Bloody Scotland Reveals 10th Anniversary Programme

 

Stirling 15-18 September 2022

We are very exciting to announce our 10^th anniversary programme! Ten years on from the first Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival the run has extended to four days, the number of events has doubled and the authors are more diverse than ever.

2022 sees the return of several Bloody Scotland favourites that we haven’t seen since the pre-pandemic days of 2019. Our dramatic torchlit procession through Stirling historic old town led by the pipes and drums of the Royal Burgh of Stirling Pipe Band and Stirling and District Schools Pipe Band encourages locals who don’t normally attend literary events to get involved. Scotland tackle England in our crime writers’ football match at the new venue of King’s Park, a free fun event which is also aimed at breaking down barriers.

There will be a return of the ever-popular Crime at the Coo cabaret featuring an array of crime writers showing off their musical talents and the much-loved Quiz this year takes the form of Vaseem Khan and Abir Mukherjee’s ‘Red Hot Night of a Million Games’ in which they steal the best bits from the game shows of yesteryear and mash them up into something truly remarkable.

Val McDermid has described Bloody Scotland as a ‘dizzying weekend of pleasure’, Jake Kerridge talking on BBC Radio 4 praised Bloody Scotland for ‘thinking outside the box’ creating ‘a sort of fringe’ and William McIlvanney spoke fondly of it being ‘so friendly, so welcoming’. It is with great delight that we look forward to putting on that sort of inclusive, imaginative festival again to celebrate our 10^th Anniversary.

In addition to the headliners we are welcoming to Stirling such as Sir Ian Rankin, Anthony Horowitz, Lisa Unger, Jeffrey Archer, Ann Cleeves and Frankie Boyle, debuts are at the heart of what Bloody Scotland is all about. The very first festival featured a ‘Fresh Blood Panel’ and this year in addition to the ‘Bloody Scotland Debut Prize Panel’ we have ‘Alex Gray’s New Crimes Panel’ plus debut authors appearing in various events throughout the programme and twenty new authors appearing ‘In the Spotlight’ on stage ahead of the established names.

We continue our commitment to bring the festival to the wider world and those who can’t make it to Stirling can buy digital passes for individual events or the whole weekend. Val McDermid, David Baldacci, Sara Paretsky, Donna Leon and Irvine Welsh will all join us live for digital sessions. More information about which events will be available to watch on-line can be found at bloodyscotland.com/digital-pass.

Tickets can be bought here.

The programme can be found here.

Alan Bett, Head of Literature and Publishing at Creative Scotland said:

‘Much has changed in the decade since Bloody Scotland launched their first festival, in terms of Scottish crime writing and literature festivals more generally. This 10^th anniversary programme is not only the biggest, it also embraces a hybrid model that means a wider audience can engage with authors either on stage or on screen. Bloody Scotland continues to promote the highly popular genre of Scottish crime writing to the world, while also connecting Scottish readers to the work of both new and much loved authors.’

James Crawford, Chair of Bloody Scotland said:

‘It’s fantastic to be able to mark the 10th anniversary of the festival with a full, four-day programme of in-person events – along with a brilliant selection of digital offerings – featuring the best that crime writing has to offer. Bloody Scotland was established a decade ago to shine a spotlight on crime writing and to help develop a whole new generation of writers. Debut authors have always been central to this, and to the vibrant community that has grown up around the festival. Along with the excitement of seeing familiar faces comes the thrill of finding your new favourite writer. Bloody Scotland 2022 is a festival full of possibilities and discovery.’

Stirling Councillor Leader, Councillor Chris Kane said:

‘The fact that Bloody Scotland is now enjoying its 10^th Anniversary is a welcome plot development for a festival that has grown into one of Stirling’s most loved events. Bloody Scotland has brought a wide range of visitors into Stirling over the years while making sure Stirling residents are an integral part of the occasion, such as the spectacular torchlit procession that lights up our city centre.’

Bloody Scotland is Scotland’s International Crime Writing Festival, providing a showcase for the best crime writing from Scotland and the world, unique in that it was set up by a group of Scottish crime writers in 2012. Full information at bloodyscotland.com

The festival takes place in various venues (including The Albert Halls, The Tollbooth and the social hub of the festival, The Golden Lion Hotel) in the historic town of Stirling from 15-18 September 2022.

The Bloody Scotland Prize for Scottish Crime Writing first awarded in 2012 was renamed The McIlvanney Prize in 2016. The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize was introduced in 2019 and won by Claire Askew who this year made the McIlvanney longlist along with Deborah Masson who won the Debut Prize in 2020.

In 2018 Bloody Scotland began a partnership with Harvill Secker to encourage new crime writers of colour. The winner of the inaugural prize was Ajay Chowdhury and in December 2021 it was won by Dettie Gould with The Light and Shade of Ellen Swithin.

In order to maintain a year-round presence Bloody Scotland set up the Bloody Scotland Book Club in Spring 2021. The panel rotates every month and those on the panel take responsibility for choosing the three books which are discussed.

In 2017 Bloody Scotland partnered with Historic Environment Scotland to produce the Bloody Scotland book of short stories which has been reprinted for the 10^th Anniversary and will be distributed free of charge throughout Stirling and the surrounding areas to encourage more engagement with Scottish crime fiction within the local community.

Bloody Scotland recently resurrected the short story competition which took place in the first year. The latest incarnation, sponsored by The Glencairn Glass with media support from The Scottish Field received over 132 entries from all over the world. Many previously unpublished. The winner was from Australia and was published in the Scottish Field Magazine.

To make the festival more affordable for everyone and mark our 10^th Anniversary we’re offering a limited number of tickets at £5 each for 10 of our events – see bloodyscotland.com/10-at-5

A 10% discount is available for all events in Stirling to people residing in the Stirling Council area – see bloodyscotland.com/localdiscount

In addition, free standby tickets will be offered to the unemployed or those on low income on the day of the event if there is good availability – see bloodyscotland.com/standby 

We are committed to making Bloody Scotland an accessible festival. All of the venues are accessible by wheelchair and BSL interpretation is available at events on request. Email - info@bloodyscotland.com

A free shuttle bus between venues is available for those who need it. Seating is unreserved so please advise at time of booking if you require a wheelchair space or have any specific needs and we will do our best to accommodate them.

Crime Programme at the FT Oxford Literary Festival

 

The Oxford Literary Festival have introduced a Crime Fiction Programme. The link to the whole programme can be found here.

The highlights include

Whatever Gets You Through the Night - Charlie Higson being interviewed by Triona Adams on Friday 25^th March 2022 at 4:00pm at the Sheldonian Theatre.

A thrilling life: the Slough House series. Mick Herron being interviewed by Triona Adams on Saturday 26^th March 2022 at 10:00am at the Weston Lecture Theatre.

The Past is Never Dead: Crime Fiction from Christopher Marlowe to 1979 : Val McDermid being interviewed by Emma Smith on Saturday 26^th March 2022 at 6:00pm at the Sheldonian Theatre.

Give Unto Others: Donna Leon talks about the 31^st case involving her fictional Venetian detective Guido Brunetti on Friday 1^st April 2022 at 6:00pm at the Sheldonian Theatre.

Books to Look Forward to From Century Press

January 2022

One Step Too Far is by Lisa Gardner. If he never left the woods , where did he go? A young man disappears during a stag weekend in the woods. Years later, he's still missing. But his friends who were with him that day are still searching for him. Still hunting for answers. They hike deep into the wilderness. With them is missing person specialist Frankie Elkin. What they don't know is that they are putting their own lives in terrifying danger, and may not come back alive . .

November 1924. The Endeavour sets sail from Southampton carrying 2,000 passengers and crew on a week-long voyage to New York. When an elderly gentleman is found dead at the foot of a staircase, ship's officer Timothy Birch is ready to declare it a tragic accident. But James Temple, a strong-minded Scotland Yard inspector, is certain there is more to this misfortune than meets the eye. Birch agrees to investigate, and the trail quickly leads to the theft of a priceless painting. Its very existence is known only to its owner . . . and the dead man. With just days remaining until they reach New York, and even Temple's purpose on board the Endeavour proving increasingly suspicious, Birch's search for the culprit is fraught with danger. And all the while, the passengers continue to roam the ship with a killer in their midst . . A Fatal Crossing is by Tom Hindle.

Sand. A hostile world of burning sun. Outlines of several once-busy cities shimmer on the horizon. Now empty of inhabitants, their buildings lie in ruins. In the distance a group of people - a family - walk towards us. Ahead lies shelter: a 'shuck' the family call home and which they know they must reach before the light fails, as to be out after dark is to invite danger and almost certain death. To survive in this alien world of shifting sand, they must find an object hidden in or near water. But other families want it too. And they are willing to fight to the death to make it theirs. It is beginning to rain in Fairfax County, Virginia when McKenzie Strathie wakes up. An ordinary teenage girl living an ordinary life - except that the previous night she found a sand-lizard in her bed, and now she's beginning to question everything around her, especially who she really is... Two very different worlds featuring a group of extraordinary characters driven to the very limit of their endurance in a place where only the strongest will survive. Sand is by Theo Clare (Mo Hayder).

February 2022

City of the Dead is by Jonathan Kellerman. At 5am in the upscale neighbourhood of Westwood Village, two removal men are making a routine pick-up when they make a fatal hit. It's a man - who appeared from nowhere - naked and with no means of identification. Not long after, a woman is found dead in a house nearby, which neighbours suspect to be a brothel. Could the man have come from there? When LAPD homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis calls brilliant psychologist Alex Delaware to the scene, the case gets even more complicated. Delaware has met the woman before. She's a psychologist too.

Art galleries and casinos, mansions and brothels, billionaires and thieves. Only James Patterson could create a triple-cross this decadent and suspenseful. Imagine everyone's surprise when Carter von Oehson, a sophomore in Dr. Dylan Reinhart's Abnormal Psychology class, posts on Instagram that he plans to kill himself. 24 hours later and still no one has seen him. A massive search ensues. But when Carter's sailboat rolls in with the tide without him or anyone else on it, the worst seems to be confirmed. He really did it... Or did he? The one person convinced he's still alive is his father, Mathias von Oehson, founder and CEO of the world's largest hedge fund. But what Mathias knows and how he knows it would ultimately is a secret too damaging to reveal. There's no way he can go to the police. But there's still someone he can turn to. Dylan now finds himself wrapped up in multimillion-dollar secrets and danger and it's going to take every bit of his wit to stay ahead of his enemy. Steal is by James Patterson and Howard Roughan.

The Long Weekend is by Gilly Macmillan. By the time you read this, I'll have killed one of your husbands. In an isolated retreat, deep in the Northumbria moors, three women arrive for a weekend getaway. Their husbands will be joining them in the morning. Or so they think. But when they get to Dark Fell Barn, the women find a devastating note that claims one of their husbands has been murdered. Their phones are out of range. There's no internet. They're stranded. And a storm's coming in. Friendships fracture and the situation spins out of control as each wife tries to find out what's going on, who is responsible and which husband has been targeted. This was a tight-knit group. They've survived a lot. But they won't weather this. Because someone has decided that enough is enough. That it's time for a reckoning.

March 2022

Give Unto Others is by Donna Leon. Once again, Commissario Guido Brunetti is willing to bend police rules for an acquaintance, even though Elisabetta Foscarini, the woman who asks the favour, is not really a friend. But her mother was good to Brunetti's, so he feels he has no choice but to repay the debt and agrees to look into the matter 'privately', rather than as a police official. Her son-in-law has alarmed his wife by telling her they might be in danger because of something he's involved with. Because Enrico Fenzo is an accountant, Brunetti suspects that the likely reason must be the finances of one of his clients. Brunetti takes a look and finds little: one client is an optician, another Fenzo`s father-in-law, whom he helped establish a charity, another the owner of a restaurant. He is about to tell his friend that he can find no reason for preoccupation when her daughter's place of work is vandalised, forcing Brunetti to turn his attention - still 'private' - to Elisabetta's own family. What he discovers shows the Janus-faced nature of yet another Italian institution as well as the wobbly line that attempts to differentiate between the criminal and the non-criminal.

The People Next Door is by Tony Parsons. Lana and Roman Wade have fled the city for a little corner of paradise, exchanging their flat with its unhappy memories for a small honey-coloured house among the rolling green hills of Oxfordshire. Their new home, set in a residential Close known as The Gardens, is their dream and their new neighbours are charming. So why is Lana feeling so uneasy? Lana and Roman may seem like an attractive, popular couple. But they are also a couple with a secret; a secret buried in the life they have left behind, a secret they have shared with no-one. But their new neighbours - these charming, affluent men and women in the Gardens - have secrets of their own. Terrible secrets; unimaginable secrets that include the apparently happy family who lived - and tragically died - in Lana and Roman's new home. As Lana struggles to adjust to her new life in Paradise, she becomes convinced that her new neighbours are hiding something from her, something connected with the deaths of the family who lived in her house before she did, something that could put her own life in danger...

Wilde follows a tip that he hopes will finally solve the mystery of his abandonment, but instead sends him straight into the arms of a serial killer. As a young child, Wilde was found living a feral existence in the Ramapo mountains of New Jersey. He has grown up knowing nothing of his family, and even less about his own identity. He is known simply as Wilde, the boy from the woods. But when a match at an online ancestry database puts him on the trail of a close relative - the first family member he has ever known - he thinks he might be about to solve the mystery of who he really is. Only this relation disappears as quickly as he's resurfaced, having experienced an epic fall from grace that can only be described as a waking nightmare. Undaunted, Wilde continues his research on DNA websites where he becomes caught up in a community of doxxers, a secret group committed to exposing anonymous online trolls. Then one by one these doxxers start to die, and it soon becomes clear that a serial killer is targeting this secret community - and that his next victim might be Wilde himself... The Match is by Harlan Coben.

April 2022

22 seconds... until Lindsay Boxer loses her badge - or her life. SFPD Sergeant Boxer has guns on her mind. There's buzz of a last-ditch shipment of drugs and weapons crossing the Mexican border ahead of new restrictive gun laws. Before Lindsay can act, her top informant tips her to a case that hits disturbingly close to home. Former cops. Professional hits. All with the same warning scrawled on their bodies. You talk, you die. Now it's Lindsay's turn to choose. 22 Seconds is by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.

The Shadow Child is by Rachel Hancox. Eighteen-year-old Emma has loving parents and a promising future ahead of her. So why, one morning, does she leave home without a trace? Her parents, Cath and Jim, are devastated. They have no idea why Emma left, where she is - or even whether she is still alive. A year later, Cath and Jim are still tormented by the unanswered questions Emma left behind, and clinging desperately to the hope of finding her. Meanwhile, tantalisingly close to home, Emma is also struggling with her new existence - and with the trauma that shattered her life. For all of them, reconciliation seems an impossible dream. Does the way forward lie in facing up to the secrets of the past - secrets that have been hidden for years? Secrets that have the power to heal them, or to destroy their family forever ...

May 2022

In a disintegrating and increasingly lawless land, a young man is travelling north. Ben is a young painter from the crowded, turbulent city. For six months his fiancée Cara has been living on the remote island of Sanctuary Rock, the property of millionaire philanthropist Sir John Pemberley. Now she has decided to break off their engagement and stay there for good. Ben resolves to travel to the island to win Cara back. But the journey there is a harsh and challenging one, and when he does arrive, a terrible shock awaits him. As Ben begins to find his way around Pemberley's perfect island, he knows he must also discover - what has made Cara so determined to throw her old life away? And is Sanctuary Rock truly a second Eden, as the mysterious Sir John claims - or a prospect of hell? The Sanctuary is by Andrew Hunter Murray.

Queen of Crime Fiction Donna Leon Returns

Trace Elements

An evening with Donna Leon 

Thursday 2nd April, 6.30pm

Donna Leon, who was named by The Times as one of the 50 Greatest Crime Writers, returns with her latest book,Trace Elements - the twenty-ninth instalment in the highly acclaimed, internationally bestselling Commissario Guido Brunetti series of books, where a woman's cryptic dying words in a Venetian hospice lead Brunetti to uncover a threat to the entire region. 

Once again, Donna's memorable characters and storytelling skills engage our sensibilities as to the differences between guilt and responsibility.

Donna will be in conversation with Jim Kelly, author of The Mathematical Bridge. 

Tickets are £7 in advance and can be bought here.

Trace Elements by Donna Leon Published by Cornerstone. Out 5 March 2020.

A woman's cryptic dying words in a Venetian hospice lead Guido Brunetti to uncover a threat to the entire region in Donna Leon's haunting twenty-ninth Brunetti novel.  When Dottoressa Donato calls the Questura to report that a dying patient at the hospice Fatebenefratelli wants to speak to the police, Commissario Guido Brunetti and his colleague, Claudia Griffoni, waste no time in responding.  'They killed him. It was bad money. I told him no', Benedetta Toso gasps the words about her recently-deceased husband, Vittorio Fadalto. Even though he is not sure she can hear him Brunetti softly promises he and Griffoni will look into what initially appears to be a private family tragedy. They discover that Fadalto worked in the field collecting samples of contamination for a company that measures the cleanliness of Venice's water supply and that he had died in a mysterious motorcycle accident. Distracted briefly by Vice Questore Patta's obsession with youth crime in Venice, Brunetti is bolstered once more by the remarkable research skills of Patta's secretary, Signora Elettra Zorzi.  Piecing together the tangled threads, in time Brunetti comes to realize the perilous meaning in the woman's accusation and the threat it reveals to the health of the entire region. But justice in this case proves to be ambiguous, as Brunetti is reminded it can be when, seeking solace, he reads Aeschylus's classic play The Eumenides.

Books to Look Forward to from Penguin Random House (Incl Cornerstone, Transword, Hutchinson, Vintage and Harvill Secker)

January 2020

Detective Michael Bennett is New York's public enemy no. 1. But when the Mayor's daughter goes missing, there's only cop who can bring her home. After a mugging gone wrong, Detective Michael Bennett becomes public enemy no. 1 when the citizens of New York rally around the dead shooter's family. Amidst the controversy and media chaos, Bennett must wait for his name to be cleared. Though he is suspended from active duty, the Mayor has a secret mission for Bennett with an irresistible incentive. Find the Mayor's missing daughter, and Bennett's beloved son Brian will be released from prison. Desperate to get back to work and free his son, Bennett sets out to solve the mystery of Natalie's disappearance. When Natalie's friends start turning up dead around the city, Bennett soon realises that wherever she is, Natalie is in more danger than he could have ever imagined. As links start emerging to a dangerous underground hacking network, Bennett must go beyond his jurisdiction to bring Natalie home. A proud and loving father, Bennett will do whatever it takes to bring his son back to his family. But has Natalie fallen too deep into the dangerous world of the dark web to ever come back?  Blindsided is by James Patterson and James O. Born.

Long Bright River is by Liz Moore. Kensington ave, philadelphia: the first place you go for drugs or sex. The last place you want to look for your sister. Mickey Fitzpatrick has been patrolling the 24th District for years. She knows most of the working women by name. She knows what desperation looks like and what people will do when they need a fix. She's become used to finding overdose victims: their numbers are growing every year. But every time she sees someone sprawled out, slumped over, cold to the touch, she has to pray it's not her sister, Kacey. When the bodies of murdered sex workers start turning up on the Ave, the Chief of Police is keen to bury the news. They're not the kind of victims that generate a whole lot of press anyway. But Mickey is obsessed, dangerously so, with finding the perpetrator - before Kacey becomes the next victim. 

'Our lives were good - great, even. We were happy and secure. We had everything we needed. There was no way for anyone to know - least of all me - that it would all end the way it did.' Thomas Martin is everything a man is supposed to be. He has a beautiful wife and a loving daughter, a good house on Long Island, a flourishing career at a prestigious Manhattan advertising firm. He's a good son and brother, taking it upon himself to support his ailing mother and adult sisters. He knows it's his God-given duty to shield them, his girls, from the everyday horrors of the world. But he has failed, and unspeakable tragedy has befallen his family. Now, Thomas struggles to come to terms with what has become of his life. If only he can tell the story as he saw it, he believes he might find out how and why things unravelled so horribly; how he failed so disastrously. Because Thomas Martin is a good man.  A Good Man is by Ani Katz.

It's been 192 days, seven hours and fifteen minutes since her last drink. Now Astrid is trying to turn her life around. Having reluctantly moved back in with her mother, in a quiet seaside town away from the temptations and painful memories of her life before, Astrid is focusing on her recovery. She's going to meetings. Confessing her misdeeds. Making amends to those she's wronged. But someone knows exactly what Astrid is running from. And they won't stop until she learns that some mistakes can't be corrected. Some mistakes, you have to pay for ...  Who Do You Tell is by Lesley Kara.

He'll silence them all - unless she can stop him . . . The first novel in an exciting new detective series from a fresh talent in crime writing. A brutal murder. A young woman’s body is discovered with horrifying injuries, a recent newspaper cutting pinned to her clothing.
A detective with everything to prove.
This is her only chance to redeem herself. A serial killer with nothing to lose. He’s waited years, and his reign of terror has only just begun.   Hold Your Tongue is by Deborah Masson.

Happy Ever After is by C C MacDonald On the outside it looks like Naomi has everything. A

beautiful daughter, a gorgeous house on the Kent coast, a perfect life. But in reality, Naomi's husband is depressed, their house is still a building site, and they are struggling to conceive their second child. Then Naomi meets a parent at her daughter's nursery. Sean seems to understand her. Looking for a connection, for a friend, she joins him at a swimming lesson with their children. That day, in a moment of madness, she makes a terrible mistake. Weeks later, Naomi discovers she is pregnant. She decides she must give her marriage a chance, and is determined to end things with Sean. But when she tries to contact him, he has disappeared without a trace. As she tries to piece her life back together, someone else knows her secret and they want to make sure she never forgets what she did that day. Will that day cost Naomi her Happy Ever After? 

February 2020

One wild party. Four counts of murder. A mansion in Beverly Hills is leased out to host an event wild enough to herald the end of days. The next day there isn't a living soul to be seen. But in the driveway sits a super-stretch limo, unlocked, with four bodies inside it. Nothing links the victims together. Each has been killed in a different way. Now it's up to brilliant psychologist Alex Delware and LAPD Lieutenant Milo Sturgis to begin their grisliest and most baffling case yet. As they struggle to make sense of the mass slaying, they will be forced to confront a level of evil that nothing can prepare them for.  The Museum of Desire is by Jonathan Kellerman.

Independence Square is by A D Miller.  Twelve years ago, Simon Davey prevented a tragedy, and ruined his own life.  Once a senior British diplomat in Kiev, he lost everything after a lurid scandal. Back in London, still struggling with the aftermath of his disgrace, he is travelling on the Tube when he sees her …  Olesya is the woman Simon holds responsible for his downfall. He first met her on an icy night during the protests on Independence Square. Full of hope and idealism, Olesya could not know what a crucial role she would play in the dangerous times ahead, and in Simon’s fate. Or what compromises she would have to make to protect her family.  When Simon decides to follow Olesya, he finds himself plunged back into the dramatic days which changed his life forever. Independence Square is a story of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary times. It is a story about corruption and personal and political betrayals. It is a story about where, in the twenty-first century, power really lies.

When You See Me is by Lisa Gardner.  A body is found in the hills - but the truth still lies buried... In a small town in the Deep South, Flora Dane is part of a task force committed to hunting down every last trace of notorious serial kidnapper Jacob Ness. As his last victim, imprisoned by Ness in a small box for over a year, she knew him better than most. Even after his death, his evil still lingers. But this is the kind of town that doesn't take kindly to strangers asking questions. The kind of town where dark secrets lurk just beneath the surface. The kind of town she might not leave alive. 

 A world half in darkness. A secret she must bring to light. 2059. The world has stopped turning. One half suffers an endless frozen night; the other, nothing but burning sun. Only in a slim twilit region can life survive. In an isolationist Britain, Ellen Hopper receives a letter from a dying man. It contains a powerful and dangerous secret. One that those in power will kill to conceal... The Last Day is by Andrew Hunter Murray.

The Better Lie is by Tanen Jones. How well do you know your family? Estranged for a decade, sisters Leslie and Robin must reunite if they are to claim the fortune their father left them. Leslie desperately needs that money, but when she arrives at her sister's apartment, she finds her body instead. Leslie needs another plan. Without Robin, she won't see a penny. Mary, an aspiring actress, spends her nights slinging beers at a seedy restaurant. She'd do anything to start her life over. When Leslie offers her a huge sum of money and the chance to be someone else – to be Robin – she takes it. But Robin's life isn't as straightforward as Mary thought it would be. And Leslie seems to have secrets and a past of her own . . . Told from three perspectives: Leslie, Mary, Robin. The question is: who is the better liar? 

Elijah has lived in the Memory Wood for as long as he can remember. It’s the only home he’s ever known. Elissa has only just arrived. And she’ll do everything she can to escape. When Elijah stumbles across thirteen-year-old Elissa, in the woods where her abductor is hiding her, he refuses to alert the police. Because in his twelve years, Elijah has never had a proper friend. And he doesn’t want Elissa to leave.   Not only that, Elijah knows how this can end. After all, Elissa isn’t the first girl he’s found inside the Memory Wood.   As her abductor’s behaviour grows more erratic, Elissa realises that outwitting strange, lonely Elijah is her only hope of survival. Their cat- and-mouse game of deception and betrayal will determine both their fates, and whether either of them will ever leave the Memory Wood.   Memory Wood is by Sam Lloyd.

March 2020

20th Victim is by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.  The Women's Murder Club face the fight of their lives in the latest thriller from the bestselling series Three victims, three bullets, three cities. Simultaneous murders in LA, Chicago, and San Francisco - SFPD Sergeant Lindsay Boxer's jurisdiction. The shooters are precise, as is their target selection. Each one of the men and women down excels at an illegal and deadly activity that is dominating public debate. As the casualty list expands, the fear and fascination with this shooting gallery galvanises the county. Are the shooter villains or heroes? And who will be next?

The Boy in the Woods is by Harlan Coben.  Thirty years ago, a child was found in the New Jersey backwoods. He had been living a feral existence, with no memory of how he got there or even who he is. Everyone just calls him Wilde. Now a former soldier and security expert, he lives off the grid, shunned by the community - until they need him. A child has gone missing. With her family suspecting she's just playing a disappearing game, nobody seems concerned except for criminal attorney Hester Crimstein. She contacts Wilde, asking him to use his unique skills to find the girl. But even he can find no trace of her. One day passes, then a second, then a third. On the fourth, a human finger shows up in the mail. And now Wilde knows this is no game. It's a race against time to save the girl's life - and expose the town's dark trove of secrets...

Everyone brings baggage to a new relationship. When Alex met Natalie she changed his life. After the tragic death of his first wife, which left him a single parent to teenage daughter Jade, he’s determined to build a happy family. But his new-found happiness is shattered when the family home is gutted by fire and his loyalties are unexpectedly tested. Jade insists she saw a man in the house on the night of the fire; Natalie denies any knowledge of such an intruder. Alex is faced with an impossible choice: to believe his wife or his daughter? And as Natalie’s story unravels, Alex realises that his wife has a past he had no idea about, a past that might yet catch up with her. But this time, the past could be deadly . . .   The Second Wife is by Rebecca Fleet.

Trace Elements is by Donna Leon.  A woman's cryptic dying words in a Venetian hospice lead Guido Brunetti to uncover a threat to the entire region in Donna Leon's haunting twenty-ninth Brunetti novel. When Dottoressa Donato calls the Questura to report that a dying patient at the hospice Fatebenefratelli wants to speak to the police, Commissario Guido Brunetti and his colleague, Claudia Griffoni, waste no time in responding. 'They killed him. It was bad money. I told him no', Benedetta Toso gasps the words about her recently-deceased husband, Vittorio Fadalto. Even though he is not sure she can hear him Brunetti softly promises he and Griffoni will look into what initially appears to be a private family tragedy. They discover that Fadalto worked in the field collecting samples of contamination for a company that measures the cleanliness of Venice's water supply and that he had died in a mysterious motorcycle accident. Distracted briefly by Vice Questore Patta's obsession with youth crime in Venice, Brunetti is bolstered once more by the remarkable research skills of Patta's secretary, Signora Elettra Zorzi. Piecing together the tangled threads, in time Brunetti comes to realize the perilous meaning in the woman's accusation and the threat it reveals to the health of the entire region. But justice in this case proves to be ambiguous, as Brunetti is reminded it can be when, seeking solace, he reads Aeschylus's classic play The Eumenides.

One son lied. One son died. Alice’s son is dead. Indigo’s son is accused of murder. Indigo is determined to prove her beloved Kane is innocent. Searching for evidence, she is helped by a kind stranger who takes an interest in her situation. Little does she know that her new friend has her own agenda. Alice can’t tell Indigo who she really is. She wants to understand why her son was killed – and she needs to make sure that Indigo’s efforts to free Kane don’t put her remaining family at risk. But how long will it take for Indigo to discover her identity? And what other secrets will come out as she digs deeper? No one knows a son like his mother. But neither Alice nor Indigo know the whole truth about their boys, and what happened between them on that fateful night. Keep Him Close is by Emily Koch.

He's been looking in the windows again. Messing with cameras. Leaving notes.
Supposed to be a refuge. But death got inside. When Katie Straw's body is pulled from the waters of the local suicide spot, the police decide it's an open-and-shut case. A standard-issue female suicide.  But the residents of Widringham women's refuge where Katie worked don't agree. They say it's murder. Will you listen to them? Keeper is by Jessica Moor.

It is 1940 and the bombs are falling thick and fast on London. The royal family must do all they can to assure the British public of their solidarity. But what of the two young princesses - Elizabeth and Margaret? How can they be kept safe without jeopardizing morale in the capital? Meanwhile Celia Nashe is delighted when she finally gets her long-awaited transfer to MI5. But whatever she was expecting of her mission for the war effort, it wasn't this. A crumbling castle in remote, rural Ireland, playing nursemaid to two pampered young girls. But her posting soon turns out to be very far from tame. Questions are being asked by the locals about the identities of Celia's secret charges. And when a dead body turns up at the castle gates, it will take every effort to uncover the truth, and to stop it from coming to light. The Secret Guests is by B W Black (John Banville)

Also due to be published in March is NYPD Red 6 by James Patterson.

April 2020

6.27am. The sky is blue. The air is warm with a summer breeze. And in the last 27 minutes, seven people have been murdered. In a series of coordinated attacks, seven men and women across London have been targeted. For journalist Famie Madden, the horror unfolds as she arrives for the morning shift. The victims have one thing in common: they made up the investigations team at the news wire service where Famie works. The thought in everyone's minds, what were they working on that could prompt such brutal devastation? And as Famie starts to receive mysterious messages, she has to find out whether she is being warned of the next attack, or being told that she will be the next victim... Second Eyes is by Simon Mayo

May 2020

Gathering Dark is by Candice Fox.  Detective Jessica Farnham loves the cases no one else can solve. But after ten years on the job her relationship with the LAPD is on the rocks, and she is forced to take stress leave and move to the home turf of a husband-killer she put away nine years ago. Disgraced doctor Bugs Hawthorn pleaded guilty to bludgeoning her husband to death with a brass bunny statue. She has spent years living life as a felon and trying to get custody of the son she never knew. When Bugs discovers Jessica sharing a fence with the in-laws taking care of her child, Jessica is surprised to be met with a plea - to finally crack the case of a missing prostitute. For Jessica, helping Bugs and her ex-con buddies will mean taking a tour behind enemy lines. But she goes where victims need her most - and she will soon begin to wonder if the villains she's associating with might just be safer than those behind the badge...

Lost is by Leona Deakin.  There is an explosion at a military ball. The casualties are rushed to hospital in eight ambulances, but only seven vehicles arrive. Captain Harry Peterson is missing. His girlfriend calls upon her old friend Dr Augusta Bloom, who rushes to support the investigation. But no one can work out what connects the bomb and the disappearance. When Harry is eventually discovered three days later, they hope he holds the answers to their questions. But he can't remember a single thing.

Dark Waters is by G R Halliday.  Three mistakes. Two murders. One more victim to go . . . Annabelle loves to drive. It helps her escape her world, her past. Speeding on a mountain road in the Scottish Highlands, she sees a little girl step out in front of her. She swerves to avoid her. The next thing Annabelle remembers is waking up in a dark, damp room. A voice from the corner of the room says, ‘The Doctor will see you now.’ Scott is camping in the woodlands in the Scottish Highlands – but in the middle of the night, he hears something outside his tent. When he goes out to have a look, a little girl is standing among the trees, staring right at him. Scott is never seen again. When a dismembered body is discovered, DI Monica Kennedy gets called to the scene immediately. After six months away from the Serious Crimes team, they need her back on board. As Monica searches for the murderer, another body is found. Monica knows the signs . . . She’s on the hunt for a serial killer. 

The Sandpit is by Nicholas Shakespeare.  When John Dyer returns to Oxford from Brazil with his young son, he doesn't expect to find them both in danger. Every day is the same. He drops Leandro at his smart prep school and walks to the library to research his new book. His time living on the edge as a foreign correspondent in Rio is over. But the rainy streets of this English city turn out to be just as treacherous as those he used to walk in the favelas. Leandro’s schoolmates are the children of influential people, among them an international banker, a Russian oligarch, an American CIA operative and a British spook. As they congregate round the sports field for the weekly football matches, the network of alliances and covert interests that spreads between these power brokers soon becomes clear to Dyer,. But it is a chance conversation with an Iranian nuclear scientist, Rustum Marvar, father of a friend of Leandro, that sets him onto a truly precarious path. When Marvar and his son disappear, several sinister factions seem acutely interested in Marvar’s groundbreaking research at the Clarendon Lab, and what he might have told Dyer about it, given Dyer was the last person to see Marvar alive. 

When Margot goes in search of her birth mother for the first time, she meets her aunt, Nikki, instead. Margot learns that her mother, Susan, was a sex worker murdered just years after Margot's birth. To this day, Susan's killer has never been found. Nikki asks Margot for help. She has received threatening and haunting letters from the murderer, known as Billy Goat, for decades. She is determined to find him, but she can't do it alone. It's too much to take in for Margot. But when Margot receives her own letter, her life becomes inextricably intertwined with Susan's and Nikki's, in an investigation that could risk everything she loves the most. The Less Dead is by Denise Mina.

June 2020

Your child is missing She was only six years old when she disappeared. Posters went up, the police investigated. But no one could find her. Now she’s home  And knocking at your door. You’re so happy to see her. But soon you start to wonder why she can’t answer your questions. Where has she been all this time? How did she find her way home? Who is she? Safe is by S K Barnett.

One Sunday morning, the outspoken Speaker of the House of Commons steps out of his front door only to be crushed under a mountain of citrus fruit. Bizarre accident or something more sinister? The government needs to know because here's a man whose knowledge of parliament's biggest secret could put the future of the government at stake? It should be the perfect case for Bryant & May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit, but unfortunately one detective is in hospital, the other is missing and the staff have all been dismissed. It seems the PCU is no more. But events escalate: a series of brutal crimes seemingly linked to an old English folk-song threatens the very foundation of London society and suddenly the PCU is offered a reprieve and are back in (temporary) business! And if the two elderly detectives, 'old men in a woke world', do manage to set aside their differences and discover why some of London's most influential figures are under life-threatening attack, they might not just save the unit but also prevent the entire city from descending into chaos . . . Bryant & May – Oranges and Lemons is by Christopher Fowler.

Outbreak is by Frank Gardner.  Deep within the Arctic Circle, three muffled figures trudge through a blindingly white, bitterly cold and barren landscape landscape. They are environmental scientists from the UK's Arctic Research Station, forced by a raging blizzard to abandon their fieldwork and go in search of shelter. The cabin they're heading for seems abandoned. No tell tale smoke or lights glowing. No snow-cat parked outside. The first thing they notice when they enter is the smell - rank, rotting - and then there's movement. A man, barely recognisable, lies on a sofa, his face hideously disfigured by livid pustules, rivulets of blood run from his nostrils, his neck swollen, his chest covered in black bile. Momentarily, the team's medic Dr Sheila Mackenzie, can't comprehend what she's seeing but then the alarm bells begin to ring ... These are the sure signs of chronic infection. The man is trying to say something, she edges closer to hear and it's then that he begins to convulse, and coughs suddenly, violently, vomiting out a rank mix of blood, bile and mucus...contaminating Dr Mackenzie and two companions and setting in train a terrifying chain of events that points to an extraordinary conspiracy that threatens millions with a deadly contagion. 

An artistic young English woman travels to Havana on the island of Cuba where she has

been hired to sketch portraits of the guests at a high society wedding. Little does she know that beneath the glittering veneer of glamorous socialites lies a web of deceit and secrecy. As her heart breaks over the love of a handsome Cuban, she is drawn into the dark history of a wealthy family.  Island of Secrets is by Rachel Rhys

Don’t Turn Around is by Jessica Barry.  Two strangers, Cait and Rebecca, are driving across America. Rebecca is trying to escape something. Cait doesn’t know what Rebecca has left behind her – she doesn’t ask any questions – her job is solely to transport women to safety. But the secrets Rebecca holds could put them both in danger. Cait too has a past of her own – there’s a reason she chooses to spend time on the road, looking out for others. Because she knows what it’s like to be followed. As the two women travel across America, it quickly becomes clear someone is right behind them, watching their every move. The question is: who, and why? 

The Search Party is by Simon Lelic.  The killer isn't out there. It's one of you. Sixteen-year-old Sadie Saunders is missing. Five friends set out into the woods to find her. But they're not just friends . . .
THEY'RE SUSPECTS.
You see, this was never a search party.
It's a witch hunt.
And not everyone will make it home alive. 

July 2020

1st Case is by James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts.  Angela Hoot is a young tech genius. But when she's kicked off her Masters degree course at MIT for hacking into the computer of a

fellow student, she fears she's blown her chances of a glittering career. Angela is wrong. Instead, she's offered a dream internship with the FBI. She jumps at the chance, and is thrown straight into her first case at house in the Boston suburbs where a family of five have been brutally murdered. As Angela struggles to overcome the painful reality of her new job, a phone is found that could hold the secrets of this mass murder - if Angela is unable to uncover them.

Countdown to the Daggers

The countdown is on for the world-famous Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Daggers, which honour the very best in crime writing.

Tickets are now available for the Dagger Awards gala dinner, which takes place from 6.30pm at the Leonardo Royal Hotel London City.

The oldest awards in the genre, created in 1955, the CWA Daggers have been synonymous with quality crime writing for over half a century. 

The night is compered by Barry Forshaw, one of the UK’s leading experts on crime fiction.

Barry Forshaw said: “It's a starry evening showcasing the most prestigious prizes in the crime fiction world - the Oscars of the genre - and I'm always pleased and privileged to emcee it. Not least for the chance to rub shoulders with the very best writers and publishers at a very convivial event.”

A Dagger is considered something of a holy grail for crime authors as well as one of the highlights on the awards’ calendar for the publishing world.

Winners of the Daggers - including the Gold for best crime novel, the Ian Fleming Steel for best spy or thriller, the ALCS Gold for Non-fiction, the John Creasey (New Blood) for first-time authors, and the Sapere Books Historical Dagger - will be announced on the night.

UK Libraries have also shortlisted six crime authors for the prestigious Dagger in the Library. M C Beaton, Mark Billingham, John Connolly, Kate Ellis, C J Sansom and Cath Staincliffe have been nominated by librarians, chosen for their body of work and their support of libraries.

The 10 coveted Daggers will also be complemented by a new category for the book trade - the Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year.

Robert Goddard has already been announced as the recipient of the elite Diamond Dagger. Goddard will be presented with the award on the night in celebration of his career and contribution to the crime genre.

Guest speaker on the night is the writer, broadcaster, dramatist and journalist Lynne Truss, famed for Eats, Shoots and Leaves alongside her comic crime novel, A Shot in the Dark.

Tickets are limited. For ticket details and to book a place –

https://thecwa.co.uk/the-daggers/cwa-dagger-awards-gala-dinner-2019 

or contact admin@thecwa.co.uk Discounts are available for tables of 10 or 12.

2019 CWA DAGGER SHORTLIST IN FULL:

CWA GOLD DAGGER

Claire Askew: All the Hidden Truths (Hodder & Stoughton)

M W Craven: The Puppet Show (Constable)

Christobel Kent: What We Did (Sphere)

Donna Leon: Unto Us a Son is Given (William Heinemann)

Derek B Miller: American by Day (Doubleday)

Benjamin Wood: A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better (Scribner)

CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER

Megan Abbott: Give Me Your Hand (Picador)

Dan Fesperman: Safe Houses (Head of Zeus)

Luke Jennings: Killing Eve: No Tomorrow (John Murray)

Stephen Mack Jones: Lives Laid Away (Soho Crime)

Holly Watt: To the Lions (Raven Books)

Tim Willocks: Memo from Turner (Jonathan Cape)

CWA JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD)

Claire Askew: All the Hidden Truths (Hodder & Stoughton)

Alex Dahl: The Boy at the Door (Head Of Zeus)

Chris Hammer: Scrublands (Wildfire)

Vicky Newham: Turn a Blind Eye (HQ)

Laura Shepherd-Robinson: Blood and Sugar (Mantle)

Vanda Symon: Overkill (Orenda)

CWA ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

Sue Black: All That Remains (Doubleday)

Mikita Brottman: An Unexplained Death (Canongate)

Claire Harman: Murder by the Book (Viking)

Kirk Wallace Johnson: The Feather Thief (Hutchinson)

Ben Macintyre: The Spy and the Traitor (Viking)

Hallie Rubenhold: The Five (Doubleday)

CWA INTERNATIONAL DAGGER 

Dov Alfon: A Long Night in Paris, tr Daniella Zamir (Maclehose Press )

Karin Brynard: Weeping Waters, tr Maya Fowler & Isobel Dixon (World Noir)

Gianrico Carofiglio: The Cold Summer, tr Howard Curtis (Bitter Lemon Press)

Keigo Higashino: Newcomer, tr Giles Murray (Little, Brown)

Håkan Nesser: The Root of Evil, tr Sarah Death (Mantle)

Cay Rademacher: The Forger, tr Peter Millar (Arcadia Books)

CWA SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER

Liam McIlvanney: The Quaker (Harper Fiction)

S G MacLean: Destroying Angel (Quercus Fiction)

Abir Mukherjee: Smoke and Ashes (Harvill Secker)

Alex Reeve:  The House on Half Moon Street (Raven Books)

C J Sansom: Tombland (Mantle)

Laura Shepherd-Robinson: Blood and Sugar (Mantle)

CWA SHORT STORY DAGGER

Martin Edwards: Strangers in a Pub in ‘Ten Year Stretch’ edited by Martin Edwards and Adrian Muller (No Exit Press)

Syd Moore: Death Becomes Her in ‘The Strange Casebook’ by Syd Moore (Point Blank Books)

Danuta Reah: The Dummies’ Guide to Serial Killing in ‘The Dummies’ Guide to Serial Killing and other Fantastic Female Fables’ (Fantastic Books)

Teresa Solana: I Detest Mozart in ‘The First Prehistoric Serial Killer and Other Stories’ by Teresa Solana (Bitter Lemon Press)

Lavie Tidhar: Bag Man in ‘The Outcast Hours’ edited by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin (Solaris)

DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY

M C Beaton

Mark Billingham

John Connolly

Kate Ellis

C J Sansom

Cath Staincliffe

DEBUT DAGGER 

(A competition for the opening of a crime novel by an uncontracted writer)

Shelley Burr: Wake

Jerry Crause: The Mourning Light

Catherine Hendricks: Hardways                                                                                

David Smith: The Firefly                                                                               

Fran Smith: A Thin Sharp Blade  

BEST CRIME & MYSTERY PUBLISHER DAGGER

Faber & Faber

Harper Fiction (HarperCollins)

HQ (HarperCollins)

No Exit Press (Oldcastle Books) 

Orenda Books

Pushkin Vertigo (Pushkin)

Raven Books

DIAMOND DAGGER        

Presented to Robert Goddard.