Bloody Scotland Sneak Peek

 Bloody Scotland 2024 Programme Sneaky Peak

Authors released as part of the festival’s inaugural ‘sneaky peek’ include:

Richard Armitage – Headlining the opening night on Friday 13th September, one of the UK’s most popular actors will be at The Albert Halls in Stirling to talk about his debut thriller, Geneva. His string of acting credits include The Hobbit, North and South, Into the Storm and Spooks.

Ann Cleeves – The creator of three outstanding crime series, two much-loved television dramas in Vera and Shetland and 26 novels translated into over 20 languages will be in conversation with one of the co-founders of Bloody Scotland, Lin Anderson. Her event will be on the afternoon of Saturday 14th.

Peter May – Launching the much-anticipated fourth book in the Lewis series, one of Scotland’s favourite crime writers will be back on the Stirling stage for the first time since 2014 in conversation with one of the founding directors of the festival, local author, Craig Robertson. He will be at the Albert Halls on Saturday evening.

Louise Minchin –  The BBC Breakfast TV presenter will be in Stirling at noon on Sunday 15th September to talk about her debut novel, Isolation Island. The book draws heavily on her TV experience.

Ruth Ware – The international bestselling crime writer – hot from being the guest programmer at Harrogate - will be in conversation with Louise discussing her new blockbuster, One Perfect Couple, chaired by TV and radio presenter, Bryan Burnett.

Tickets for all of these events are now on sale! See here.

CrimeFest Programme

 

The Crimefest Programme has been announced. The full programme can be found here.

Thursday 11 May 2023

13:30 – 14:20

Police Procedurals: Getting it Right and Making it Real

14:40 – 15:30 

Protagonists Under Pressure: Putting your Characters in Danger (Panel 1)
Telling Tales: Keeping Secrets and Telling Lies (Panel 2)

15:50 – 16:40 

High Octane: A Thrills and Spills Ride (Panel 1)
Partners in Crime: When Two (or more) Heads are Better than One (Panel 2)

17:00 – 17:50 
Authors Remembered (Panel 1)

A Twist in the Tale: Turning the Plot on its Head (Panel 2)

20:00 – 21:30:

 CRIMEFEST Pub Quiz, with crime writer and critic Peter Guttridge as Inquizitor. Prizes to be won!

LOCATION: TBA.

Friday 12 May 2023

09:00 – 09:50
Keeping it Cosy: The Gifted Amateur (Panel 1)

All in the Mind: Psychological Thrillers (Panel 2)

10:10 – 11:00
Dark Times: Crime Fiction Set in and Around WWII (Panel 1)

This is a Modern World: Crime in the Digital Age (Panel 2)

11:20 – 12:10
More than One: Serial Killers and Multiple Murderers (Panel 1)
A Captive Audience: Locked Rooms and Limited Suspects (Panel 2)
The Ones You Least Expect: Keeping the Reader Guessing (Panel 3)

12:30 – 13:20 
Humanity in the Darkness: Finding Hope in Crime Fiction (Panel 1)

New Golden Age? Today’s Mystery Fiction (Panel 2)

Keeping Them Close: How Well Do You Know Your Friends? (Panel 3)

13:40 – 14:30

Unspeakable: When Bad Things Happen (Panel 1)

Science Fact and Science Fiction (Panel 2)

Guilt and Innocence (Panel 3)

14:50 – 15:40

Location, Location, Location: The Importance of Setting (Panel 1)

Job Titles: Choosing What Your Protagonist Does For a Living (Panel 2)

A Little Bit Spooky: Adding a Sprinkle of the Supernatural (Panel 3)

16:00 – 16:50

Historical Crime Fiction: Today Reflected in History? (Panel 1)

It’s Personal: The Private Lives of Police Protagonists (Panel 2)

Spying For A Living (Panel 3)

17:10 – 18:00
Cat and Mouse (Panel 1)

A Battle Between Good and Evil?: Protagonist vs Antagonist (Panel 2)

PALM COURT

18:30 – 19:30
CrimeFest hosts the Crime Writers’ Association’s Dagger Announcement Reception

Saturday 13 May 023

09:00 – 09:50

Debut Authors: An Infusion Of Fresh Blood (Panel 1)

Close to Home: Murder in the Family (Panel 2)

10:10 – 11:00
Featured Guest Interview

11:20 – 12:10
High Stakes: Risking it All (Panel 1)

Black is the Night: Cornell Woolrich (Panel 2)

Historical Crime Fiction: Choices, Research and Making It Work (Panel 3)

12:30 – 13:20 

TBC

3:40 – 14:30
A Stranger in Our Midst: The Danger of the Outsider (Panel 1)

Greed, Power, Money, Revenge…: Motives for Murder (Panel 2)

Evening All: the Enduring Allure of Police Procedurals (Panel 3)

14:50 – 15:40
FEATURED GUEST Interview

16:00 – 16:50

Humour: When Murder Makes us Laugh (Panel 1)

Society: What Crime Fiction Says About Us (Panel 2)

English Riviera: It’s not all Sunshine and Ice Cream (Panel 3)

17:30 – 18:15: 

Pre-Gala Dinner Reception (All Full Pass holders welcome)
18:15: 

CRIMEFEST Awards Dinner– ticket holders only

Sunday 13 May 2023

09:30 – 10:20
Debut Authors: An Infusion Of Fresh Blood (Panel 1)

The Indie Alternative (Panel 2)

10:40 – 11.30
TOASTMASTER INTERVIEW – PETER GUTTRIDGE (Panel 1)

Tight Knit: Where Everyone Knows Your Business (Panel 2)

11:50 – 12:40
Criminal Mastermind Quiz

CrimeFest 2022 Programme

 

Thursday 12 May 2022

13:30 - 14:20

PARTNERS IN CRIME: CRIME-SOLVING DUOS

Thomas Enger

Stuart Field

Michael Kurland

Russ Thomas

Participating Moderator: Sam Holland

14:40 - 15:30

Panel 1

ALL IN THE PAST: THE ENDURING FASCINATION WITH HISTORICAL CRIME FICTION

Kate Ellis

Mark Ellis

Carolyn Kirby

Leigh Russell

Participating Moderator: Linda Stratmann

Panel 2

BUBBLING UNDER: CREATING TENSION

Brian Price

Leslie Scase

Laura Shepherd-Robinson

Cath Staincliffe

Participating Moderator: Samantha Lee Howe

15:50 - 16:40

Panel 1

TICKING CLOCKS: IS CRIME FICTION A RACE AGAINST TIME?

Steve Cavanagh

Jørn Lier Horst

Tina Orr Munro

Trevor Wood

Participating Moderator: L.F. Robertson

Panel 2

A CHANGE IS AS GOOD AS A REST: WRITING MORE THAN ONE SERIES

M.J. Lee

Douglas Lindsay

Michael Stanley (Stan Trollip)

Robert Wilson

Participating Moderator: Michael Ridpath

17:00 - 17:50

Panel 1

AUTHORS REMEMBERED

Maxim Jakubowski (on Cornell Woolrich)

John Lawton (on Jerzy Kosinsky)

Nick Triplow (on Ted Lewis)

TBC

Participating moderator: Mike Ripley

Panel 2

YOU’RE HAVING A LAUGH: HUMOUR IN CRIME FICTION

Helen Fitzgerald

Dolores Gordon-Smith

Amita Murray

Antti Tuomainen 

Participating Moderator: Nev Fountain

20:00 – 21:30: CRIMEFEST Pub Quiz, with crime writer and critic Peter Guttridge as your quiz inquisitor. Prizes to be won!

LOCATION: TBA.

Friday 13 May 2022

09:00 - 09:50

Panel 1

40 YEARS OF CHANGE: FROM THE DEPRESSED 30s TO THE SWINGING 60s

Tim Glister

Michael Kurland

John Lawton

Niki Mackay

Participating Moderator: Luke McCallin

Panel 2

STICKING TO THE LAW: POLICE PROCEDURALS

Rachael Blok

Stuart Field

Leigh Russell

G.D. Sanders

Participating Moderator: Paul Gitsham

10:10 - 11:00

Panel 1

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: NOT SO PERFECT LIVES

Tina Baker

L.F. Robertson

Amanda Robson

Catriona Ward

Participating Moderator: Caroline England

Panel 2

SUSPECT EVERYONE: TIGHT KNIT COMMUNITIES, SMALL TOWNS AND LOCKED ROOMS

Rachael Blok

James Delargy

Victoria Dowd

David Hewson

Participating Moderator: Martin Edwards

Panel 3

OUT OF UNIFORM: GIFTED AMATEURS

Elizabeth Mundy

Nell Pattison

Fiona Veitch Smith

Trevor Wood

Participating Moderator: Carolyn Kirby

11:20 – 12:10

Panel 1

THIS IS THE MODERN WORLD: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL MEDIA

Simon Conway

Fiona Erskine

Antony Johnston

Eve Smith

Participating Moderator: Christine Poulson

Panel 2

CROOKED PATHS: PLOTS THAT TWIST AND TURN

Simon Brett

Sam Carrington

Michael Ridpath

Simon Toyne

Participating Moderator: Katerina Diamond

Panel 3

A STRANGE BUSINESS? PRIVATE EYES AND PAID SLEUTHS

Mick Finlay

Felix Francis

Cath Staincliffe

Lesley Thomson

Participating Moderator: Cathy Ace

12:30 - 13:20

Panel 1

DIVIDED SOCIETY: HATE CRIMES AND SOCIAL FACTORS

Kia Abdullah

Antony Dunford

Sarah Sultoon

Holly Watt

Participating Moderator: Michael Stanley (Stanley Trollip)

Panel 2

BURYING SECRETS: WHO KNOWS WHAT, WHEN, AND WHY?

Mason Cross

Stephen Edger

Gilly MacMillan

Russ Thomas

Participating Moderator: Emily Koch

Panel 3

NETFLIX’ THE STAIRCASE: PLEADING GUILTY TO A CRIME YOU DIDN'T COMMIT?

Steve Cavanagh (Defence)

Imran Mahmood (Prosecution)

Ayo Onatade (The Judge)

13:40 - 14:30

Panel 1

CRIME IN THE CITY: LONDON SET CRIME FICTION

Elle Croft

Biba Pearce

Jeff Dowson

Victoria Selman

Participating Moderator: Linda Mather

Panel 2

HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO?: CHARACTERS AT THE EDGE

Andrew Child

Katerina Diamond

Robert Goddard

Yrsa Sigurdardottir

Participating Moderator: Alex North

Panel 3

LIFE IN THE SHADOWS: SPIES ASSASSINS & COVERT OPERATORS

Antony Johnston

Samantha Lee Howe

Neil Lancaster

Robert Wilson

Participating Moderator: Alex Shaw

14:50 - 15:40

Panel 1

SLEUTHS ABROAD: CRIME IN FOREIGN CLIMES

Peter Hanington

David Hewson

Vaseem Khan

Louise Mangos

Participating Moderator: Barry Forshaw

Panel 2

TRUTH AND REALITY: RESEARCH AND SOURCES

Sue Lawrence

Imran Mahmood

Linda Stratmann

Catriona Ward

Participating Moderator: Janet Laurence

Panel 3

TOXIC: WHEN RELATIONSHIPS TURN BAD

Claire Douglas

Nina Manning

Robin Morgan-Bentley

Rebecca Thornton

Participating Moderator: Amanda Robson

16:00 - 16:50

Panel 1

Ghost of Honour: DICK FRANCIS

Felix Francis

Andrew Hewson

Participating Interviewer: Simon Brett

Panel 2

ITW: THRILLING FOR A LIVING

Alison Bruce

Dugald Bruce-Lockhart

Alex Shaw

Michael Stanley

Participating Moderator: Zoë Sharp

Panel 3

VIOLENCE & GORE: SWEET OLD LADIES & SERIAL KILLERS

Vicki Bradley

Thomas Enger

Nadine Matheson

Alan McDermott

Participating Moderator: Victoria Selman

17:10 – 18:00

Panel 1

PLAYING GAMES: WHEN SOMEONE IS TORMENTING YOUR CHARACTERS

Neil Daws

Chris Ewan

Janice Hallett

Scott Kershaw

Participating Moderator: Jane Shemilt

Panel 2

REVIEWING THE REVIEWERS: IN REMEMBRANCE OF MARCEL BERLINS

Barry Forshaw

Maxim Jakubowski

Mike Ripley

Karen Robinson

Participating Moderator: Peter Guttridge

18:30 – 19:30
PALM COURT

CrimeFest hosts the CWA’s Dagger Announcement Reception

The rest of the weekend's programme can be found here.

Crimefest 2009

The latest newsletter about Crimefest 2009 is now available here. With the announcement that Andrew Taylor is to be awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger this year instead of doing the "two authors in conversation panel" they have now decided to interview him instead. More information will be given about this once the programme is published. It looks as if Crimefest is shaping up to be an excellent festival this year.