Forthcoming Books from Little Brown (Incl Constable and Robinson, Piatkus and Abacus Books)

August 2024

The Last Visitor is by Martin Griffin. The island was abandoned for fifty years. So how did the body get there? Five-hundred kilometres from land in the middle of Atlantic Ocean lies Navigaceo. A tiny island that was hastily abandoned fifty years ago and has been uninhabited ever since. Until now. Tess Macfarlane is a documentary filmmaker tasked with capturing the wild beauty of Navigaceo. Accompanied by a small team of researchers, her job is to film everything she sees. But Tess sees too much: a body. It's clearly recent. It shouldn't be there. And the victim is wearing the same expedition uniform as her colleagues. Someone has been here already and everyone on the team is a suspect. More than one of them could be a murderer. With five days until they are returned to the mainland, Tess must be careful, or hers might be the next body found on the shore.

Una has always been more comfortable working with numbers than people. As an actuary for an insurance company, her job is to spot patterns that other people might miss. When the data for her latest project - into the predicted number of deaths in seaside resorts - shows a blip in her forecasts, Una's untarnished reputation at work is at risk. That is, unless she can work out why there's been an unusual spate of accidental deaths by the coast. Death by Hanging Basket? She's not seen that before. Where better to begin than her mother's hometown of Eastbourne, where strange fatalities are befalling her mother's bingo crowd. But as Una puts her spreadsheets aside and begins to investigate, a sinister pattern begins to emerge and she realises that there is nothing accidental about these casualties . . .Can Una stop the killer in this small seaside town, before she becomes a not-so-vital statistic? Death by Numbers is by Jo Cunningham.

The Weekend Guests is by Liza North. Five old friends. A reunion to die for… A weekend on the wild, beautiful Dorset coast. Seven adults, six kids. A nanny: the ultimate special treat. It should be perfect: old friends, a stunning house, champagne and windswept beaches. But it isn't. Past grudges won't rest. Secrets won't stay put. And by the end of the weekend, at least one of them will be dead.

Despite many years living in South Devon, DI Wesley Peterson has never visited the tiny island of St Rumon's. That is until erosion from a storm reveals three bodies buried outside the local churchyard. Two are ancient skeletons, but one is far more recent, and Wesley realises he has uncovered a case of murder. But whose remains are they? And who killed them? The island has only a small number of inhabitants. Yet one resident keeps cropping up in Wesley's investigation: the author and self-styled academic, Quentin Search. Meanwhile Wesley's friend, archaeologist Neil Watson, becomes fascinated by the remains of the island's old priory. His discovery of a journal, written by a sixteenth century cleric, reveals an eerie tale of strange rituals and disturbing deaths. As Wesley begins to wonder whether the past might be repeating itself, another murder occurs . . . There is a calculated killer on the island - one whose grip is as deadly as the rising tide. Coffin Island is by Kate Ellis.

September 2024

The Great Hippopotamus Hotel is by Alexander McCall Smooth. A chance meeting with the manager of The Great Hippopotamus Hotel leads the much-admired and traditionally built Precious Ramotswe to investigate what is going wrong with this previously successful country hotel. Guests have been unwell, clothing has disappeared from the washing line, and scorpions have found their way into the guest bedrooms. Mma Ramotswe drives out to the hotel with her irrepressible colleague, Grace Makutsi (97 per cent in the final examinations of the Botswana Secretarial College). What they find there are family conflicts that only the investigators of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency will be able to resolve. Meanwhile, at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, Mma Ramotswe's husband, Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, gets a visit from a middle-aged client who wants to purchase a fast Italian sports car. What should the conscientious garagiste do in such circumstances? Should the client's wife be told? Mma Ramotswe is used to wrestling with such tricky questions, but it is harder for Mr J.L.B. Matekoni.

The Serial Killer Next Door is by Emma Kenny. Would you know if you lived next door to a serial killer? Based on her smash hit tour, Emma Kenny - psychologist and true crime expert - reveals the chilling true stories of killers who hide in plain sight. Taking readers on a journey into the dark side of humanity, Emma Kenny explores the ingredient list of experiences that turns regular people into murderous monsters, looking at crimes that shook the world. From Ted Bundy to Joanna Dennehy, Richard Trenton Chase to Aileen Wuornos and many more besides, Emma explores the crime scenes and criminal minds of some of the most notorious serial killers of our time. She also unveils shocking stories of lesser-known killers that even the most dedicated true crime fan will be surprised by. What unites all of these killers is the ability to slip into society. They look just like you and me. Some were married or parents, conscientious neighbours, teachers or fixtures of their community. Join Emma in this compelling exposé of their depraved world to understand what motivates them and what they look for in a victim. Then maybe you'll be able to spot the serial killer next door...

Welcome to Aberfal Boys High School. Independent jewel of academic and sporting excellence in the South-west -- until the headmaster is murdered in his study. And now the Year Seven School Mums' WhatsApp Group really do have something to talk about...

Clare Withoutani: OMG have you heard about Newhall?!!!

Becky Rupertsmum: Helen-Louise just texted. Can't believe it.

Asha: Not heard anything. What's happened?

Pam Geoffreysmum: What's he done this time? They're going co-ed, aren't they? I knew this would happen.

Clare Withoutani: Can't believe it, Becky. I'm in shock.

Pam Geoffreysmum: Are we going co-ed?

Becky Rupertsmum: No, Pam. Newhall died.

Pam Geoffreysmum: Oh GOD. Seriously??!! Can't believe it. So sad. He'll be such a loss to the school. The boys will be devastated. Will the school be offering grief counselling?

Rose Oliversmum: Anyone know what pages they're meant to do for chemistry

Ollie's homework diary says 'do questions 1-4' but no page numbers!

As the resulting police investigation reveals more and more of Aberfal's long-hidden secrets the list of suspects who wanted the headmaster dead grows by the day. And far from being a glittering jewel of exclusivity and excellence, it would appear Aberfal Boys High School is rotten to its core… One Bad Apple is by Jo Jakeman

Because She Looked Away is by Alison Bruce. After the sudden death of her sister, devastated detective DS Ronnie Blake relocates to Cambridge to help her brother Alex raise their sister's young son, Noah. She reports for her first day but instead finds herself being questioned by a special investigations unit, nicknamed the DEAD Team. With a small group of six, led by DI Fenton, the once-successful DEAD team has a single outstanding case, Operation Byron, and the failure to resolve it threatens the unit's existence. Their most promising lead is an anonymous note linking three seemingly unconnected people: a convicted fraudster, a dead academic... and Ronnie's sister Jodie. When Ronnie is denied information about Operation Byron, she follows a lead slipped to her by Malachi, the youngest member of the team, and makes a discovery which links Operation Byron to a disturbing unsolved murder. She is rapidly drawn into an intricate web of deceit, buried secrets and tragedy and the discovery that her connection to Cambridge is far darker than she could ever have guessed.

Passion in Death is by J D Robb. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer On a hot August night, Lt. Eve Dallas is called to a downtown club, where a joint bachelorette party full of love, friendship and laughter has taken a darker turn and ended in a crime scene. One of the brides has been garrotted in a private room and lies dead in a pool of blood. Shauna and Erin are celebrating their joint bachelorette party, living their best lives with a group of their girlfriends, drinking and dancing. Erin is planning a surprise honeymoon for Shauna to Maui – her dream holiday destination – but Erin will never have the chance to tell her fiancée about the surprise because on this – the best night of their lives – a killer lies in wait . . . The brutal murder scene was just seconds from the packed dance floor but despite the dozens of people present, useful witnesses prove hard to come by. Someone must know something, but no one is talking. On the surface the two brides had a supportive, tightknit group of friends but when Eve starts to dig below the surface, she discovers that everything may not be quite as it seems....

 October 2024

Summoned to an unnerving, abandoned theme park to retrieve a body, Dr Kay Scarpetta is devastated to learn that the victim is a man she once loved. While teaching in Rome during the early days of her career, Scarpetta had a love affair with acclaimed astrophysicist Sal Giordano that led to a lifelong friendship. The murder scene is bizarre, with a crop circle of petals around the body, and Giordano's skin is strangely red. Scarpetta's niece Lucy believes he was dropped from an unidentified flying craft. Scarpetta knows an autopsy can reveal the dead's secrets, but she is shocked to find her friend seems to have deliberately left her a clue. As the investigators are torn between suspicions of otherworldly forces, and of Giordano himself, Scarpetta detects an explanation closer to home that, in her mind, is far more evil . . . Identity Unknown is by Patricia Cornwell.

The Last One at the Wedding is by Jason Rekulak. The guests are arriving, and the celebrations are starting. But there's something strange about this wedding... Frank Szatowski hasn't seen his daughter Maggie in years, and it breaks his heart every day. So when she calls him out of the blue, to tell him that she's getting married and he's invited, Frank is overjoyed. Maggie is marrying into one of the richest families in the country, and Frank finds himself overwhelmed by the social circle she now moves in. He'll do anything to reconnect, though, and arrives at their New Hampshire estate ready to bond however he can with Maggie's in-laws. But as the wedding weekend gets underway, it becomes clear to Frank that although they have spared no expense, there's something strange about Maggie's fiancé. And maybe he shouldn't be celebrating just yet...

Agatha Raisin: Killing Time is by M C Beaton with R W Green Life is never, ever dull in Agatha Raisin's sleepy Cotswolds village! Agatha Raisin's private detective agency is working flat out on a series of burglaries which take a violent turn when a friend of Agatha's is murdered during a raid on his antiques shop. Although determined to nail the villains, Agatha still makes time to help Sir Charles Fraith prepare to stage a massive, hugely glamorous event in the grounds of his ancestral home, Barfield House. When Agatha begins to receive death threats and narrowly avoids being abducted by kidnappers, she takes advantage of a previously arranged trip to Majorca to lie low for a while. There she meets her partner, former police officer John Glass, who is now working as a dance instructor on a cruise liner. Their relationship founders over John's apparent closeness to his stage dance partner, Louise. Putting her love life on hold, Agatha heads home, having worked out who has been threatening her life. Can Agatha track down the would-be killer, nail her friend's murderers and rescue her romance with John? Everything comes to a climax at the Barfield Extravaganza when on top of everything else, Agatha also manages to solve a 400-year-old Cotswold murder mystery!

The man who can't feel fear is back, in a race against time to find the woman who knows a secret that could take down the world as we know it. When a shocking murder and abduction on the streets of London leads investigators to him, Ben Koenig has no idea at first why the highest echelons of the CIA would need his help. But then he realises he knows the woman who carried out the killings. Ten years earlier, without being told why, he was tasked with helping her disappear. Far from being a deranged killer, she is the gatekeeper of a secret that could take down the West, so for years she has been in hiding. Until now. And if she has resurfaced, the danger may be closer and more terrifying than anyone can imagine. So Ben Koenig has to find her before it's too late. But Ben suffers from a syndrome which means he can't feel fear. He doesn't always know when he should walk away, or when he's leading others into danger . . . Nobody’s Hero is by M W Craven

November 2024

Mercy has a cost. Time for Victor to pay. Assassin-for-hire Victor is in Bucharest, Romania, to kill two targets meeting to exchange stolen intelligence his client wants back. It should be a simple task - until he realises the second of his targets is a former ally. Even for a man of Victor's twisted morality, he's not prepared to kill someone to whom he owes his life. To atone for not completing the job, Victor agrees to take on the kind of dangerous assignment he would otherwise avoid. At a conference on international relations, he must identify and assassinate a killer just like him and remain unseen, despite a guest list of spies, dignitaries, and security experts. Even for an elite professional, the job is a tall order - which is why he looks for help from the person whose life he spared in Romania. Yet unbeknownst to Victor, the Bucharest contract stepped on the toes of powerful enemies from his past; enemies who now know exactly where to find him . . . Fire Fight is by Tom Wood.

Traitor is by Roberta Kray. She sold him out. Now he's out for revenge . . . After her murderous ex-boyfriend who she turned into the police was released from prison, Jem Byrne fled to London, desperate to hide herself in the hustle of the big city. Now she spends every day watching her back, waiting for him to catch up with her. But The Mansfield estate is far from a safe place to hide, and Jem soon learns she's only ever one wrong move away from being found out - and sold out. Private Investigator Harry Lind makes a living out of other people's secrets. When he meets Jem, he can tell she's hiding something big and he's desperate to find out what. But his talents have already been enlisted by another: an aging mother hoping to discover the truth about her daughter's disappearance fifty years earlier. There's also the two kids from The Mansfield pestering him to find their missing dad. Could Jem be the key to cracking both cases?

Against the Grain is by Peter Lovesey. When his former deputy, Julie, invites Detective Peter Diamond and his partner Paloma to spend a week at her home in the depths of rural Somerset, Diamond is horrified. What could be worse than seven days in the back end of nowhere with nothing to do? But it turns out that Julie has an ulterior motive. A local woman is doing time for manslaughter after a wild party ended in a tragic accident: a man suffocated in a silo of grain. Nobody in the village has much sympathy for Claudia, the unruly daughter of a wealthy local farmer. Nobody that is, except Julie, who is convinced there's more to this case than there appears and wants her former boss to investigate. And as Diamond tests his skills as an amateur sleuth, he soon discovers that the countryside isn't quite so dull as he'd anticipated. And then there's Philip, The Mansfield Estate's newest resident. He's lurking in the shadows, watching it all unfold. Or is he doing more than just watching?

One murder mystery movie. Three Dahlias. And a whole cast of suspects... Ex child star Posy Starling is finally filming her dream role - Dahlia Lively in The Lady Detective movie. But things take a nightmare turn when a prop weapon is replaced with the real thing - with almost fatal consequences for her fellow Dahlia, Rosalind King. There's something very wrong on the set of The Lady Detective - which means it's time to call in Caro Hooper, so the three Dahlias can investigate. In between filming scenes, signing autographs for locals, photoshoots on set and jetting off to France for an impromptu party, the three Dahlias do what they do best - surreptitiously sleuth. And very soon the evidence starts to point towards one particular co-star... But before they can prove it, a murder rocks the production. And this time, with a storm raging, the river flooded, and the bridge washed out, there are no police to rely on so it's up to the three Dahlias to stop a murderer in their tracks... before another victim is claimed. A Lively Midwinter Murder is by Katy Watson.

Dead Cold is by T F Muir. St Andrews, Scotland: When a woman's eviscerated body is found on the golf course close to the Fairmont Hotel, DCI Andy Gilchrist and his associate DS Jessie Janes are assigned the investigation. But the postmortem examination uncovers a shocking detail that must be kept from the public. Who could carry out such a brutal murder? And what is the significance of the gruesome trophy? But DNA uncovers links to a murder committed thirty years earlier and has Gilchrist fearing a killer of old has resurfaced, or worse, a debut serial killer setting out to learn his murderous trade. The hunt for the killer forces Gilchrist down a dangerous path that puts his and Jessie's life in danger, and ultimately leads them to a mind-playing madman who will kill again rather than go to prison. As Gilchrist homes in on the murderer, he finds himself relentlessly drawn into the killer's mind games, and a desperate fight for his life, in which there can only be one winner. Has Gilchrist finally met his match?

A Fatal Feast at Honeychurch Hall is by Hannah Dennison. When Eric Pugsley, who runs the unsightly scrapyard on the Honeychurch Hall estate, brings home his Turkish fiancée, everyone is delighted -- even if the marriage does seem to include her feisty mother who is never without a Terkel cigarette dangling from her lips. A Safari Supper at the Hall is held in their honour, but trouble begins when somewhere between the first course and dessert, one of the villagers goes missing and is later found drowned in the estate's ornamental lake. Rumours of foul play abound, given that competition is fierce to clinch the Honeychurch Challenge Cup at the upcoming Flower Festival, where sabotage has already come into play - earlier in the week someone released a herd of goats into the village allotments, where of the planned entries were eaten. But things take a sinister turn when Eric asks Kat to value the bride-to-be's 19th century Etruscan engagement ring only to be told that historically it is used for poison - hardly an appropriate choice for love but Eric is adamant it's what his fiancée wants. And then a second body is found... unearthing a hotbed of sabotage, blackmail, and old grudges.

 

Tom Mead On Sweet Revenge: The Dark Origins of Cabaret Macabre

My first novel, Death and the Conjuror, and the bulk of its sequel, The Murder Wheel, were written in 2020 at the height of the UK’s COVID lockdowns. They were attempts to channel the joy—the sheer delight—that I find in Golen Age mysteries and use it to create something new. As such, both books are love letters to my favourite authors: John Dickson Carr, Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Helen McCloy, Christianna Brand, Nicholas Blake, Edmund Crispin, and so many others. But as well as direct references to the work of the greats, the first two Joseph Spector novels are conscious attempts to emulate their style—to create something with the feel of a novel that might have been written in the glory days of the 1930s, when the puzzle mystery was at its peak. 

When the time came to get started on the third Spector novel, I felt more comfortable and (dare I say it) confident with my characters and the overall style of the books. As such, I was a little wary of resting on my laurels, recycling the same themes and ideas. But I wanted to retain the elements which (to my mind, at least) define the series, namely: magic, the theatre, the Gothic, the locked-room mystery. So, I started thinking about other influences which would blend neatly with that already-established formula. This brought me to the classic Japanese murder mystery—the honkaku—and its contemporary counterpart, shin-honkaku. These are genres with copious Golden Age connections, but also a heightened, pointedly non-naturalistic approach, high body counts, eccentric families, and brutal, bizarre murders. Tropes which are shared by an entirely different, yet curiously analogous, field: Jacobean tragedy.

As a lover of theatre (The Murder Wheel is set primarily in the backstage corridors of a fictional West End theatre, The Pomegranate), I wanted my characters to leave theatreland this time around, but to bring a semblance of the innately surreal realm of the stage with them to the fresh environs of the snowbound house in the English countryside. So, I looked to Jacobean drama. Agatha Christie made copious use of Shakespearean quotations for epigraphs and titles (Sad Cypress, Taken at the Flood), while Sleeping Murder features the John Webster tragedy The Duchess of Malfi as a prominent plot point—as does P.D. James’s The Skull Beneath the Skin. Meanwhile, Caroline Graham’s The Killings at Badger’s Drift (adapted for television as the very first episode of the long-running smash hit Midsomer Murders) borrows significant plot elements from John Ford’s Tis Pity She’s a Whore. There is therefore significant precedent for the overlap of such seemingly disparate genres. After all, both classic mysteries and these classic dramas rely on complex and remarkably convoluted plots, large casts of characters, and an all-important preoccupation with the macabre.

I have always been particularly fascinated by The Revenger’s Tragedy—even its origins are shrouded in mystery: it has been attributed to both Cyril Tourneur and Thomas Middleton. And the theme of revenge is incredibly potent and evocative. Of course, The Revenger’s Tragedy is decidedly not a mystery—though the characters deceive each other, they never deceive the audience. But what if, I wondered, the plot was reimagined and reinvented—transmogrified into a whodunit and, more importantly, a locked-room mystery? This gave me the shape of Cabaret Macabre.

Instead of Vindice the eponymous revenger, we have the troubled Victor Silvius. Instead of Castiza we have Caroline. And instead of the wicked duke, we have the judge, Sir Giles Drury. This was the inspiration I had been waiting for—I could practically see my cast of characters assembling in front of me.

And, perhaps inevitably, this one idea stimulated a slew of others. References to real-life criminous cases and characters--including the Brighton trunk murders of 1934 and the controversial celebrity pathologist Bernard Spilsbury--found their counterparts in the perverse yet fiercely logical murder plot. One strange, impossible death led to another, and my tapestry of puzzles began to coalesce into a single, cohesive piece. And the identity of the killer was a thrilling enigma.

The aim of any murder mystery is to give the reader a thrill; to whisk them away to another world. Whether Cabaret Macabre meets these criteria is not for me to say… but what I do know is that the book gave me plenty of thrills when I was writing it, and I can only hope it has a few more in store for the reader.

Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead (Out Now) Head of Zeus

Bestselling author sleuth and illusionist Joseph Spector investigates his most complex case yet in this gripping new locked-room murder mystery, set in an English country house just before the Second World War. Hampshire, 1938. When prominent judge Sir Giles Drury starts receiving sinister letters, his wife suspects Victor Silvius, a man confined to a sanatorium after attacking Sir Giles. Meanwhile, Silvius’ sister Caroline is convinced her brother is about to be murdered... by none other than his old nemesis Sir Giles Drury. Caroline seeks the advice of Scotland Yard’s Inspector Flint, while the Drurys, eager to avoid a scandal, turn to Joseph Spector. Spector, renowned magician turned sleuth, has an uncanny knack for solving complicated crimes – but this case will test his powers of deduction to their limits. At a snowbound English country house, a body is found is impossible circumstances. Spector and Flint’s investigations collide as they find themselves trapped by the snowstorm where anyone could be the next victim – or the killer...

More information about Tom Mead can be found on his website. You can also find him on X @TomMeadAuthor, on Instagram @tommeadauthor and on Facebook.

             

In The St Hilda's Spotlight - The Reverend Richard Coles

 Name:- Reverend Richard Coles

Job:- Author/Retired cleric/Broadcaster

Website:- Reverend Richard Coles | Official Website

Facebook: ReverendRichardColes

X: @RevRichardColes

Introduction

Reverend Richard Coles up until 2022 was a Church of England priest. Prior to this he was the instrumentalist half of the pop band The Communards. His first book in the Canon Clement series Murder Before Evensong was published in 2022 and was shortlisted for the 2023 British Book Awards Crime & Thriller Book of the Year. His most recent book is Murder at the Monastery.   He is also the co-host of the podcast The Rabbit Hole Detectives.

Current book (This can either be the current book that you are reading or writing or both)

Hillbilly Elegy by J D Vance

Favourite book:

The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa.

Which two musicians would you invite to dinner and why?

Josef Haydn and Nana Mouskouri. I think they’d get on and they had/have impeccable manners.

How do you relax?

Watching niche stuff on YouTube

Which book do you wish you had written and why?

Middlemarch by George Eliot.  Life in all its loveliness and awfulness and quite a lot in between.

What would you say to your younger self if you were just starting out as a writer.

Write every day. Doesn’t matter if it comes easily or stickily. Just write.

How would you describe your latest published book?

The winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature.

With A Dance to the Music of Crime: the artful crime to murder being the theme at St Hilda's this year, which are you three favourite albums?

The Smiths (The Smiths)

Last Leaf (The Danish String Quartet)

The Ring of the Nibelungen (Wagner)

If you were given the ability to join a band which would it be and why?

I would have loved to have played in the Burt Bacharach Orchestra. The maestro.

If you were to re-attend a concert which would it be and why?

Chaka Khan, NY 1987. Best I’ve ever heard, I think.

What are you looking forward to at St Hilda's?

Gossip and drinking with other writers.

Murder at the Monastery by The Reverend Richard Coles (Orion Publishing)

Daniel Clement has suffered a secret humiliation and to recover, takes respite at the monastery where he was a novice. But the monastery doesn't allow Daniel a break, for there are tensions building there too, as the secret past of novice master Father Paul is emerging. Tension mounts and a murder ensues. Meanwhile back at Champton, Daniel is the subject of village gossip, his mother Audrey is up to something again, there's trouble at the dress shop, up at the big house, and the puppies are running riot. Can Daniel be reconciled with detective Neil and solve the mystery?

A Christmas Novella Murder Under The Mistletoe will be published in October.

Murder Under The Mistletoe by The Reverend Richard Coles (Orion Publishing) October 2024

It is Christmas Day and at Champton Rectory, Canon Daniel Clement and his mother Audrey are joined by the residents and guests of the big house to drink, eat and be merry. At the festive feast, peace and goodwill prevail. Until two meet under the mistletoe. One of them falls down dead. And Daniel suspects murder has returned to Champton... Can Daniel and Detective Sergeant Neil Vanloo solve the crime and catch the Christmas killer?

Information on how to buy online tickets can be found here. #HCFW24

In The St Hilda's Spotlight - Harriet Evans

 Name: Harriet F Townson (Harriet Evans)

Job: Author

Website:- https://www.harriet-evans.com

Facebook: harrietevansbooks

X: @HarrietEvans

Instagram: @harrietevansauthor

Introduction

Harriet Evans is a former publisher and the author of 14 books. Her first book Going Home was published in 2005. She has since gone on to write a number of Richard and Judy book club selection picks and won the Good Housekeeping Book of the Year. Her debut crime novel D is for Death was published in June 2024.

Current book? (This can either be the current book that you are reading or writing or both)

A Pocket Full of Rye, by Agatha Christie. I have always had a terrible memory which is great for rereading crime. I never have any idea whodunnit. 

Favourite book: 

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayers. It is everything a book should be. Strong female lead, past and present colliding, detection, romance, academic women, and a glorious setting. I reread it every other year and it always gives me something new. 

Which two musicians would you invite to dinner and why?

Mozart, to see what genius is like, and Barbra Streisand. I have just read her autobiography and I’m obsessed with her. 

How do you relax?

I am never relaxed. I wish I was. I do however spend a lot of time writing in bed though which is obviously more relaxing than lots of jobs. 

Which book do you wish you had written and why?

Gaudy Night – see above. The Cazalet Chronicles, by Elizabeth Jane Howard, about a family before and after WW2. And A Murder is Announced, which is to my mind joint first best of Agatha Christie’s novels. (The other is Death on the Nile). 

How would you describe your latest published book?

 D is for Death is my first crime novel. It is set in 1935, and introduces the detective Dora Wildwood, who is escaping a terrible fiancé and runs away from her tiny Somerset village, jumping on a train to Paddington and arriving at dawn. From there she ends up in the London Library, and almost immediately discovers a dead body. It’s about her attempts to solve the murder and to work out what she is going to do next. I would describe it as Cold Comfort Farm meets Fleabag meets Miss Marple. 

With A Dance to the Music of Crime: the artful crime to murder being the theme at St Hilda's this year, which are your three favourite albums?

The Marriage of Figaro (1982 Decca recording Solti te Kanawa & Allen)

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

Ella Fitzgerald sings the Gershwin Songbook 

If you were given the ability to join a band which would it be and why? 

ABBA, because to sing that music all day every day would be incredible. You’d never get tired of it. Plus, it would be your job to sing Voulez-Vous. What a job. 

If you were to re-attend a concert which would it be and why?

Not a concert but an opera: Tosca at the ROH in 2011 conducted by Pappano with Angela Gheorghiu, Bryn Terfel and Jonas Kauffman. It was honestly one of the most full throttle beautiful experiences of my life. 

What are you looking forward to at St Hilda's?

Atmosphere and inspiration. I’m so thrilled to be asked and I can’t wait to be there and immerse myself in the whole experience, everything from the location itself to the different speakers and the ideas and content to be discussed. Writing is such a strange job to have, to be able to listen and absorb other writers’ thoughts and processes is a huge privilege. I am so looking forward to it. 

D is for Death by Harriet F. Townson (Harriet Evans) Hodder and Stoughton

Meet Dora Wildwood: runaway bride, book lover, and aspiring detective. Likes: solving crimes, peppermint creams, trousers and her own independence. Dislikes: cracked book spines, tyrannical behaviour, beetroot. 1935. Dora's on the first train to London, having smuggled herself out of the house in the middle of the night to escape her impending marriage. But unluckily for her, Dora's fiance is more persistent than most and follows. As Dora alights at Paddington station, she is immediately forced to run from the loathsome Charles Silk-Butters. She ducks into the London Library to hide and it is there, surrounded by books, where she should feel most safe, that Dora Wildwood stumbles across her first dead body. Having been thrown into the middle of a murder scene, it's now impossible to walk away. Indeed, Dora's certain she will prove an invaluable help to the gruff Detective Inspector Fox who swiftly arrives on the scene. For as everyone knows, it's the woman in the room who always sees more than anyone else: and no one more so than Dora herself..

More information about St Hilda's and booking can be found here.

Bringing Shrouded to life by Sólveig Pálsdóttir,

I’ll admit that I don’t push myself hard to start something new and normally take a break between books. I like to see a book find its feet before starting the next one. I’m convinced that the imagination needs nourishment so it can work, and I need to take a deep breath of what society is doing around me – because I have to have something to say and I’m not interested in repeating myself. Otherwise I don’t see the point in writing.

Shrouded, which was originally published in Iceland as Miðillinn in 2023, is the seventh in the series featuring Guðgeir, and when I sat down to write, I wasn’t even sure that this was going to be a crime story. I had a mental image of an elderly lady sitting at her kitchen table, reading a newspaper ad asking for geniuses, as she mutters to herself, polishes her glasses and sips her milky coffee.

To me this woman seemed to be a loner with an intriguing back story. I knew she lived in a house with red steel cladding in the old town in the western part of Reykjavík, that she had a disabled daughter and I saw her walking through the Hólavellir cemetery that’s close to the centre of the city. I wrote every day as the weeks passed. The story began to take shape but something seemed to be missing.

The deadline was looming for the book my publishers wanted, when I heard that the French Embassy in Iceland and the Writers’ Union of Iceland were offering the opportunity of a month-long writing residency in La Rochelle. I applied, and was chosen. In the spring I set off for France, looking forward to being able to write in peace and quiet. If I had known what was to come, I wouldn’t have gone. But now I’m thankful for what ensued, as the experience added the emotional edge that was missing from the manuscript, and I started making changes.

I stayed in a pretty little house located in a large and beautiful public park that was dark and deserted at night. Also supposed to be staying in this house was a French lady who was a playwright. To cut a long story short, I only saw the playwright when she came to collect her belongings, as she couldn’t bear to be there any longer after having spent two days and nights alone in the house. The reason was a seriously ill woman who lurked around the house, slept on the verandah and peered in through the windows during the day, chattering and calling out to people only she could see. I had only been told about this person as I arrived, with the instruction to absolutely not let her in, as a resident had done this during the winter when it had been very cold and the outcome had been a ‘BIG PROBLEM.’

I was told that this woman had many times been offered help, and always refused. She had long stopped taking her medication and had developed an obsession with the pretty little house in the park.

Despite feeling uncomfortable in this place, I wrote and wrote. I veered between fear of this sick woman and sympathy for her. I was often scared, especially at night, because the woman was angry with me for using the house’s rubbish bin – unaware that this was where she kept her things during the day, her mattress, blanket, pillow and sleeping bag. That night she was louder and angrier than usual.

I would lie awake far into the night, starkly conscious of the difference in our circusmtances. Despite the discomfort she caused me, I was in a clean bed inside, while she lay on an old mattress outside, and it was as well that the weather was fine. During the day I wanted to speak to her and understand her life, but she spoke just French, of which I only understand a few words. Every evening I shut myself in at six o’clock, locking the doors and windows as soon as the shadows began to lengthen and people stopped coming into the park, leaving me alone with this troubled woman.

During the day I wrote, and in the evenings, and through many sleepless nights. The manuscript changed a great deal. The sick woman didn’t become part of the story, but the uncanny feel of those days and nights found its way into what I was writing as Shrouded took shape.

La Rochelle is a very popular destination for tourists, so finding another place to stay wasn’t easy, but I eventually managed to find somewhere and spent the last few days in the city centre. There was a lot of noise late into the night, but I felt much more at ease here among people than alone with the sick woman in the park. The day before I travelled home to Iceland, by complete coincidence I was given a deeper insight into her life and background. This affected me deeply, but this isn’t a story to be told here...

Shrouded by Sólveig Pálsdóttir, translated by Quentin Bates (Corylus Books) £9.99 Out Now

A retired, reclusive woman is found on a bitter winter morning, clubbed to death in Reykjavik's old graveyard. Detectives Guðgeir and Elsa Guðrún face one of their toughest cases yet, as they try to piece together the details of Arnhildur's austere life in her Red House in the oldest part of the city.Why was this solitary, private woman attending séances, and why was she determined to keep her severe financial difficulties so secret? Could the truth be buried deep in her past and a long history of family enmity, or could there be something more? Now a stranger keeps a watchful eye on the graveyard and Arnhildur's house. With the detectives running out of leads, could the Medium, blessed and cursed with uncanny abilities, shed any light on Arnhildur’s lonely death?

Sólveig Pálsdóttir can be found on “X” at Solveigpals. She can also be followed on Facebook.

Sólveig Pálsdóttir trained as an actor and has a background in the theatre, television and radio. In a second career she studied for degrees in literature and education, and has taught literature and linguistics, drama and public speaking, and has produced both radio programmes and managed cultural events. Her first novel appeared in Iceland in 2012 and went straight to the country’s bestseller list. Her memoir Klettaborgin was a 2020 hit in Iceland. Sólveig Pálsdóttir has written seven novels featuring Reykjavík detectives Guðgeir Fransson and Elsa Guðrún in the series called Ice and Crime. Silenced received the 2020 Drop of Blood award for the best Icelandic novel of the year and was Iceland’s nomination for the 2021 Glass key award for the best Nordic crime novel of the year. Shrouded is the series’ fourth book to appear in English. Sólveig lives in Reykjavík.

Quentin Bates has personal and professional roots in Iceland that go very deep. He is an author of series of nine crime novels and novellas featuring the Reykjavik detective Gunnhildur (Gunna) Gísladóttir. In addition to his own fiction, he has translated many works of Iceland’s coolest writers into English, including books by Lilja Sigurðardóttir, Guðlaugur Arason, Einar Kárason, Óskar Guðmundsson, Sólveig Pálsdóttir, Jónína Leosdottir, Ragnar Jónasson and elusive Stella Blomkvist. Quentin was instrumental in launching Iceland Noir in 2013, the crime fiction festival in Reykjavik.

In The St Hilda's Spotlight - Erin Kelly

Name:- Erin Kelly

Job:- Author/ Freelance Writer

Website:-www.erinkelly.co.uk

Facebook: erinkellyauthor

X: @mserinkelly

Instagram: @erinjelly

Introduction:

Erin Kelly is an award-winning novelist. Her debut novel The Poison Tree was a Richard and Judy book club pick and was subsequently turned into a major TV drama. Both her sixth novel He Said/She Said and Stone Mothers (We Know You Know) were also Richard and Judy Book Club pick. Her 2014 novelisation of the Bafta award winning programme Broadchurch is an international best seller. Her latest novel House of Mirrors is a sequel to her debut novel The Poison Tree. 

Current book? (This can either be the current book that you are reading or writing or both)

I’m just finishing my eleventh novel – working title The Night Stairs – which is about a mass vertigo epidemic in a girls’ boarding school.

Favourite book:

Unfair question and you know it.

Which two musicians would you invite to dinner and why?

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Kate Bush. They’re very different writers, both geniuses in their own ways. He’s so prolific and open and geeky about his song-writing, her output is sporadic and she’s an enigma, but I’d love to hear them both break down their creative processes.

How do you relax?

Yoga.

Which book do you wish you had written and why?

The Gruffalo. A juggernaut picture book is like a Christmas number one, it keeps spitting out gold coins. Financial freedom would mean I could slow down and enjoy my career a bit more. It often feels like I’m in the eye of a storm.

What would you say to your younger self if you were just starting out as a writer.

Hating your manuscript isn’t a sign you should quit; it’s part of the process and you will never abandon a book.

How would you describe your latest published book?

The House of Mirrors is a book about families, clothes and true-crime podcasts.

With A Dance to the Music of Crime: the artful crime to murder being the theme at St Hilda's this year, which are you three favourite albums?

Another unfair question!

Hounds of Love by Kate Bush

I’m Your Man by Leonard Cohen

Liege and Lief by Fairport Convention

If you were given the ability to join a band which would it be and why?

Right now, The Last Dinner Party, because they look like they’re really enjoying themselves.

If you were to re-attend a concert which would it be and why

I saw pre-megastar Amy Winehouse play an early version of Black to Black with only a guitarist for accompaniment in a basement bar in Camden. There can’t have been more than forty people in attendance. It was such a small gig, Amy got ready in the toilets, and I helped her with her eyeliner.

What are you looking forward to at St Hilda's?

Learning something new from authors I already know well.

The House of Mirrors by Erin Kelly (Hodder & Stoughton)

One of them has killed before. One of them will kill again. In the sweltering summer of 1997, straight-laced, straight-A student Karen met Biba - a bohemian and impossibly glamorous aspiring actress. A few months later, two people were dead and another had been sent to prison. Having stood by Rex as he served his sentence, Karen is now married to him with a daughter, Alice, who runs a vintage clothing company in London. They're a normal family, as long as they don't talk about the past, never mention the name Biba, and ignore Alice's flashes of dark, dangerous fury. Karen has kept what really happened that summer of '97 hidden deep inside her. Alice is keeping secrets of her own. But when anonymous notes begin to arrive at Alice's shop, it seems the past is about to catch up with them all.

More information about 2024 St Hilda's College Crime Fiction Weekend and how to book online can be found here.