Newcastle Noir 2021

 

The panels for Newcastle Noir have been announced. 

Panel 1 - 10.00 – 10.45 In the Line of Duty

Robert Scragg, Howard Linskey and Tariq Ashkanani

There’s something about a police procedural that takes the reader to the heart of the crime and up close and personal with those bringing law and order to dark, disturbed places. With three authors who set their investigations locally, nationally and a bit further afield, we kick off NN2021 by examining what makes a successful fictional detective and why we’re ever drawn to watching them uncover the truth.

Panel 2 - 11.15 – 12.00pm Murder She Wrote… and So Much More!

LJ Ross, Judith O’Reilly and Fiona Erskine

Creating protagonists that linger long after the last page is turned, capturing the essence of place, bringing us plots that keep us twisting and turning, but what if an author’s crime writing was not their first calling? These best-selling authors all had a life before thrilling us with their gloriously dark tales and this session will look at how these earlier experiences may have influenced the text and why crime fiction is now so important to them.

Panel 3 - 12.30 – 1.15pm From Whitley Bay to Blackwood Bay

Ann Cleeves and SJ Watson

The crime scene is an integral part of crime fiction and the impact of the evil committed there is even greater when it happens right on our doorstep. In this panel we’ll discuss writing home or away, creating fictional close-knit communities, and portraying ordinary lives turned upside down by unexpected, shocking events. Oh, and if we’ve time, we’ll ask these highly acclaimed authors what happens when your gripping page-turner of a novel becomes all-important viewing. Not to be missed!

Panel 4 - 1.45 – 2.30pm North by Northwest

Rob Parker and SE Moorhead

From across the Pennines, we bring you crime writing that packs more of a punch than Tyson Fury. An ex-soldier and ex-convict on one last mission for an old friend, a detective sergeant with the heart of a lion, and a neuropsychologist whose new technology might just catch a menacing serial killer. No, we’re not talking about the authors, but rather the protagonists they have created who are willing to risk everything to see justice served.

Panel 5 - 3.00 – 3.45pm Will We Ever Get Out of Here?

Chris McGeorge and DL Marshall

Edgar Allen Poe, Agatha Christie and Gaston Leroux first showed us the criminally delicious tension and intrigue that was to be found in the locked-room mystery. Fast forward 80 years and our authors on this panel will demonstrate the tremendous flexibility of this mystery subgenre. Nowadays the scene of the crime has grown to encompass actual areas, like houses or islands. The suspense lies in knowing that you may be next!

Panel 6 - 4.15 – 5.00pm Don’t Look Away!

Michael J Malone, Louise Beech and Sarah Sultoon

Writing stories that dare us to consider what we often prefer to ignore takes great skill and sensitivity. Given the overwhelming success of a similar panel at previous NN festivals, we wanted to explore further how fact informs fiction when treating such highly sensitive issues. To that end we have brought together three thought-provoking authors who are highly accomplished in bringing the reader face to face with the shocking and unthinkable.

Panel 7 - 5.30 – 6.15pm Something Wicked this Way Comes!

Matt Wesolowski and ES Thomson

What do a curious Victorian apothecary and an elusive contemporary podcaster have in common? With their darkly atmospheric and chilling tales, we’ll hear how these authors have written award-winning and critically acclaimed crime fiction with a grippingly Gothic touch. We’ll also consider how the creepy, the macabre and the sinister continue to fascinate and resonate down through the centuries. Not for the faint hearted, dare you join us?!

Panel 8 - 7.00 – 7.45pm Daring to be Different

Mari Hannah, Trevor Wood and Harriet Tyce

Crime fiction is often thought to be a highly predictable and formula-driven genre, yet our closing panel brings together authors whose writing has proved this is not always the case. Every so often a voice comes along daring to break the mould, offering us award-winning, critically acclaimed stories with a refreshing edge. Come celebrate Northern crime writing with us in the company of three authors who write with the courage of their convictions.

Tickets can be bought here.

Date:- 

Sunday 5^th December 2021

Time:-

10:00am – 20:00

Location:-

Newcastle City Library

33 New Bridge Street West

Newcastle upon Tyne

NE1 8AX

Books To Look Forward to From Orenda Books

July 2021

When a depressed, alcoholic single mother disappears, everything suggests suicide, but when her body is found, Icelandic Detective Elma and her team are thrust into a perplexing, chilling investigation. Single mother Marianna disappears from her home, leaving an apologetic note on the kitchen table, everyone assumes that she's taken her own life ... until her body is found on the Grabrok lava fields seven months later, clearly the victim of murder. Her neglected fifteen-year-old daughter Hekla has been placed in foster care, but is her perfect new life hiding something sinister? Fifteen years earlier, a desperate new mother lies in a maternity ward, unable to look at her own child, the start of an odd and broken relationship that leads to a shocking tragedy. Police officer Elma and her colleagues take on the case, which becomes increasingly complex, as the number of suspects grows and new light is shed on Marianna's past - and the childhood of a girl who never was like the others.. Girls who Lie is by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir.

The Beresford is by Will Carver. Everything stays the same for the tenants of The Beresford, a grand old apartment building just outside the city ... until the doorbell rings. Just outside the city - any city, every city - is a grand, spacious but affordable apartment building called The Beresford. There's a routine at The Beresford. For Mrs May, every day's the same: a cup of cold, black coffee in the morning, pruning roses, checking on her tenants, wine, prayer and an afternoon nap. She never leaves the building. Abe Schwartz also lives at The Beresford. His housemate, Sythe, no longer does. Because Abe just killed him. In exactly sixty seconds, Blair Conroy will ring the doorbell to her new home and Abe will answer the door. They will become friends. Perhaps lovers. And, when the time comes for one of them to die, as is always the case at The Beresford, there will be sixty seconds to move the body before the next unknowing soul arrives at the door. Because nothing changes at The Beresford, until the doorbell rings...

August 2021

The discovery of a human foot in an Edinburgh park, the inexplicable circumstances of a dying woman, and the missing daughter of Jenny's violent ex-husband present the Skelf women with their most challenging - and deadly - cases yet. Keeping on top of the family funeral directors' and private-investigation businesses is no easy task for the Skelf women, and when matriarch Dorothy discovers a human foot while walking the dog, a perplexing case presents itself with potentially deadly results. Daughter Jenny and grand-daughter Hannah have their hands full too: The mysterious circumstances of a dying woman lead them into an unexpected family drama, Hannah's new astrophysicist colleague claims he's receiving messages from outer space, and the Skelfs' teenaged lodger has yet another devastating experience. Nothing is clear as the women are immersed ever deeper in their most challenging cases yet. But when the daughter of Jenny's violent and fugitive ex-husband goes missing without trace and a wild animal is spotted roaming Edinburgh's parks, real danger presents itself, and all three Skelfs are in peril. The Great Silence is by Doug Johnstone.

No Honour by Awais Khan. A young woman defies convention in a small Pakistani village, with devastating results for her and her family. A stunning, immense beautiful novel about courage, family and the meaning of love, when everything seems lost. In sixteen-year-old Abida's small Pakistani village, there are age-old rules to live by, and her family's honour to protect. And, yet, her spirit is defiant and she yearns to make a home with the man she loves. When the unthinkable happens, Abida faces the same fate as other young girls who have chosen unacceptable alliances - certain, public death. Fired by a fierce determination to resist everything she knows to be wrong about the society into which she was born, and aided by her devoted father, Jamil, who puts his own life on the line to help her, she escapes to Lahore and then disappears. Jamil goes to Lahore in search of Abida - a city where the prejudices that dominate their village take on a new and horrifying form - and father and daughter are caught in a world from which they may never escape. Moving from the depths of rural Pakistan, riddled with poverty and religious fervour, to the dangerous streets of over-populated Lahore, No Honour is a story of family, of the indomitable spirit of love in its many forms a story of courage and resilience, when all seems lost, and the inextinguishable fire that lights one young woman's battle for change.

September 2021

When a young woman vanishes from an exclusive oceanfront community, Detective Casey Wray's investigation plunges her into a darkness she could never have imagined. When a young woman makes a distressing middle-of-the-night call to 911, apparently running for her life in a quiet, exclusive beachside neighbourhood, miles from her home, everything suggests a domestic incident. Except no one has seen her since, and something doesn't sit right with the officers at Hampstead County PD. With multiple suspects and witnesses throwing up startling inconsistencies, and interference from the top threatening the integrity of the investigation, lead detective Casey Wray is thrust into an increasingly puzzling case that looks like it's going to have only one ending... And then the first body appears... Black Reed Bay is by Rod Reynolds.

October 2021

An insurance mathematician's carefully ordered life is turned on its head when he unexpectedly loses his job and inherits an adventure park with a whole host of problems. What makes life perfect? Insurance mathematician Henri Koskinen knows the answer because he calculates everything down to the very last decimal. And then, for the first time, Henri is faced with the incalculable. After suddenly losing his job, Henri inherits an adventure park from his brother - its peculiar employees and troubling financial problems included. The worst of the financial issues appear to originate from big loans taken from criminal quarters ... and some dangerous men are very keen to get their money back. But what Henri really can't compute is love. In the adventure park, Henri crosses paths with Laura, an artist with a chequered past, and a joie de vivre and erratic lifestyle that bewilders him. As the criminals go to extreme lengths to collect their debts and as Henri's relationship with Laura deepens, he finds himself faced with situations and emotions that simply cannot be pinned down on his spreadsheets.. The Rabbit Factor is by Antti Tuomainen.

Cold as Hell is by Lilja Sigurdardóttir. Arora returns to Iceland when her estranged sister goes missing, and her search leads to places she could never have imagined. Icelandic sisters Arora and Isafold live in different countries and aren't on speaking terms, but when their mother loses contact with Isafold, Arora reluctantly returns to Iceland to find her sister. But she soon realizes that her sister isn't avoiding her ... she has disappeared, without trace. As she confronts Isafold's abusive, drug-dealing boyfriend Bjoern, and begins to probe her sister's reclusive neighbours - who have their own reasons for staying out of sight - Arora is led into an ever-darker web of intrigue and manipulation. Baffled by the conflicting details of her sister's life, and blinded by the shiveringly bright midnight sun of the Icelandic summer, Arora enlists the help of police officer Daniel, as she tries to track her sister's movements, and begins to tail Bjoern - but she isn't the only one watching.

November 2021.

The Quiet People by Paul Cleave. Cameron and Lisa Murdoch are successful crime-writers. They have been on the promotional circuit, joking that no one knows how to get away with crime like they do. After all, they write about it for a living. So when their 7 year old son Zach goes missing, naturally the police and the public wonder if they have finally decided to prove what they have been saying all this time – are they trying to show how they can commit the perfect crime?

Psychopaths Annoymous is by Will Carver. When AA meetings make her want to drink more, alcoholic murderess Maeve Beauman sets up a group for psychopaths.

December 2021

Quicksand of Memory is by Michael J Malone. Scarred by past events, Jenna and Luke fall in love, and their future looks rosy. But someone has been watching, with chilling plans for revenge.

January 2022

Demon is by Matt Wesolowski.  Scott King’s Six Stories podcast investigates the 1995 case of a demon possession in a rural Yorkshire village, where a 12-year-old boy was murdered in cold blood by two children.

Bitter Flowers is by Gunnar Staalesen.  Fresh from rehab, Varg Veum faces his most complex investigation yet, when a man is found drowned, a young woman disappears, and the case of a missing child is revived.

Crime at the Castle

SATURDAY the 24th FEBRUARY 2018

Do you read crime novels?  Do you fancy trying your hand at writing a crime novel?

If the answer to either of those questions is “YES” then Crime at the Castle is a must.

You have a chance to hear the very best Scottish crime writers as they tell you how it is done in a series of talks and writer’s workshops in what must be one of the most inspirational venues imaginable. 

Glamis castle is holding its very first crime writers festival in the castle on Saturday the 24th February 2018.  This is the only crime writer’s festival in Angus-our very first. 

Speaking are a veritable who’s who of the Scottish Crime writing world. These include

Alex Gray, Caro Ramsey, Caroline Dunford, Chris Brookmyre, Chris Longmuir, Craig Robertson, Denise Mina, Douglas Skelton, Frank Muir, Jackie Mclean, Lin Anderson, Michael J Malone, Sandra Ireland, Shona MacLean, Val McDermid and Wendy H. Jones.

As an “all in” day, you will have a chance to hear 4 speakers (or 3 speakers and a writer’s workshop), meet the writers at book signings in between sessions AND we are offering lunch in our restaurant as part of the “all in” day.

The total cost of this extraordinary opportunity is £55.00.

We have a limited number of tickets and interest is keen. Book your tickets soon to avoid disappointment.

Here’s how it works:

Below you will find a link to the list of the speakers, the time of their session and the number of tickets available.  You must book 4 sessions-one in each time slot (or 3 and a workshop).  Lunch is provided in the middle of the day along with book signing opportunities and tea breaks.

https://view.publitas.com/glamis-castle/programme-crime-at-the-castle/

Please phone 01307 840393 and a member of the Glamis Team will assist you with your booking. Once you have registered your authors and timeslots we will request your payment of £55.00 by credit/debit card and  any dietary requirements for your lunch. We will send you a “ticket” either by post or email which will confirm the sessions and lunch time.  Bring the ticket with you on the day.

This promises to be a wonderful day for anybody who likes writing or reading crime.  Come and join us at what promises to be a very exciting day.

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Mchael J Malone on the Enduring Resilience of Crime Fiction.

My memory is a tad foggy these days, but it must have been around 2003/ 2004 when I received rejections for my first crime novel. What I do clearly remember is one agent rejecting me because she thought crime fiction was waning in popularity.

Present me thinks; narrow escape – that was one agent with a finger on the pulse. Not.

What is absolutely clear is that crime fiction, in all its various forms remains incredibly popular, in fact recent sales figures show that it is outstripping other genres in the UK with amounts of £200 million a year being mentioned.

So why the enduring popularity? Why do Brits like nothing more than to curl up in a chair (usually with wind and rain beating against the window) with some literary dastardly goings on in their sweaty mitt?

Now I can’t speak for anyone else, but as a long-time fan of the genre there are several things that I look for when I’m parting with my hard-earned.

Character. I want to meet someone on the page who engages me, for whatever reason. I might sympathise with them and want to see them get out of the terrible situation they have found themselves in. I might love to hate them and want to see them get their comeuppance. And if the writer manages to get both of these in a book, boy will they have me pressing on through looking for answers.

Writers to check out– William McIlvanney, Louise Beech and John Connolly.

Plot. It’s not enough that I engage with the character, I want something to happen. I remember years ago reading a novel where the writing was beautiful and the character was appealing, but nothing fricking happened! I lasted till about half way before I gave up on the book. A lot of the critics of the crime genre – most of whom clearly haven’t read any – use the issue of plot in a crime novel as the basis of their criticism, but poor plotting is lazy writing in any genre. When the plot grows out of the character and is consistent with their needs and wants, I’m off and running.

Great storytellers – Jeffrey Deaver, Val McDermid, Paul Hardisty and Martina Cole

Themes and issues. I don’t want to be lectured or hit over the head with a message but if a theme or issue is highlighted in the book and the character’s struggle with it is demonstrated through the events that happen to them, my heart as well as my mind is engaged, and I’ve got me a winner.

Writers who make me think – George Pelecanos, Denise Mina, Helen Fitzgerald and Don Winslow

Humour. Let’s face it, crime fiction can deal with some pretty meaty subjects and humanity

at its absolute worst, and if that misery is unrelenting for 300 or so pages it can really weigh me down. So, I love it when a writer chooses her or his moment to slide in a slice of humour to lighten the load a little.

Writers who make me laugh – Carl Hiassen, Chris Brookmyre and Douglas Skelton.

Word choice. Elmore Leonard in his famous rules on writing said that if something sounds like writing he re-writes it. I understand where he’s coming from. If something pushes you out of the fictive dream then it has to go – but – and I hesitate to disagree with such a master – isn’t it wonderful when an author hits you with a surprising noun or verb? Or when they gift you with a sentence that lights up in your mind’s ear like sparkling candy does in your mouth? I love words, I love the feel and sound of them as they trip from the mouth and hit the air, and for me a novel where the author has taken time to pepper their prose with such goodies makes me want to stand up and applaud.

Strong prose stylists – Megan Abbott, Tana French, James Lee Burke and Michael Grothaus.

House of Spines by Michael J Malone (Orenda Books)

Ran McGhie's world has been turned upside down. A young, lonely and frustrated writer, and suffering from mental-health problems, he discovers that his long-dead mother was related to one of Glasgow's oldest merchant families. Not only that, but Ran has inherited Newton Hall, a vast mansion that belonged to his great-uncle, who appears to have been watching from afar as his estranged great-nephew has grown up. Entering his new-found home, he finds that Great-Uncle Fitzpatrick has turned it into a temple to the written word - the perfect place for poet Ran. But everything is not as it seems. As he explores the Hall's endless corridors, Ran's grasp on reality appears to be loosening. And then he comes across an ancient lift; and in that lift a mirror. And in the mirror ... the reflection of a woman ....

Buy it from SHOTS A Store.

Newcastle Noir 2017 Programme

Fringe: 24th -27th April

Monday 24th Talk: Murderous Newcastle – Fact and Fiction Pat Lowery 6 pm £3

Tuesday 25th talk: Crime with a Northern Edge 6.30 pm Free

Wednesday 26th: Noir @ the Bar - Town Wall 7 pm Free

Thursday 27th Talk: David Young, The fact behind the fiction 6.30 pm  £3

Festival Launch Friday 28th April

The Festival will be launched by Denise Mina who will be talking about and reading from her work 7pm - Free

Saturday 29th April

Time   Activity          Participants

9.30 - 11.30   Intensive writing workshop *       

William Ryan

10.00 - 11.00 Panel 1 - Geordie Crime     

Shelley Day, Howard Linskey, L.J. Ross, Matt Wesolovski

11.30 - 12.30  Panel 2 - LGBTQ     

Sarah Stowell, Lilja Sigurðardóttir, David Swatling. Chaired by Jacky Collins

12.35 - 1.15     Talk: how to be published **         

Adam Maxwell

1.30 - 2.30     Panel 3 - Femmes Fatales 

Lin Anderson, Alex Gray, Alanna Knight.  Chaired by Ayo Onatade

3.00 - 4.00    Panel 4- German Historical Fiction         

David Young, William Ryan, Luke McCallin.  Chaired by Kat Hall

4.30 - 5.30     Panel 5- Nordic 1     

Kjell Ola Dahl, Thomas Enger, Antti Tuomainen, Chaired by Quentin Bates

6.30 - 7.30     Panel 6- German Noir        

Sascha Arango, Cay Rademacher, Wulf Dorn.  Chaired by Kat Hall

7.30 - 8.30     Panel 7- Crime Fiction: Presenting the case       

Karen Sullivan, Quentin Bates, Sarah Ward, Susan Heads.  Chaired by Miriam Owen

Sunday 30th April

Time   Activity          Participants

10.00 - 11.00 Panel 8 - Children's Crime Fiction

Katherine Woodfine, Lyn Gardner, Laura Wood.  Chaired by Ann Landman

11.30 - 12.30  Panel 9 - Crime Fact and Fiction  

Mari Hannah, Mo, A.D. Garrett.  Chaired by Jacky Collins

1.30 - 2.30     Panel 10 - Domestic Noir

C.L. Taylor, Michael J. Malone, Louise Beech.  Chaired by Rosie White

3.00 - 4.00    Panel 11 - New Blood          

Shelley Day, Tana Collins, Michael Wood.  Chaired by Sarah Ward

4.30 - 5.30     Panel 12- Tartan Noir         

Russel D McLean, Douglas Skelton, Neil Broadfoot.  Chaired by Michael J Malone

6.30 - 7.30     Panel 13 - Nordic 2  

Erik Axl Sund, Johana Gustawsson, Camilla Grebe.  Chaired by Jacky Collins

8.00 - 9.00    Panel 14 - Action Thriller  

Luca Veste, Steph Broadribb, Paul Hardisty, Chaired by Daniel Pembrey

* £10/£7

** £5/£3