In The St Hilda's Spotlight - Jo Callaghan

 Name:- Jo Callaghan

Job:- Author and senior strategist 

Instagram:- @Jocallaghankat

Introduction:

Jo Callaghan is the author of four books in the Kat and Lock series. Her debut novel In The Blink of an Eye was published in 2023 and won the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger and the Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year in 2024. It was shortlisted for CrimeFest Debut novel and the Barry Award for Best First Novel. Human Remains the third book in the Kit and Lock series was longlisted for the Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year Award in 2026. Her most recent novel is Body Of Lies which is the final book in the Kat and Lock series.

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

I have just finished The Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (Station Eleven is one of my favourite books) and I have just started Quantum of Menace by Vaseem Khan. I am consuming a lot of non-fiction books and podcasts at the moment to help with the novel I am currently writing, which is taking me into the world of Quantum Physics and elite athletics. I know nothing about either, but both are absolutely fascinating, so I am having a ball!

Why do you think anti-heroes are so interesting to readers? 

To be honest, I don’t accept the term ‘anti-heroes’ as it relies upon a false, binary premise that people are either heroes or anti-heroes, when in reality, we are all both. I think readers and viewers are fascinated by so-called ‘anti-heroes’ as they are more complex, rounded characters that reveal more about humanity and ourselves.

Which two anti-heroes or enemies would you invite to dinner and why? 

Hmm. I think most so-called ‘anti-heroes’ tend to have huge egos and personalities, so if I wanted the evening to be fun and enjoyable I would only invite one, with maybe another quiet, non-assuming person who would listen in awe. I am struggling to choose between Tony Soprano and Tommy Shelby, so I think I will invite them both but on separate days. I think Tony would help with the cooking, and Tommy could help with the washing up.

How do you relax? 

The truth is I don’t. It is something that I really struggle with. I work full-time in a very pressured job and there is usually a lot going on at home too. I think reading a really good book in the sun is the most relaxing thing I do – but it is all too rare. Writing is also a type of relaxation to me, as I can be so completely immersed in the next word, the next sentence that it shuts everything else out – I suspect this is what other people get from running or yoga. But conversely, the plot and characters keep me awake at night!

Which anti hero would you like to be on your side in a difficult situation.

Depends on the situation! If it was physically dangerous, then I’m going for Tommy Shelby again as he could probably prevent any violence with just the sheer force of his barely controlled rage. He is also very clever, so I am sure we could concoct a strategy whereby no one gets hurt, but ultimately, we still win.

If you were to write a book involving an anti-hero where would you set it and why? 

We are all anti-heroes as well as heroes and novels are a way of holding the mirror up to humanity and ourselves. So, they could be set anywhere. But my stories are often high-concept, so I try and ground them in reality, which is why they are set in the Midlands where I am from.

How would you describe your latest published book? 

It is called Body of Lies, and it’s the fourth and FINAL book in the Kat and Lock series, which pairs the lead – DCS Kat Frank with AI Detective, AIDE Lock. It opens on Halloween, with a local MP found murdered on medieval stocks with a taunting message written in binary code that seems to target Kat and Lock: catch me if you can. Like all good crime novels, my series explores what it means to be human, and the question at the heart of my books is, how much can AI learn, and what happens when it does? I hope I provide an answer of sorts in this fourth and final instalment…

With Bad Apples: crime fiction’s enemies and anti-heroes theme at St Hilda's this year, who are you three favourite anti-heroes: 

Walter White (Breaking Bad)

Tommy Shelby (Peaky Blinders)

Villanelle (Killing Eve)

Which 3 films or television series featuring anti-heroes would you rewatch and why.

The best TV series are the ones that get better the more you watch them. I have watched Breaking Bad and Peaky Blinders 3 times, and I am currently re-watching Widow’s Bay – Tom Loftis might be my new favourite ‘anti-hero’!

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

I have never been before, so don’t quite know what to expect (and I’m a bit nervous about it to be honest). But I am looking forward to seeing other writers who have become friends, and I expect to learn a lot from listening to all the other talks. That is the best thing about crime festivals: most crime writers are intellectually and emotionally curious people and we are constantly trying to learn and improve our craft. I have already learnt a lot just preparing for my own talk, so I am looking forward to an emotionally uplifting and intellectually stimulating weekend – if that doesn’t make me sound too swotty! 

Bodies of Lies by Jo Callaghan (Simon & Schuster)

Human suspicion. AI manipulation. When truth can be rewritten, who can you trust? DCS Kat Frank is back at the Future Policing Unit after a devastating loss - and straight into her most disturbing case yet. On Halloween night, a local MP is found murdered. Beside the body is a taunting message in binary code, aimed directly at Kat: Catch me if you can. The victim was a vocal opponent of AI. The motive looks political. But as Kat investigates with her partner, AIDE Lock - the world’s first AI detective - the case spirals into something far more dangerous. Then a cyberattack takes down the National Grid. With the country in chaos and lives on the line, Kat and Lock must track a killer who is always one step ahead. But in a world of deepfakes, deception and digital ghosts, instinct is no longer enough. Kat must decide whether to trust the one thing she still fears most: her AI partner. Because this time, Lock may not just be solving the case. He may be changing what it means to be human. Can Kat stop a killer before the lights go out for good?

Information about programme and ticket sales including on line tickets can be found here.

#HCFW26

In The St Hilda's Spotlight - Sarah Vaughan

Name: - Sarah Vaughan

Job: - Author

Website: - https://www.sarahvaughanauthor.com

Instagram: - @svaughanauthor

Facebook: - @Sarah Vaughan Author

Introduction: -

Sarah Vaughan is a former journalist turned author.  Her first two novels are women’s fiction. Her first political thriller Anatomy of a Scandal was published in 2018 and was a Sunday Times bestseller and is now a global Netflix limited series. Her second crime book Little Disasters was published in 2020 and was shown in May 2025 on Paramount Plus. Reputation has been optioned by the team behind Anatomy of a Scandal. Her most recent book is entitled Based on a True Story.

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

I’ve just read Sabine Durrant’s superb Dead Heat which features an unreliable narrator anti-hero and has really Ripley and Gatsby vibes.  As with her Lie With Me, she is excellent at capturing the precariousness of being an outsider and the oppressiveness of Greek heat.

Why do you think anti-heroes are so interesting to readers?

I think we love a psychological puzzle. No one wants to read about an anodyne character: we want to know what motivates deeply flawed, even villainous, characters. And when they’re extreme – and criminal – they make us feel better about ourselves.

Which two anti-heroes or enemies would you invite to dinner and why?

Tom Ripley and Iago. Think of their waspishness. Thankfully I don’t smoke, so I don’t possess an ash tray.

How do you relax?

A bit of a cliché but “getting out in nature”. In an ideal world, that means walking on a Cornish cliff. Day to day, it’s walking my dog Olive in the fields near my home. Sitting at a desk all day is terrible for one’s posture and I feel scratchy if I don’t get out first thing. Swimming – which I don’t do enough of; holidays; meals with family and friends; reading in bed. Having said that, I’m currently finishing a book so feel a constant low thrum of anxiety.

Which anti-hero would you like to be on your side in a difficult situation.

The one with the least scruples.

If you were to write a book involving an anti-hero, where would you set it and why?

I love London and think it lends itself brilliantly to anti-heroes: think of the potential for deception, for getting deliberately lost, and to reinvention. But my son’s about to go off to university in the north-east and I’m looking forward to exploring Northumberland (I can’t keep setting books in north Cornwall.) It feels remote and beautiful.

How would you describe your latest published book?

Based on a True Story is a feminised King Lear about power lies and family narratives which starts with a body found on a storm-lashed north Cornwall beach. Famed children’s author Dame Eleanor Kingman has gathered family and friends to celebrate her 70^th birthday and her latest number one bestseller. But someone’s been sending emails threatening to expose a secret she’s kept for half a century. With a TV documentary crew arriving to film a retrospective, can she unearth her nemesis and maintain the fiction on which her multi-million-pound career depends?

With Bad Apples: crime fiction’s enemies and anti-hero’s theme at St Hilda's this year, who are you three favourite anti-heroes?

At the risk of being horribly unoriginal: Ripley, Iago, Moriarty.

Which 3 films or television series featuring anti-heroes would you rewatch and why?

I adore Succession. How many anti-heroes does it have? Not just Logan Roy and his kids but the like of Lukas Matsson (played by Alexander Skarsgard) who sends frozen bricks of his blood to an employee with whom he’d been involved.

I’ve just watched The Beast in Me. Matthew Rhys’ Nile Jarvis is not so much an anti-hero as a psychopath and is horribly compelling.

Talking of Alexander Skarsgard, he also excelled at being charming and then toxic in Big Little Lies (where he is not so much anti-hero as outright villain.)

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

Writing’s such a solitary job and I thrived best, career-wise, when I worked in a cramped lobby room: I miss the banter of fellow journalists, so I’m giddy about being with other writers for a weekend. And, having spent three gorgeous years at Oxford, I’m looking forward to pretending I live there again. I used to plod round Christ Church meadow so might even manage that.

Based on a True Story by Sarah Vaughan (Simon & Schuster Ltd)

All families have secrets. But it's the lies that can kill. A lavish 70th birthday party. A body found on a storm-lashed beach. And a secret that someone is dying to tell...  Famed children’s author Dame Eleanor Kingman has summoned her family and friends to her exquisite manor house on the cliffs. They're celebrating her birthday – and her latest number one bestseller in her series of books based on a mother fox and her cubs. But the night before the party, Eleanor receives an email: an email that threatens to expose the lie she’s kept up for over half a century. Someone knows her secret. Is it her estranged literary agent? Is it her ex-husband, to whom she no longer speaks? Is it the nanny she fired all those years ago, who always did have a knack for storytelling? Or is it one of her three daughters, all of whom have a stake in the publishing empire she has built... With a TV crew arriving to film a documentary of her life, Eleanor needs to find out who sent the email – and preserve her multimillion-pound career. But when push comes to shove, and it's time to tell the truth - will anyone actually believe her?

 More information about St Hilda's and how to purchase online tickets can be found here.

#HCFW26

Petrona Award 2026 - Longlist

 

Outstanding crime fiction from Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden longlisted for the 2026 petrona award

Twelve crime novels from Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have made the longlist for the 2026 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year.

They are:

One True Word by Snæbjörn Arngrímsson - tr. Larissa Kyzer (Pushkin Vertigo, Iceland)

Murder Tide by Stella Blómkvist tr. Quentin Bates (Corylus Books, Iceland)

Broken by Jón Atli Jónasson - tr. Quentin Bates (Corylus Books, Iceland)

Into Thin Air by Ørjan N Karlsson - tr. Ian Giles (Orenda Books, Norway)

The Writing in the Water by John Ajvide Lindqvist - tr. Michael Meigs (Amazon Crossing, Sweden)

Wolf Hour by Jo Nesbø - tr. Robert Ferguson (Harvill Secker, Norway)

The Heirs of the Arctic by Aslak Nore - tr. Sean Kinsella (MacLehose Press, Norway)

The Grave in the Ice by Satu Rämö - tr. Kristian London (Zaffre, Finland)

Black as Death by Lilja Sigurðardóttir - tr. Lorenza Garcia (Orenda Books, Iceland)

The Wake by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir - tr. Victoria Cribb (Hodder & Stoughton, Iceland)

The Girl with Ice in her Veins by Karin Smirnoff - tr. Sarah Death (MacLehose Press , Sweden)

The Winter Job by Antti Tuomainen - tr. David Hackston (Orenda Books, Finland)

The longlist contains a mix of newer and more established authors including previous Petrona Award winners Satu Rämö, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir and Antti Tuomainen.

Both large and small publishers are represented on the longlist, with Orenda Books having three entries and Corylus Books and MacLehose Press having two apiece. Both longlisted entries by Corylus Books have been translated by Quentin Bates.

The breakdown by country is Iceland (5), Norway (3), Finland (2) and Sweden (2).

The shortlist will be announced on 24 September 2026.

The Petrona Award 2026 judging panel comprises Jackie Farrant, the creator of RAVEN CRIME READS and a bookseller for a major book chain in the UK, Ewa Sherman, translator and writer, and blogger at NORDIC LIGHTHOUSE, and Sonja van der Westhuizen, a book critic for print and online publications in the UK and South Africa, as well as a blogger at WEST WORDS REVIEWS. 

The Award administrator is Karen Meek, owner of the EURO CRIME blog and website.

Adele Parks on Eyes on You and love in 2026

If I met you in an elevator and we were travelling a few floors together I might try to pitch to you, my new suspense thriller, Eyes On You I would tell you that it is about a brutal murder, a broken witness, a dangerous obsession and that Amy, our traumatised but resilient, protagonist is all three of those things. Humans are complex, we can be many things at once. We’re formed by all our experiences, relationships, memories and secrets. When Amy was just 15, she watched her father brutally murder his secret lover. Her testimony put him behind bars for a very long time. She’s basically very troubled.

We meet Amy age 32, just when her father might be eligible for parole. Unsurprisingly, after that childhood trauma, Amy hasn’t reached her full potential but lives in the shadow of that infamous night. She works in a grotty, noodle bar; she’s wasted away her twenties in shock and shame hiding from the notoriety of the crime, she’s set to do the same with her thirties. Given the chance, therapists would have a lot to investigate, but she’s a loner and doesn’t let anyone in, personally or professionally. However, that is about to change when a stranger walks into the restaurant where she works. Oliver Harrington also has a past he’d rather not dwell on; he too is an example of trauma shaping identity. The pair feel an instant attraction, that mercurial, much sought after, once in a lifetime fascination with each other. They bond so intensely that it feels like love. But is it?

In this book I wanted to dive deep into what we think love is now in 2026; a complex, much-therapized, emotionally intelligent, extremely exposed, cynical world. I’ve written a particularly dark and twisty psychological suspense novel which is very character based. The more I investigated this matter, the more questions I had on how love can turn dangerous. What is the difference between extreme sexual attraction and being ‘in love’? I drew the conclusion that love is just a blink away from obsession, it is basically a matter of reciprocity. And stalking? The insidious companion to obsession, what’s that about? How do people justify such extremities in the name of love? 

In Eyes On You I write from various points of view, all the narrators consider themselves reliable, but are they? How do people who behave as wildly as they do in my novel – crossing moral, socially acceptable and even legal lines - justify their actions and see themselves as reasonable? I want readers to ask whether we ever truly know anyone, including ourselves. 

Eyes On You also looks at the themes of truth and perspective. I know there’s a fashion for ‘my truth’ or ‘their truth’, an acceptance that truth is subjective sometimes; I’m wondering if we’ve dismantled facts so much that there is no longer such a thing as the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. If there is, I believe the reader is going to find it, not my characters who are as previously mentioned unreliable, far too good at telling themselves what they want to hear! I’m depending on you to sort through their dark minds and work it out. Who can you trust? 

This novel is fast paced and has multiple layers of secrets, secrets kept from the world, secrets kept within families, and secrets people keep from themselves. This meant I certainly challenged myself with plotting; constantly having to keep in mind who knows what about whom. Most of the time, readers know more than the characters do, although (I hope) not always and not everything because I’m here to entertain and I want you to gasp at some of the twists as you dig down. 

I often write about ordinary families who find themselves in extraordinary situations. Before Amy’s dad murdered his mistress in a jealous rage, she had believed her family were living a perfectly average, happy-enough life. She had no idea her father was having an affair. She thought he was a wonderful dad. I believe if readers relate to the characters starting point, they feel invested and perhaps, in some cases, even sympathetic when things get complicated. It was interesting to explore the way trauma echoes down through families and across generations. The idea behind this story is that whilst we don't choose our families or our history, we can choose what we do with what we inherit. I’m a believer in freewill. 

Eyes on You by Adele Parks (HQ HarperCollins) out 27th August 2026

Be afraid. Someone’s watching. At fifteen, Amy witnessed her father brutally murder his secret lover. Her testimony sealed her father’s fate. With him in prison, Amy and her mother must rebuild their lives in the shadow of a notorious crime. Years later, Oliver Harrington walks into the restaurant where Amy works. Just like Amy, Oliver has a past he’d rather forget. Amy is drawn to him at a profound level; they feel a connection, an understanding… This seems a lot like love, but does it hide something darker – an obsession that could lead Amy into a web of deception and violence she thought she’d escaped? As the truth looms ever closer, Amy must confront a harsh reality: where there is love, there is often betrayal.

More information about Adele Parks can be found on her website. You can also find her on X @adeleparks.and on Instagram @adele_parks.

C J Parsons on the Inspiration for The Bad Mother

The maternal instinct is, in my opinion, an unrecognised superpower: a natural force so strong it trumps even self-preservation. Mothers have lifted cars to save trapped children. They run into burning buildings and across the path of gunfire.

So why isn’t the world perpetually in awe of this extraordinary female phenomenon? To me, it seems taken for granted.

In writing The Bad Mother, I set out to explore the power of the maternal instinct when it succeeds – and the catastrophic damage when it fails. One of my characters fears herself incapable of this protective drive because her own mother didn’t possess it. She wonders: do bad mothers beget bad mothers… or can the cycle be broken? She finds out the answer when her child’s life is in danger.

Growing up, I never had a particularly strong maternal instinct. While others cooed and marvelled, I thought babies were boring (and let’s be honest; if they’re not yours, they kind of are). Motherhood was always something I thought I might try ‘in five years.’ Except the five years moved with me, never becoming four or three. Until I was hitting the snooze alarm on my biological clock. I didn’t feel ready – what if I wasn’t any good at it? - but if I wanted to be a parent, I could put it off no longer.

And along came Kai.

I quickly discovered that being a mother was far harder than I’d imagined when watching young Mums wheeling their babies around the park or bouncing them on a knee during chats over lattes in Starbucks.

‘Why didn’t you tell me how bad the nights are?’ I asked my sister once through a haze of exhaustion, after being pulled from sleep five times a night for four months.

‘I was afraid it would put you off doing it,’ she said.

And it might well have. Because I wouldn’t have factored in that primal drive, how it would change me. I am a naturally selfish person, but having a baby turned my own wants and needs into secondary considerations. And ignited my protective instinct: I would have killed, without hesitation, anyone who threatened my baby. I would have stepped in front of a knife or gun aimed her way.

Which is why, to quote Rudyard Kipling, ‘the female of the species is more deadly than the male.’ This is true right across the animal kingdom. Mother bears are the endlessly cited example, though personally, I think that misses the point. Because yes, mother bears fight to protect their cubs. But they are huge creatures with giant teeth and claws, so the risks tend to be higher on their opponent’s side. More impressive to me are the tiny mothers pitting themselves against giants. My friends and I scuba dive, and once accidentally trespassed on a trigger fish’s territory during breeding season. There were six of us, all skyscrapers compared to the little fish. But that didn’t stop her from darting out and attacking the enormous, bubbling monsters that had dared encroach on her nest.

Such is the power of the mother’s instinct – when it works. It doesn’t always.

An older woman – a no-nonsense, unsentimental Scot – told me that after she gave birth to her first child, she felt nothing. When she looked at her new born, she experienced only a dull sense of duty.

For two days, she went through the motions of maternal care, fearing she had made a terrible mistake, trapping herself with the responsibility for another life from which she felt completely detached.

But then something happened. Something that sounds small but turned out to be immensely powerful.

 She smelled the top of her baby’s head. That scent – like mown grass and fresh bread baking – opened a door inside her, unleashing an emotional flood that was unlike anything she’d ever never known: a fierce love so pure and unfiltered that it felt like light.

Well. That was my interpretation anyway.

Her exact words were: ‘I smelled the top of her head and thought “There. That’s me sorted.”’

Her story, in a less understated-Scot form, was the inspiration for a pivotal scene in my novel, marking a dramatic and unexpected change in a new mother’s relationship with her baby.

My own child is now a teenager, still in bed as I write this at one-thirty pm, in a room whose floor is infuriatingly covered with mounds of flung, mostly black, clothing. These days I am woken in the night, not by cries, but by too-loud speakerphone chats with other nocturnal teenagers. Much has changed. But one thing remains the same.

I would still fight or die to protect her. 

The Bad Mother by C J Parsons (HarperCollins Publisher) Out 27 August 2026

Natasha was plunged into every parent’s ultimate nightmare when her son was taken from hospital shortly after his birth. Worse still, in the vital twenty-four hours after Baby Justin went missing, the police focused on the wrong suspect. TV producer Chloe, greedy for a quick headline, broke the rules by revealing the suspect's identity. The mistake derailed the case, and her career. Now Chloe has a chance at redemption. New evidence surrounding Justin’s abduction has come to light. But for both Natasha and Chloe, revisiting the past means facing up to their own decisions. And unspeakable secrets…

More information about the author and her work can be found on her website. She can also be found on Instagram @CJParsons2021. On X @charlopar and on Facebook @CJ Parsons Author.

The Dashiell Hammett Prize 2026

I am delighted to hear from Rap Sheet’s Jeff Pierce that author Ron Currie has been awarded the 2026 Dashiell Hammett Prize for his novel The Savage Noble Death of Babs Dionne - awarded by the North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers. All the books on the nominations shortlist were/are great works, and all of them deserve to be sampled. 

The other nominees -

El Dorado Drive by Megan Abbott (G.P. Putnam's Sons)

The Lizard by Domenic Stansberry (Molotov)

The Big Empty by Robert Crais (G.P. Putnam's Sons)

Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox (Minotaur)

I recall how much I enjoyed Ron Currie’s crime novel, writing at the time -

This extraordinary crime thriller set in Northern Maine caught me completely by surprise; but once I cracked the spine - the narrative would not release its grip until the elegiac climax.  Recommend by debut novelist Travis Kennedy, I was curious due to Whyte Python authors’ enthusiasm. However, as I had not heard about the author Ron Currie before, nor read any other reviews or word-of mouth – my expectations were low – hence the surprise when I clung to the narrative as if it were a life-raft.

Ostensibly a criminal family saga, set over generations of French Catholic Immigrants to the [north-eastern] American state of Maine – Currie’s novel details how the crime boss, a tough woman in her Sixties, the eponymous Babs Dionne finds herself in the cross-hairs of the Canadian Mafia.

Read the Full Review HERE

Louisa Treger: A Turn to Crime

For years, I have been fascinated by the case of Ruth Ellis, the last woman executed in Britain. A former nightclub manager with platinum hair and a sultry gaze, she was often compared to Marilyn Monroe. On Easter Sunday, 1955, she shot dead her lover, racing driver David Blakely, outside a pub in Hampstead. A jury found her guilty of premeditated murder in twenty-three minutes, and she was hanged at Holloway Prison thirteen weeks later.

At the time, the press portrayed Ruth as a cold-blooded killer. I always felt something was missing from that story, and I was curious about the woman behind the tabloid headlines. For many years, I pushed her to the back of my mind because she didn't seem to belong among my usual subjects. I write about trailblazing women in history: pioneers, rebels, artists and survivors, who dared to live on their own terms. They were brave, brilliant, complex – and far too often overlooked. Ruth, I assumed, was more one-dimensional. She was certainly better known. But she refused to leave my imagination, taking up more and more space, until I could no longer resist the urge to tell her story, from her point of view.

So I began to research her life. To my surprise, I discovered a trailblazer: a single mother of two who ran a successful business and became London’s youngest nightclub manager. Ruth had everything it took to be a first-class hostess: glamour, intelligence, warmth and a core of disenchantment with life. She was a modern woman living at a time when women were expected to return to the roles of wife and mother after the freedoms they had gained during the Second World War. Ruth refused to conform. 

Born in North Wales in 1926, she came from a working-class family. Her father, Arthur Hornby, earned his living as a cellist accompanying silent films. Her mother, Elisabertha Goethals, had fled Belgium as a refugee and was a domestic servant when the couple first met. 

The introduction of sound films meant that Arthur lost his job. As the family’s circumstances worsened, his behaviour became increasingly violent towards his wife and children. Ruth’s sister, Muriel Jakubait, later claimed that their father had raped her and had also sexually abused Ruth. These allegations have never been independently verified. But even setting them aside, it seems clear that Ruth was a complex, troubled woman – ambitious and entrepreneurial, yet repeatedly drawn to abusive men.

In 1953, while managing a club in Knightsbridge, she began a relationship with David Blakely. Though charming and handsome, he was unreliable, unfaithful and incapable of holding down a steady job. What followed was two years of escalating cruelty. He beat her regularly and threated to kill her. Once, he punched her in the stomach so hard that she miscarried their child. Their relationship was a cycle of violence, reconciliation and jealousy, complicated further by Desmond Cussen, a former RAF pilot who was in love with Ruth and watched the whole thing unravel. On April 10, 1955, after a day of heavy drinking, it was Cussen who handed her a loaded .38 calibre Smith & Wesson revolver and drove her to the Magdala Pub, where she shot Blakely dead. 

Her trial was deeply flawed. Her defence, led by Melford Stevenson, chose not to explore her history of horrific abuse. I suspect this was because of the class difference between Ruth and David, who had been to public school, at a time when such divisions were ingrained. Even her appearance worked against her: her own lawyer feared the jury would take her platinum hair and heavy makeup as evidence of a lack of remorse.

The trial focused on her transgressions, not her suffering – and in the eyes of the court, there were many. She was mother to two children by different men, married to neither. She was a working-class woman who defied the accepted boundaries of sex, class and respectability. She broke every rule. She embodied the sum of post-war fears about class and female independence, and she was executed as a warning to other women not to transgress traditional roles.

Her case became a catalyst in the campaign against capital punishment. Two years after her execution, diminished responsibility entered English law. Capital punishment was abolished in 1965, the same year Holloway’s death row, where Ruth spent her final days, was demolished. Ruth Ellis was a trailblazer in life and in death. Perhaps I had sensed this all along, and this was why I was drawn to her.

On the 8^th of July of this year, King Charles granted Ruth a conditional posthumous pardon. Laura Enston, her granddaughter, said: “We hope Ruth’s story serves as a lasting reminder that the justice system must reckon with the abuse that drives women to the edge – and must never be afraid to acknowledge when it has got things wrong.”

Ruth’s pardon reflects how much our understanding of domestic abuse, coercive control and criminal responsibility has changed in the seventy-one years since her execution. But it also highlights that the criminal justice system still fails women who commit crimes in self-defence after prolonged periods of domestic abuse.

As recently as 2023, Joanne Moran was convicted of the murder of her abusive partner with a single stab wound after he threatened to have her fourteen-year-old son killed. She was jailed for life with a minimum tariff of twenty-two years. In the same year, Kamila Ahmed, twenty-four years old, was given a minimum sentence of twenty-three years for stabbing her boyfriend during a violent argument. On arrest, her face was heavily bruised and her hands were skinned from trying to hold onto the carpet as her boyfriend pulled her body along the floor during an attack. The list goes on. 

This is why I write about trailblazing women: to shine a light on the past, and to ask what has changed, and what still needs to.

A Fatal Love by Louisa Treger (Bloomsbury Publishing) Published on 26 August 2026

Following Ruth Ellis’ long-awaited posthumous conditional pardon in July 2026, never has there been a more compelling moment to revisit the woman behind one of Britain's most enduring legal cases. It is Easter Sunday in 1955 and a young man lies face-down on the ground covered in blood. A woman, blonde and petite, stands over him with a gun in her hand. This is the story of Ruth Ellis as never told before... As Ruth awaits her trial in Holloway Prison, she recollects growing up in England during the Second World War and the events that led to the death of her lover, David Blakely. Meanwhile, Kitty Carrington - the assistant to Ruth's trial lawyer - tries to forge her own path through the male-dominated legal world of the 1950s and ensure that Ruth receives a fair trial. Navigating secrets, betrayal and a broken justice system, Ruth and Kitty try to take control of their own lives and narratives. But do we ever really know the full story?

Dashiell Hammett Prize Finalists: International Association of Crime Writers

 

Since 1991, the North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers has presented the Hammett Prize to the book of the year that best represents the conception of literary excellence in crime writing.  

Here are the 2026 Finalists. 

El Dorado Drive by Megan Abbott (Putnam)

Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox (Minotaur)

The Big Empty by Robert Crais (Putnam)

The Savage Noble Death of Babs Dionne by Ron Currie (Putnam)

The Lizard by Domenic Stansberry (Molotov Editions)

Congratulations to All!

2026 Ned Kelly Shortlist for Best True Crime

The Australian Crime Writers Association is proud to announce the 2026 Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist for Best True Crime: 

Saffron Incorporated by Stuart Coupe;

Duty to Warn by Charlotte Grieve; 

The Mushroom Murders by Greg Haddrick; 

The Postcard Bandit by Derek Pedley; 

The Red House by Kate Wild. 

The winners will be announced in September. 

In The St Hilda's Spotlight - Abigail Dean

 Name:- Abigail Dean

Job:- Author 

Website:- https://www.abigail-dean.com

Instagram- @AbigailSDean.

Introduction

Abigail Dean is a former lawyer turned author. She is the author of three books. Her debut novel Girl A was published in 2021 and was a SundayTimes and New York Times bestseller. She was one of the Observer's best new novelists in 2021, and was shortlisted for the Women's Prize, Good Housekeeping Futures Award in 2022. Girl A won the inaugural Fingerprint Debut novel in 2022 and the CrimeFest E-dunnit Award. It was also shortlisted for the Barry Award, The British Book Award Crime and Thriller Book of the Year, Crimefest Sounds of Crime Award and Debut Novel, ITW (International Thrillers Award) and Macavity Award for Best First Novel, and Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. Her second book Day One was published in 2024.

Her third and most recent novel The Death of Us won the 2026 CWA Gold Dagger, was shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award and was longlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and the CWA Twisted Dagger. The Death of Us was a book of the year in The Times, the Guardian, Good Housekeeping and iPaper, and film rights have sold at auction.  

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

I’m editing my fourth novel, which tells the story of a little boy who disappears from his bed in 1970, the youngest son of a famous Cambridge scholar. We see his family and the investigators every five years as they change, age – and search. 

Why do you think anti-heroes are so interesting to readers 

I don’t think our interest in anti-heroes can be separated from our interest in good characters more generally. Characters who are purely bad can be great fun – I’m thinking of the vast majority of Bond villains – but those who harbour questionable motivations or are forced into heroism against their will are much more human and relatable.

How do you relax? 

I run, read, and watch films and TV. 

Which anti hero would you like to be on your side in a difficult situation. 

I’ll take Amy Dunne from Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, who seems capable of manipulating, lying or murdering her way out of any situation.

If you were to write a book involving an anti-hero where would you set it and why? 

I would take inspiration from Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley and set it in an Italian coastal town. Months of research would surely be required.

How would you describe your latest published book? 

The Death of Us follows a young couple who are the victims of a terrible home invasion - and asks what romance can endure. It’s a love story interrupted by a crime novel. 

With Bad Apples: crime fiction’s enemies and anti-heroes theme at St Hilda's this year, who are you three favourite anti-heroes 

I love Jessica Jones, Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell, and Tony Soprano.

Which 3 films or television series featuring anti-heroes would you rewatch and why. I’ve been rewatching a few in preparation for my talk! I’ll always be happy to revisit The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, and Slow Horses.

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

Everybody else’s talks! There are a whole bunch of great, inspiring speakers, and I’m looking forward to stealing all of their wisdom.

The Death of us by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins Publishers)

It’s the story everyone wants to hear. That spring night in South London, when Isabel and Edward’s lives were torn apart. The night Isabel learned that the worst things wait, just outside the door. The night Edward learned that he was powerless to stop them. The night they never talk about. When their attacker is caught, it's finally time to tell the story of that night. Not to the world. Or to the man who did it. But to each other. This is a story of murder. This is a story of survival. But most of all, this is a story of love.

More information about St Hilda's and how to purchase online tickets can be found here.

#HCFW26

The 2026 Ngaio Marsh Award Longlist for Best Novel.

 

The Ngaio Marsh Awards celebrate the best New Zealand 

crime, mystery, thriller, and suspense writing. 

Lucky Thing by Tom Baragwanath (Text Publishing) 

Carved in Blood by Michael Bennett (Simon & Schuster)

Softly Call The Devil by Chris Blake (Bonnier Echo)

The Birds Began to Sing by Jeffrey Buchanan (Text Publishing)

Black Silk & Buried Secrets by Deborah Challinor (HarperCollins)

The Deadly Dispute by Amanda Hampson (Penguin)

Bella Donna by Jill Johnson (Black & White/Bonnier)

The Good Father by Liam McIlvanney (Bonnier)

When the Deep Dark Bush Swallows You Whole by Geoff Parkes (Penguin)

The Vanishing Place by Zoe Rankin (Moa Press)

Hooked Up by Fiona Sussman (Bateman Books)

A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyan (Allen & Unwin)

Peter Robinson Memorial event

 

The Richmond Walking & Book Festival will be taking place between the 18^th & 27^th September. The full programme can be found here.

On Saturday 26^th September as part of the festival the Peter Robinson Memorial event will take place at Richmond Town Hall at 7:30pm. More information can be found here

The event will showcase 3 crime writers Robert Rutherford who is a founding member of the Northern Crime Syndicate Crime Writers group, Chris Speck whose crime thrillers are set in Hull and Ben Kennedy a former inspector in the Royal Hong Kong Police. Three crime writers are based in the Northeast and Yorkshire.

Tickets for this event can be bought here.

In The St Hilda's Spotlight - Martyn Waites

Name: - Martyn Waites (AKA C.B Everett)

Job: - Author

Introduction: -

Martyn Waites is the author of the Stephen Larkin, Joe Donovan and Tom Killgannon series. In 2006 the first book in his Joe Donovan series The Mercy Seat was shortlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel dagger. Under the pseudonym Tania Carver he wrote eight books in the Brennan and Esposito series. The first book in the series Little Bones was shortlisted in 2010 for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. In 2013, he was chosen to write Angel of Death, the official sequel to Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black. In 2014 he received the Grand Prix du Roman Noir Award for his novel Born Under Punches which was the fourth book in his Stephen Larkin Series.

Under the name C B Everett, he is currently the author of two books. The most recent being The Final Chapter.

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

The current one for writing is the new CB Everett, Destroying Angels, which I’ve just finished. Literally, just. And for reading: Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay which is absolutely fantastic.

Why do you think anti-heroes are so interesting to readers?

In the same way that villains are always popular (certainly with actors, much more fun to play), anti-heroes appeal to the side of human nature that lets us get away with things, with not being hidebound by sticking to the rules. They may do the right thing, but it’ll usually be for the wrong reasons. They’re not big on altruism. 

Which two anti-heroes or enemies would you invite to dinner and why?

Hannibal Lector, as long as he wasn’t doing the cooking, and Dexter from Jeff Lindsay’s novels and the TV series. I reckon I’d be safe with them and if Hannibal was bringing the wine, I’d know I’d be drinking something good.

How do you relax?

 How do I what? That’s like being asked what hobbies I have. None. Everything I do is for work, or can be construed to be for work. Reading? Work. Watching a film or TV? Work. Going for a bike ride? Work, if it’s helping me think about writing. The only thing I do that could be classed as relaxing is making models because that uses a different part of the brain and recharges you. Ready to work. 

Which anti hero would you like to be on your side in a difficult situation?

Again, probably Hannibal Lector. He has immaculate manners so if I were to point out that someone was being disrespectful then he would have them. I’d probably feel safe with him.

If you were to write a book involving an anti-hero where would you set it and why?

Already have. See below.

How would you describe your latest published book?

It’s The Final Chapter by my new pseudonym CB Everett. In the words of The Guardian, it’s ‘a metafictional tour de force’. A new novel has appeared by a hugely successful writer who disappeared fifteen years ago.  The writer wants his old friend, CB Everett, to edit the book and make notes. Everett soon realises that the novel contains clues as to where the writer is now and what happened to him. It’s a novel within a novel and brilliant fun to read.

With Bad Apples: crime fiction’s enemies and anti-heroes theme at St Hilda's this year, who are you three favourite anti-heroes?

Well, since I’m writing about them I’ve got to include George Harvey Bone from Patrick Hamilton’s Hangover Square and Mr Gorse from Patrick Hamilton’s Gorse Trilogy. Third? Probably Dexter again.

Which 3 films or television series featuring anti-heroes would you rewatch and why?

This will come as no surprise, but Hannibal and Dexter (obviously) and The Shield featuring Michael Chiklis as corrupt cop Vic Mackey. It’s kind of slipped off the radar now but it’s one of the best TV series ever made. I’m due a rewatch.

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

Having a laugh with my mates!

The Final Chapter by C.B Everett (Simon & Schuster)

A missing author. A lost manuscript. A final chapter that could reveal the truth. Ten years ago, bestselling literary novelist Jonathan Durward vanished without a trace - leaving behind no body, no answers, and no final book. Now that missing manuscript has finally surfaced. But it isn’t the masterpiece anyone expected. It’s a spy novel: pulpy, outlandish, and packed with clichés, tradecraft and Bond-style twists. Jonathan’s former publisher asks his closest friend, fellow author C. B. Everett, to annotate the novel and separate fact from fiction. But as C. B. reads, he begins to spot unsettling echoes of real people, real events - and perhaps the truth about Jonathan’s disappearance. Because hidden inside this strange, slippery thriller may be a confession. Or a clue. Or a trap. As C. B. is drawn deeper into the mystery, one question becomes impossible to ignore: did Jonathan vanish - or was he written out of the story?

Information about programme, and ticket sales including online tickets can be found here.

Over on Instagram there is a chance to win a pair of online tickets. Information can be found here.

#HCFW26