Deal Noir Programme

9.00      Registration

9.45        Deal or No Deal – is there such a thing as Kent Noir? Katerina Diamond, Frances Fyfield, Susan Moody & William Shaw - Moderator – Ayo Onatade

10.45     New Blood – debut authors talk about their road to publication: Fiona Cummins, Claire Evans, Paul Harrison & Mark Hill
Moderator – Sarah Ward

11.45     A Suitable Job For A Woman – what profession do you give a female protagonist if  she is not a police officer: Steph Broadribb, Janet Laurence, Nicola Upson & Louise Voss - Moderator – William Shaw

12.45     Lunch

2.00      Killers: Home and Away – British authors who use foreign locations – where and why? Quentin Bates, David Hewson, Barbara Nadel & Daniel Pembrey - Moderator – Andy Lawrence

3.00       Tough Nuts & How To Crack Them – the grittier side of crime fiction writing? Hugh Fraser, Simon Michael, Linda Regan & Rod Reynolds - Moderator – Barry Forshaw

4.00        Series Characters & Locations – how to create them so they keep on giving? Guy Fraser-Sampson, SJI Holliday, Leigh Russell &Sarah Ward-Moderator – Craig Sisterson

5.00        My Favourite All-time Crime Book
                Panel to be announced

5.55        Presentation of the Deal Noir 2017 Flash Fiction Award and Closure

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The resurrection of Penny Wanawake

Susan Moody was born and brought up in Oxford. Her first crime novel, Penny Black, was originally published in 1984 and was the first in a series of seven books featuring amateur sleuth Penny Wanawake.  They have now been republished by Williams & Whiting. Susan Moody is a former Chair of the Crime Writer’s Association of Great Britain, a former World President of the International Association of Crime Writers and a member of the Detection Club.  She is currently the 2016 Writer in Residence for The Pen Factor.

I've just been rereading To Kill A Mocking Bird (by Harper Lee) and reflecting on the nine years I spent living in east Tennessee during the mid-60s, as the civil rights movement got under way.  They were stirring and dangerous times. Bombings, shootings, lynchings … activists down south in Tennessee, Alabama. Missouri etc were brave people indeed.

My husband and I were involved with the NAACP, the National Association for the

Advancement of Coloured People, founded by Medgar Evers, who worked tirelessly for voter registration rights, the desegregation of schools and colleges, and boycotts of companies practising discrimination against black people, before he was assassinated by the Klan.  We held meetings at our house, with the black attendees forced to sneak up from the woods, since they weren't supposed to be in our segregated white area.

  

We were watched.  One evening a sinister glow shone behind our venetian blinds and we discovered a cross burning on the lawn.  How had someone managed to plant it in the grass and set fire to it without us hearing anything?  Who was responsible? We knew the neighbours weren't sympathetic to the cause, but this was rather more than simple disagreement with our views.  This was in Oak Ridge, known as Atomic City, established in 1942 as a production site for the vast operation that developed the atomic bomb at the  Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

 

Another time, the Ku Klux Klan came into town.  The origin of the words Ku Klux apparently comes from the Greek word Kyklos, meaning circle, though it seemed highly unlikely that this redneck organisation of bigoted and intolerant homophobic, anti-Semitic, witch-hunting ignorami even knew what Greek was.  By the 1960s, the Klan, heavily against giving black people the vote, was concentrated on striking fear into the hearts of a superstitious people deliberately kept uneducated and disenfranchised.  The white ghost-like robes, the pointed hoods, the featureless head-coverings with only holes for eyes were indeed terrifying. 

I'd come from a liberal upbringing in Oxford, followed by two years in Paris.  Coming from Europe, I was shocked and appalled by the discrimination I witnessed there.  Not to mention the moonshine stills in the woods, the chain-gangs of convicts overseen by a white guy on a horse, with a rifle across his knees, the only restaurant in town a self-service place where black men were allowed to take your tray at the till and carry it to a table, as long as they were wearing white gloves.  And I shall never forget hearing a child of about eleven calling out  "Boy!  Boy!  I want more water." 

So by the time I got back to England, I felt I had to do something to equalize things.  I'm not implying that my Penny Wanawake series was a manifesto for civil rights but – thanks to a competition organized by the Sunday Times, looking for a new female protagonist in the field of crime – I created tall, rich, beautiful and socially concerned Penny.  I wanted a black woman who was not intimidated by white folks, who felt she had as much right as anyone else to walk down the mean streets, who was the equal of everyone else.

 That was quite a few years ago.  I'm absolutely thrilled that Williams & Whiting, a new and go-ahead publisher, has seen fit to re-issue all the Penny books.  The original reviews were ecstatic ('A protagonist who strides right into the gallery of amateur sleuths to occupy a position of distinction,' said the Financial Times.  'Debuts do not come more exotic or exuberant,' wrote The Times.  'Finger-lickin' good,' commented The Observer.)  

I very much hope that Penny will find a new audience among today's crime readers.

Mike Ripley’s “Sorry I haven’t a Cluedo” at Crimefest

L-R : Peter Guttridge and Mike Ripley

The Crimefest weekend closed with a most amusing final session, managed admirably by writer, critic, editor, publisher, raconteur and Shots “Getting Away with Murder” Columnist, the Talented Mr Ripley.

The session that closed Crimefest 2016 was entitled “Sorry I Haven’t a Cluedo” - a panel quiz that Mike Ripley devised, and was last performed before the Millennium.

Mike Ripley had arranged two teams to battle their collective knowledge of Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, aided by Peter Guttridge.

Laura Wilson captained the Female Crime-Writers with her colleagues Susan Moody and Alison Bruce, while Ian Rankin captained the Male Crime-Writers Andrew Taylor and Thomas Mogford.

The recording was not planned, but as I found myself sitting right at the front with a great view, I decided it might be fun to record the event, but as I laughed so much, the filming is a tad gonzo, especially when Award winning crime-writer and journalist, Ruth Dudley Edwards appeared as a surprise guest, heavily disguised.

Life can be tough for us from time to time, and I find laughter at the absurdities of reality a coping mechanism, so we hope you enjoy these videos, which indicate the surreal and quintessential nature of British humour. They also indicate that these tremendous British writers of Crime Fiction are very grounded, and indeed are brave to find themselves at the mercy of, the man who we all know as, The Talented Mr Mike Ripley.

Note : The “Sorry I Haven’t a Cluedo” presentation is split into sections, I’ve stabilised the picture and sound as well as I can, though I was laughing a lot during the quiz, and part 2 is not as sharp [in terms of picture clarity] compared to the other sections.

And if you missed Mike Ripley [with Barry Forshaw and Peter Guttridge] and their humorous presentation on the Golden Age of British Thrillers, which they hosted at Crimefest in 2014, click here because absurdity and laughter are indeed the best medicine as evidenced at the clapping when the presentation concluded.

Shots Ezine would like to pass our thanks to Mike Ripley, Peter Guttridge, Ian Rankin, Laura Wilson, Andrew Taylor, Susan Moody, Thomas Mogford and Alison Bruce, Myles Allfrey and Adrian Muller for allowing us to feature this closing session of Crimefest 2016

The Shots Team hope to see you at 2017’s Crimefest, with full details available from www.crimefest.com because as Friedrich Nietzsche once said –

“A good writer possesses not only his own spirit, but also the spirit of his friends.” 

Photo and Video 

(c) 2016 A Karim

Deal Noir - Saturday 2nd April 2016

9.00      Registration

9.25       Welcome by Susan Moody

9.30       There’s A Time And A Place For Everything
Guy Fraser-Sampson, Daniel Pembrey, Linda Regan and William Shaw
moderated by Craig Sisterson

10.25      New Blood  (Sweat and Tears)
Alison Bailie, Simon Booker, Susi Holiday & Sarah Ward
moderated by Andy Lawrence

                Coffee

11.35       Around The World In 80 Slays
Piergiorgio Pulixi, William Ryan, Yrsa Sigurdardottir,  Edward Turner
participating moderator by Quentin Bates

12.35       May The Force Be With You
Lisa Cutts, Michael Fowler, Matt Johnson, David Videcette
moderated by William Horwood

                Lunch

2.00       Agatha Christie Cover Story
Dr John Curran and David Brawn

3.00       Watching The Detectives
Simon Brett, John Harvey, Susan Moody, Andrew Taylor
moderated by Ayo Onatade

               Coffee

4.25        Leading Ladies
Elly Griffiths,  Elizabeth Haynes,  Sarah Hilary,  Alex Marwood
participating moderator Allison Joseph

5.25                           TBA

5.45        Announcement of Flash Fiction Award and Closure by Susan Moody

Tickets can be booked here.

Books to look forward to from Severn House 2016

January 2016

The Night Wanderer is by Alys Clare.  The latest title in the Aelf Fen series sees Lassair investigating a series of brutal murders after rumours that the legendary demon, The Night Wanderer, has returned. Can she discover his identity before she, too, becomes a victim?

Crime blogger and radio host Kit Doyle goes undercover as a teenage runaway to discover why young people are going missing. On the streets, she enters an unpredictable world and wanders into the clutches of a dangerous psychopath. Goodbye Forever is by Bonnie Hearn Hill.

When Eden Radley is told her mother has killed herself and her severely disabled half-brother, Eden sets out to discover why. The more she learns, the more she becomes convinced that her mother’s death was no suicide. How much did she really know about her mother or her troubled step-father, Flynn Darby? Don’t Believe a Word is a psychological stand-alone thriller from Patricia MacDonald.

Quick and the Dead is an exciting new series from Susan Moody, introducing candid female sleuth Alex Quick. Alex’s business partner, acclaimed art historian and university professor Helena, disappears and Alex is consumed by guilt. Helena had complained of a stalker, and Alex had dismissed her worries. Now she must figure out what happened to her friend. But is Helena a victim . . . or is she a killer?  

The latest addition to the long-running Pennsylvania-Dutch series sees Magdalena Yoder welcome some aristocratic British guests to the inn. But they are by no means the easiest of guests, and then one of the guests disappears over the edge of Lover’s Leap. Did he fall? And where is the body? Tea with Jam and Dread is another hilariously quirky mystery from Tamar Myers.

An astonishing new order has usurped power in Rome and Libertus’ wealthy patron is endangered. He must take Marcus’s young family to safety in order to protect him from an anonymous and vindictive enemy. But his task brings problems as he uncovers a grisly secret and an ancient crime – with ramifications stretching to the present day. The Ides of June is by Rosemary Rowe is set against the backdrop of the Roman Empire.

Intrepid nineteenth-century private investigators Grand and Batchelor return in their second mystery. The pair are commissioned with looking into the mysterious death of Lafayette Baker, head of the US National Detective Police. Even in death, Baker remains one of the most hated men in the country – it seems almost everyone wanted him gone. Can the investigators survive long enough to uncover the truth? The Circle is by M J Trow

February 2016

To The Last Drop is the ninth in Sandra Balzo’s coffeehouse cozy mystery series sees a dead body discovered outside Maggy Thorsen’s ex-husband’s dental practice, and Maggy tries to piece together the clues. But her beau, Jake, has just dropped a bombshell on her – can she keep her emotions in check long enough to find out the truth about this possible murder?

Crime writer sleuth Donald Langham is invited to a remote Scottish castle where an attempt is being made to raise the wreck of a German fighter plane from the loch. But progress is halted when one of the guests is brutally murdered. Murder at the Loch is by Eric Loch and is a traditional murder mystery set in the 1950’s.

Melody of Murder by Stella Cameron is the third instalment of the Alex Duggins mystery series introduces a new family to the idyllic Cotswold village of Folly-on-Weir. Unfortunately, their arrival has also attracted the attentions of a sly, clever and perverted killer. Once again, pub owner Alex Duggins and her veterinarian friend Tony must use their wits to prevent further carnage.

Shortly before Christmas, Professor James Lowell is found brutally attacked in the university where Anna works. She soon discovers that her fellow dogwalker, Isadora, knew the deceased in the Sixties when she was a member of the ‘Oxford Six’. It turns out that Isadora has been keeping a surprising secret all these years. Could the attack on the Professor have its roots in a fifty-year-old murder? Written in Red is by Annie Dalton.

Dangerous Minds is by Priscilla Masters.  Can a psychiatrist prevent a crime when it

exists only in a patient’s mind? After receiving a wedding invitation from a former patient, Claire is alarmed. Jerome is a highly dangerous man and he appears to have intimate details of her other patients. Can Claire prevent a tragedy in this tense psychological thriller? 

Computer hacker Nicole Jones, now living as Susan McQueen on a remote island in Quebec, is startled when her computer is hacked, showing a ‘shadow’ inside her laptop which watches her every move. Afraid she’ll be tracked down, she goes on the run again. Can she escape her past a second time? Shadowed is by Karen E. Olson.

Black Hammock is by Michael Wiley.  Homicide detective Daniel Turner revisits an eighteen-year-old unsolved case in the third of this intriguing and atmospheric crime noir series. Oren returns to the family home he last saw when he was eight, bent on an elaborate scheme of revenge against his mother and her husband. Is this Daniel’s chance to find out what really happened to Oren’s father all those years ago?

 

March 2016

High Jinks is by Shannon Esposito.  Doggie-yoga instructor Elle Pressley is back for the latest ‘Paws & Pose’ mystery series, where she discovers a body hanging from the kitchen rafters at a Halloween party. Elle turns to her new boyfriend, a local P.I. called Devon, to help her. But Devon is distracted by new evidence in his parents’ murder case. Is fate about to deliver them both into the hands of a determined killer?

Think Wolf is Michael Gregorio’s second Mafia thriller, set against the glorious landscape of Italy’s Umbria region. When the headless body of a fellow ranger is found in the woods, Sebastiano is convinced that he himself was the target. He is convinced his friend’s death heralds the return of the ‘ndrangheta, the most formidable criminal organization in Italy. Sebastiano must now draw on his finely-honed survival skills and think wolf if he is to discover what happened to his companion.

In the fifth instalment of the Kate O’Donnell mystery series, Detective Sergeant Harry Barnard is ordered to track down a missing Soho club owner, Ray. But the case takes on greater urgency when a body is discovered outside a gym owned by Ray. Meanwhile, Kate O’Donnell is working on a project about the devastating East Coast floods of 1953. As Kate and Harry are about to discover, the floods and the murder are connected in more ways than one. Deep Waters is by Patricia Hall.

Sleuthing monk Brother Athelstan returns in his latest medieval mystery, when he is summoned to the monastery at Blackfriars and tasked with solving the murder of a fellow priest. But past crimes have risen their heads, and he finds himself investigating a royal murder that took place fifty-four years earlier, while rebel leaders plot the present king's destruction.  The Great Revolt is by Paul Doherty.

Benjamin January is called up to Vicksburg, deep in cotton-plantation country, to help a wounded ‘conductor’ of the Underground railroad – a secret network of safe houses that guide escaping slaves to freedom. When the chief conductor is found dead, January must find the killer before their secret is uncovered in this latest historical mystery.  Drinking Gourd is Barbara Hambly.

The third tense and compelling thriller to feature The Watchman – deep cover specialist Marc Portman. Portman is in Russia providing covert back-up to a former KGB officer with close links to Vladimir Putin, who hopes to use his influence with the president to improve relations between Russia, the USA and Europe. When the assignment takes an unexpected turn, Portman has no choice but to provide hard cover for his client. Hard Cover is by Adrian Magson.

Classic at Bay is by Amy Myers.  The once-notorious cabaret singer Adora Ferne guards a private treasure trove of twelve classic Jaguar cars, but hankers over the one that is missing. Jack Colby, car detective, has been commissioned to buy the thirteenth car from the Earl of Storrington. But when a murder follows the earl’s rejection of an offer, Jack starts to investigate. Does this murder link to the secrets of Adora’s past?

Lorna Myers thinks she knows where her husband is – until two men come looking for him. Luckily ex-police dog handler Daniel Whelan is on hand to take control of the situation, but for Lorna it’s the start of a nightmare. Daniel finds himself drawn into the complex affairs of the family, with potentially fatal consequences. No Second Chances is the latest British police dog-handler mystery from Lyndon Stacey.

April 2016

In the latest Gillard and Langley mystery, the murder of a senior official of the National Crime Agency sends shockwaves through MI5, MI6 and the Met. Patrick Gillard, the deceased’s protégé and adviser to the NCA, and his wife and working partner Ingrid Langley, vow to find his killer. Dust to Dust is by Margaret Duffy.

Playing with Fire is by Gerald Elias.  When an anxious phone call disturbs Daniel Jacobus from his Christmas festivities, it is up to Jacobus and his team to find out how and why Borlotti, a seemingly humble violinmaker, became a captive of his past indiscretions. The latest Daniel Jacobus mystery holds a mirror to the glittering façade of the concert world, delving into the multimillion-dollar sleight-of-hand of violin dealing.

Treason in the Secret City is by Diane Fanning.  Libby is woken in the middle of the night by a distressed colleague – Marvin’s cousin Frannie has been charged with treason. Libby, a chemist at a secret facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, agrees to help, but her investigations soon uncover a web of indoctrinated spies, greedy opportunists and unscrupulous collaborators. Second in the exciting new World War II mystery series featuring intrepid research chemist-sleuth Libby Clark.

Introducing Elizabethan cutpurse and adventurer Jack Blackjack in the first of a brand-new historical mystery series. Light-fingered Jack knows he’s not going to have a good day when he wakes with a sore head next to a dead body in a tavern’s yard. But with the rebel army marching on London, Jack cannot escape the city. Instead he must try to work out who killed the man, a troublesome task as the rebel army comes closer and the death toll mounts. Rebellion’s Message is by Michael Jecks.

Death at the Boston Tea Party is by Deryn Lake.  A new business opportunity in America leads to a case of cold-blooded murder for Apothecary John Rawlings. When he arrives in Boston in 1773, John finds a place riven with tension and unrest, and the resentment erupts into outright rebellion during the notorious Boston Tea Party. But has someone taken advantage of the chaos to commit murder?

The kidnapping of an innocent schoolgirl throws a glaring light on the tensions and injustices of pre-War Egyptian society in this absorbing historical mystery. Mamur Zapt, Head of the Secret Police, takes charge of the negotiations for her safe return, where he learns that there is more to the girl’s kidnapping than meets the eye and the outcome with shine a glaring light on tensions running through Egyptian society. The Women of the Souk by Michael Pearce.

Rat Run is by Caro Ramsay.  In August 1992, a young mother and her two small sons were brutally murdered in the woods behind their home. Her neighbour Andrew Gyle was convicted of the crime and sentenced to life imprisonment. Now, twenty-three years later, a macabre discovery throws new light on the case. Could there have been a shocking miscarriage of justice? The latest tense and twisting Anderson and Costello mystery.

DCI Monika Paniatowski returns to investigate the killing of an American guest at the Royal Victoria Hotel. Who is this lady and what was she doing in a small town like Whitebridge? The investigation takes an intriguing twist when Monika learns of a possible link to a fifty-year-old murder, but the only person who can tell her why it’s relevant is lying in a coma. Death in Disguise by Sally Spencer.

A Maiden Weeping is by Jeri Westerson.  Crispin Guest awakens in a strange bed after a night of passion and finds his lover dead. Drunk, Crispin scarcely remembers the night before. Did he kill her? With Crispin shackled and imprisoned, and other bodies turning up, his apprentice Jack must hit the ground running to solve the crime.