last very long and dictators.

After lunch it was time for Martin Edwards and Peter Robinson.  Martin was talking about whether or not there was much to care about in the Golden Age and what did the future hold for the Golden Age.  Martin stated that British Golden Age authors were a lot better known than foreign authors of Golden Age stories.  He also felt that unlike what people thought that Golden Age authors were not conservative this was not the case.  In fact, in Golden Age novels bankers and politicians were killed off a lot more than people believed.  Also the view that the novels lacked psychological depth was not in fact true.  An example he mentioned was DL Sayers The Documents in the Case.  However, Martin did believe that whilst Golden Age writers were deeply conventional and were occupied in bringing people to justice it was not always the case.  He felt that readers and commentators should have a less simplistic view of Golden Age writers.

Peter Robinson © Ayo Onatade

Peter Robinson in his talk felt that the popularity of cold cases had grown.  Peter also confessed that prior to 1985 he only used to write poetry. He also wondered how many Golden Age writers also actually wrote about the past?  Peter stated that writing about the recent past was not actually new as the recent past has held a fascination throughout the ages.  He also felt that a lot of crime novels depended on keeping secrets.  One of the other things that was discussed was why we have only remembered some Golden Age authors and forgotten some?  It was felt that a consideration might be due to the quality and number of books written.  Peter stated that he would like to write a book set in World War II.  Martin Edwards pointed out that he had in fact written an historical book about Dr Crippen from his point of view.  Peter Robinson was asked if he would write a futuristic crime novel but his response was he was not interested in doing so.  However, he did enjoy reading Paul Johnston’s Quintillian Dalrymple series.  One of the other points that was raised was that if justice was the theme of the Golden Age what did we think the theme of the future would be?

The last two authors that were giving papers on Saturday afternoon were Andrew Taylor and Val McDermid.  Andrew’s talk was on Grandpa Noir: The Crime Fiction of CS Forester.  Andrew stated that the term “Noir” was now elastic but still not that easy to define.  It was however agreed that one of the things that Noir did well was to show how life falls between the cracks.  Andrew also pointed out that Forester’s crime was imperfect and that his characters were ordinary.  All his three crime novels were still readable.

The title of Val McDermid’s talk was Haggis and Haruspications.  She pointed out that

Val McDermid © Ayo Onatade

there was no such thing as Tartan Noir when she first started writing.  She also spoke about Laidlaw and Bloody Scotland, which is now in its second year.  Val also discussed and dismantled Ronald Knox’s 10 rules of crime writing.  She felt that nowadays readers and sleuths are expected to be smart.  She also considered herself to be an ambitious writer and that she sees the next book that she is writing as a challenge.  She also confirmed that she enjoys reading new authors and books for the New Blood Panel at the Harrogate Crime Festival.  Val McDermid also said that in the light of the recent issues surrounding privacy that she anticipated a slew of conspiracy novels being published.  Val also spoke about a number of authors whose novels she had enjoyed and these included SJ Watson’s Before I Go to Sleep, Paula Daly’s What Kind of Mother Are You, Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, and Blacklands by Belinda Bauer.  She also stated that she enjoyed Anne Cleeves series for its sense of place and David Mark’s debut novel, which she felt, had a great sense of place as well. 

Both Andrew and Val like the rest also answered questions after their talk.  Val stated that it was often easier to tell the truth via a novel than in journalism.  With regard to trips to the past readers were clearly more knowledgeable than before.  It was felt that it was hard to think of an historical period that had not been covered.  The rise of Nordic crime writers was also discussed.  It was felt that in fact the number of first class Nordic crime writers were in fact limited. However, Val McDermid felt that we would see more international crime novels on our shelves.  She also stated that the political thrillers were not dead and she mentioned Charles Cumming as being an author that certainly should be read.  One of the issues that that was also discussed was the lack of black and Asian crime writers.  Both Val and Andrew were asked whom would they like to see an undiscovered crime novel by.  Andrew chose Josephine Tey while Val decided that for her it would be Reginald Hill.  Both Val and Andrew were also extolling the virtues of reading crime novels.

Ayo and Peter Robinson © Ayo Onatade

After the final talks given on Saturday afternoon, there was also time for people to get their books signed before drinks in the South Building and then dinner.

The after dinner speech was given by Priscilla Masters which was hilariously funny and she used the reality television programme Come Dance With Me as the basis. In a hilarious take on the different types of dances that the participants undertook she tried (and in my opinion) succeeded in matching a various number of crime fiction characters to the different dances.

After dinner once again we all made our way to the SCR where once again many of us stayed up very late chatting and drinking.  I think I managed to make it to bed after 1:00am on Sunday morning.