In The St Hilda's Spotlight - Vaseem Khan

 Name: - Vaseem Khan

Job: - Author and Strategic Alliance Director at University College London

Website: - https://vaseemkhan.com

X:- @VaseemKhanUK 

Instagram: - @Vaseemkhanwriter

Facebook:- - @VaseemKhanOfficial 

Introduction

Vaseem Khan is the author of two award-winning crime series set in India, and the Q Mysteries, beginning with Quantum of Menace, the first in a murder mystery series featuring Q from the James Bond franchise. In 2026 it was shortlisted for Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year.

His debut, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, was selected by the Sunday Times as one of the 40 best crime novels published 2015-2020, and is translated into 17 languages. In 2017 The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown won the Shamus Award for the Best Original Private Investigator Paperback. Vaseem Khan was awarded the 2018 Eastern Eye ACTA (Arts, Culture, Theatre Award) for Literature.

In 2021, Midnight at Malabar House, the first in the Malabar House novels set in 1950s Bombay, and introducing India’s first female police detective, won the CWA Historical Dagger. The fifth novel in the series City of Destruction won the Fingerprint Award.

Vaseem is a former Chair of the Crime Writers Association and also co-hosts the popular crime fiction podcast, Murder Junction. When he’s not writing, he works at University College London’s Dept of Security and Crime Science

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

I’m currently putting the final proof edits to The Man with the Golden Compass, the second in the Q mysteries, featuring Q from the Bond franchise, out in October 2026. Fresh from successfully reinvestigating his childhood friend's mysterious death, Q is hired as a civilian contractor by the police in his sleepy hometown to look into the unsolved murder of tech millionaire turned online antique dealer, Lawrence Noble. Noble was tortured and killed, a circular object made of gold and inscribed with mysterious runes found in his pocket… And, yes, Commander James Bond gets to make an appearance in the novel. These books are essentially Q playing amateur detective in a small English town. The first, Quantum of Menace, was shortlisted for two major awards.

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

No one likes a smarmy nice guy, always following the rules and being a goody two-shoes. I’d rather have some maverick who doesn’t mind punching some old lady in the face if that’s what it takes to get the job done. Anti-heroes have a magical quality of cool about them; they’re magnetic and unpredictable, which means you never know what to expect. Isn’t that what we want from fiction?

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

I’d love to have Sauron from The Lord of the Rings over – I always thought he was misunderstood and just needed an arm around the shoulder and a friendly ear – if Gandalf had been more sympathetic there would have been no war for Middle Earth. And I’d also have Lady Macbeth over. Everyone’s always ‘oh, but it was Lady M’s fault’. As far as I’m concerned Macbeth was a grown-ass man who could have said no. Mrs Macbeth was just ambitious. Nothing wrong with that.

How do you relax?

Relax??? What’s that? I think I last relaxed in 1987 when I ran my bicycle into a lamppost and banged my head and was knocked out for a while… I play a lot of cricket which is supposed to be relaxing, but when some snotty sixteen-year-old is bowling very fast with a very hard cricket ball at your head it doesn’t seem that chilled out.

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

Dirty Harry as played by Clint Eastwood. I mean who’s going to mess with a man holding a gun bigger than most rocket launchers?

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

I already did! The Malabar House novels are set in 1950s India, just after Indian independence, and feature India’s first and only female police detective, Inspector Persis Wadia, working with English criminalist, Archie Blackfinch. Persis doesn’t mind breaking the rules – because it’s the only way to prove that she’s as good as any man on the force. In the latest, The Edge of Darkness, she is banished from Bombay to the northeastern jungles of India, a place called the Naga Hills, where headhunting tribals continue to operate. When she discovers the headless corpse of the local governor inside a locked room at the Hotel Victoria, she is tasked to investigate before the region explodes in all out political war… These books are for those who enjoy award-winning historical mysteries.

How would you describe your latest published book?

The Girl in Cell A came out in paperback recently with a beautiful new cover. This is my first psychological thriller, set in small town America. Orianna is sent to prison aged 17 for the murder of the heir to the wealthy Wyclerc mining dynasty. She claims she cannot remember what happened. The book is told by two narrators: Orianna’s therapist in prison, trying to open the black box of her memories, and Orianna herself, eighteen years later, having served her prison term, returning to her forested home town to investigate. It’s a murder mystery, a big family saga, with unreliable narrators, small town secrets, and lots of shocking twists and turns. Check it out!

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

Lisbeth Salander – I love The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and I really wouldn’t want Lisbeth as an enemy. Sam Spade from The Maltese Falcon - I wish I could be as effortlessly cool as Humphrey Bogart in the film. Dr Hannibal Lecter - OK, so I know he occasionally murders people and eats their livers BUT… he’s witty, urbane and intelligent and only kills people who are rude, which I think is fair.

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

The Silence of the Lambs

A Fistful of Dollars

The Godfather

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

The enormous lunches at the big knob table or whatever it’s called. Oh, and attending some really great sessions at the festival, of course!

The Girl in Cell A by Vaseem Khan (Hodder and Stoughton) 

The world knows her as the girl in cell A. Convicted of murder at seventeen, infamous killer and true crime celebrity orianna negi has always maintained her innocence. But if she didn't kill Gideon Wyclerc... Orianna has a blind spot over that fateful day: she can't remember what happened. Forensic psychologist Annie Ledet is tasked with unlocking the truth. ....Then who did? Orianna grew up in eden falls, ruled by the insular Wyclerc dynasty and its ruthless patriarch , Amos. As their sessions progress, Annie reaches into Orianna's past to a shattering realisation. ... Scandal. Sex. Power. Race. And murder. Between guilt and innocence lies a fallen eden.

Information on how to buy online tickets can be found here. The programme can be found here.

In The St Hilda's Spotlight - Andrew Taylor

 Name: - Andrew Taylor

Job: - Author

Website: - www.andrew-taylor.co.uk

Twitter and Instagram: - @andrewjrtaylor

Facebook:- andrew.tayloratlydmouth.9

Introduction

Andrew Taylor is the author of six different series (Dougal, Sergeant Jim Bergerac (written as Andrew Saville), Blaines, Lydmouth, Roth Trilogy and Marwood and Lovett).  He is also the author of over half a dozen standalone novels and half a dozen children’s books to name a few.  

His books have been nominated and won numerous wards with his first novel, Caroline Minuscule (1982), wining the John Creasey Memorial Award of the Crime Writers' Association of Great Britain. He is the only author to have won the CWA's Historical Dagger three times with Office of the Dead (2000), The American Boy (2003) and The Scent of Death (2013). The American Boy a gothic mystery linked to Edgar Allan Poe's boyhood years in England, was one of the ten titles featured in Channel 4's Richard and Judy Book Club 2005 and was also selected for The Times Top Ten Crime Novels of the Decade.

In 2009 Andrew Taylor received the CWA Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement. In 2016 he started a series set in Restoration England featuring James Marwood a government agent and Clerk in the court of King Charles II and Catt Lovett an architectural designer. The first book in the series being The Ashes of London (2016). In 2020 The King's Evil (2019) won the Historical Writers Association (HWA) Gold Crown for best historical novel of the year. The seventh book in the series Treason is due to be published in March 2027.

His most recent book A Schooling in Murder (2025) was a Times/Waterstones No 1 bestseller and was long-listed for the 2026 Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year.

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

I’ve just finished Alexander Starritt’s Drayton and Mackenzie, which is a weird bromance set in the world of high finance in the last 50 years and featuring all too historical figures, including tech billionaires and at least one chairmen of the Fed. Not a crime novel but weirdly, hypnotically readable. As for writing, I’ve just been tidying up my new 17c novel, Treason, which comes out next March. I’ve also been working on two side projects, as yet under wraps. After that comes a return to the 17c.

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

I suppose they fascinate us partly because they have the uncomfortable power to enact our darkest desires and deepest fears. 

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

Tom Ripley, of course, who’d probably be charming and present you with a bottle of very nice wine while eying up your valuables (he’d be out of luck with us). And perhaps Professor Moriarty. Conan Doyle presents him (when he mentions him at all) as a convenient blank labelled ‘Evil Mastermind’. But I bet he’s got a rich and fascinating interior life, as well as some interesting tales to tel about the dark side of Sherlock Holmes.

How do you relax?

In a variety of ways. 

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

Tom Ripley again. He tends to wriggle out tricky situations in the end. I’m hoping he would help me do the same.

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

I have cleverly anticipated your question by already writing several novels featuring an anti-hero, including my very first, Caroline Minuscule, which was set when it was written – ie 1980-1. (Rereading it makes me feel slightly queasy today.) I’ve no idea where I’d set another book involving an anti-hero. You’ll have to come back to me on that one…

How would you describe your latest published book?

A Schooling in Murder is a pastiche of a Golden Age whodunit set in a third-rate girls’ boarding school in 1945. The twist is that it’s narrated by the murder victim, who is already dead at the start of book. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed writing this novel. 

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

Tom Ripley (there’s a theme emerging here), Richard III (if he actually is a villain), and the chillingly evil Jack Havoc in Allingham’s The Tiger in the Smoke. 

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

The Sopranos. Breaking Bad. And (some way behind) The Wire. Because all three explore the moral and social consequences of evil in such a chillingly plausible way. 

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

I’ve been coming the Crime Fiction Weekend for nearly 30 years and for the same reasons: meeting old friends and making new ones; discussing crime fiction with people who share this strange passion of ours; and coming away with a good reading list. Also, two days without doing any washing up. 

A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor (HarperCollins Publisher)

England, May 1945. In the last days of World War II, Monkshill Park School for Girls stands far apart from the violence in Europe. Yet a woman has been murdered in its grounds. Annabel Warnock, a teacher with a secretive past, has disappeared. The teachers and girls whisper that she’s run away, but in fact she has met a violent end. Replacement tutor and amateur crime writer Alec Shaw arrives to find a school riven with bitter rivalries and dangerous tensions. He begins to suspect there is a real-life mystery waiting to be solved… and these echoing halls hide a killer.

Information on how to buy online tickets can be found here. The programme can be found here.

In The St Hilda's Spotlight - Ajay Chowdhury

 Name: Ajay Chowdhury

Job:- Author, Businessman and Theatre Director

Website:- https://ajaychowdhury.com

Instagram:- ajaychowdhury.author

Facebook:- ajay.chowdhury

X:- @ajaychow

Introduction:- Ajay Chowdhury is the author of six novels in the Detective Kamil Rahman his novels. He was the inaugural winner of the Harvill-Secker Bloody Scotland crime fiction award. His debut novel The Waiter and his third book The Detective were Sunday Times crime books of the month. His fourth book The Spy was longlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Novel. His fifth novel The Invitation is a free interactive novel. His sixth novel The Shadow was shortlisted for the Eastern Eye Crime Novel of the Year 2026. 

His most recent book is his first standalone novel entitled Eden Falls.

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

I’ve just started writing the eighth Kamil Rahman novel, which still feels slightly surreal. At the moment, all I know is that it’s about the pernicious influence of social media and is set in London’s East End. One of the joys of writing crime fiction is discovering the story as I go, so I’m excited to see where it leads. I’m also reading Len Deighton’s Billion-Dollar Brain, which is absolutely delightful.

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

The best anti-heroes are intelligent, charismatic and often strangely relatable, despite doing terrible things. They let us explore our darkest impulses from the safety of an armchair, which is both unsettling and oddly cathartic.

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

Tom Ripley and Hannibal Lecter. I’d cook them a nice Indian meal (no liver), pour the Chianti and then sit back to watch the psychological sparring.

How do you relax?

Listening to music and watching television, mostly. At the moment I’m enjoying the Rolling Stones’ new album and Your Friends & Neighbours, which is enormous fun.

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

Dexter Morgan. Assuming the person causing the difficult situation deserves it, his code should ensure everything works out rather well.

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

I already have. The Patriot, the next Kamil Rahman novel, is published in November. Its antagonist is a charming Sikh historian plotting an audacious theft of the Koh-i-Noor diamond from the Tower of London to return it to India. Much of the novel is told from his point of view, and writing someone so intelligent, persuasive with a powerful, if misguided, moral compass was a joy.

How would you describe your latest published book?

Eden Falls is my first standalone thriller and is a bit like Thelma & Louise at 100 miles an hour. A quantum physicist disappears, forcing his wife and his ex-girlfriend (who can barely stand each other) to race across America in search of him. Standing in their way is a tech trillionaire trying to weaponise AI, setting up a battle of immense power against determination, ingenuity and courage. 

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

Leaving aside the ones I’ve already mentioned, and broadening the definition to include master criminals, I’d choose Professor Moriarty, A. J. Raffles and Ernst Stavro Blofeld. They each embody a different kind of villainy: intellect, charm and sheer audacity.

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

If HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey counts, then definitely HAL. It’s one of my favourite films, and HAL remains one of cinema’s greatest antagonists. I’d also happily rewatch The Sopranos and Breaking Bad any time. Tony Soprano and Walter White are two of the finest anti-heroes ever created.

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

This will be my first visit, so I’m really looking forward to it. I love that the festival favours talks over panels, it’s equal parts terrifying and invigorating. And I suspect I may have a slightly different take on “Bad Apples” from some of the other speakers…

Eden Falls by Ajay Chowdhury (Vintage Publisher)

After the murder of his best friend, newlyweds Adam and Aisha cut their honeymoon short. But just as they are about to board a flight home from Delhi, Adam disappears at the airport – seemingly kidnapped – leaving Aisha stranded without her passport, her phone, or answers. When the FBI and India’s intelligence agency begin interrogating her, it becomes chillingly clear they know far more about Adam than she ever did. Her only clue is his final, haunting message: I’m sorry. Thousands of miles away, Sara Wolf, a scientist stuck on a dead-end project at Princeton, receives a message she never expected from her former lover. It contains two words: Help her. Bound together by suspicion, rivalry, and a man they both love, Aisha and Sara are forced into an uneasy alliance. Decoding Adam’s clues, they follow a trail that leads them across the United States - into a shadow world of weaponised AI, tech billionaires, and a secret no one is meant to find. Eden Falls is a gripping, high-stakes thriller that spans continents and asks how far we will go - and who we will trust - when the truth can destroy everything.

Information on how to buy online tickets can be found here. The programme can be found here.

In The St Hilda's Spotlight - Robert Goddard

 Name:- Robert Goddard

Job:- Author

Twitter :- @RobertGoddardUK

Introduction

Goddard's first novel, Past Caring, was published in 1986. Into the Blue, (1990) the first of the Harry Barnett novels won the first WH Smith Thumping Good Read Award, Long Time Coming which was published in the UK in 2009 won the 2011 Edgar Award for Best Original Paperback and was nominated for the 2011 Anthony award in the same category In 2019, Goddard was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger by the Crime Writers' Association. He has also received acclaim for his historical Wide World trilogy, set in Europe and Japan during 1919, and featuring the intrepid ex-flying ace James ‘Max’ Maxted.He has since written more than twenty novels; the majority have been Sunday Times Top Ten best-sellers in the UK.

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

I’m currently immersed in a lot of background reading for a new novel in which we will return to some of the characters who featured in This is the Night They Come for You.

Favourite book: 

It’s a close call between The Calculus Affair and The Castafiore Emerald - Hergé’s greatest achievements in his Tintin series that so captivated me as a child. 

Which two characters would you invite to dinner and why? 

Bearing in mind my previous answer, I think it should probably be Captain Haddock and Bianca Castafiore. Sparks are likely to fly, but Haddock’s fondness for whisky has blinded many to his appreciation of fine wine - plus he can entertain us with anecdotes culled from his nautical career and, late in the evening, perhaps a sea shanty or two, accompanied by the Milanese Nightingale herself. 

How do you relax? 

Walking, watching cricket and loitering in pubs. 

Which book do you wish you had written and why? 

I’m not really sure how to answer this question, as we all write in our own way and if I wrote somebody else’s book I’d end up re-writing it in my particular style. 

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

You really are going to be able to sustain a career as a writer! 

How would you describe your latest published book? 

The St Hilda’s event is set to coincide with publication of my latest novel, The Fine Art of Uncanny Prediction, which features a second appearance by Japanese detective Umiko Wada and sees her drawn into a nest of mysteries concerning her former boss Kazuto Kodaka and the troubled past of Japan itself. 

With Celebrations: innocent parties, guilty pleasures being the theme at St Hilda's this year, which are you three favourite psychological books and why? 

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, The Magus by John Fowles and The Secret History by Donna Tartt - classics of psychologically intriguing storytelling all three. 

If you were to rewatch a psychological film which film would it be and why? 

Picnic at Hanging Rock - there’s a chance that one day I’ll be able to work out what actually happened at Hanging Rock that summer’s day in 1900, even though I realize the scriptwriter didn’t know himself.

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

The unexpected! 

The Fine Art of Uncanny Prediction by Robert Goddard (Transworld Publshers Ltd) Out 17 August 2023

Umiko Wada never set out to be a private detective, let alone become the one-woman operation behind the Kodaka Detective Agency. But so it has turned out, thanks to the death of her former boss, Kazuto Kodaka, in mysterious circumstances. Keen to avoid a similar fate, Wada chooses the cases she takes very carefully. A businessman who wants her to track down his estranged son offers what appears to be a straightforward assignment. Soon she finds herself pulled into a labyrinthine conspiracy with links to a twenty-seven-year-old investigation by her late employer and to the chaos and trauma of the dying days of the Second World War. As Wada uncovers a dizzying web of connections between then and now, it becomes clear that someone has gone to extraordinary lengths to keep the past buried. Soon those she loves most will be sucked into the orbit of one of the most powerful men in Tokyo. And he will do whatever it takes to hold on to his power...

Information about 2023 St Hilda's College Crime Fiction Weekend and how to book tickets can be found here.

In the St Hilda's Spotlight - Winnie LI

 

Name:- Winnie Li

Job:- Author and activist

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

Twitter - @winniemli

Instagram:- @winniemli

Introduction: 

Winnie M Li is a Taiwanese American author and actvisit who writes across a range of media, including fiction, theatre, journalism, and memoir. Her debut novel, Dark Chapter, is a fictional retelling of her real-life stranger rape in Belfast, from both victim and perpetrator perspectives. It won The Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize in 2017, was nominated for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel, and shortlisted for The Author’s Club Best First Novel Award.  

Her second novel Complicit was sold in a six-figure pre-empt to Orion Fiction, and later, in a heated five-way auction to Emily Bestler at Atria Books for US rights. It was released in the Summer of 2022 and was The New York Times ‘ monthly book club pick, as well as being on several Best of 2022 lists. 

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

Current book I’m reading: The Red Canoe by Wayne Johnson, a three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee. It’s a beautiful and brutal story of violence, corruption, and justice set on the bleak landscapes of a Native American reservation in Minnesota. 

Current book I’m writing: 

My third novel (working title Mother Road), about three estranged adult siblings who are forced to go on a road trip across post-Covid America to see their ailing mother on the West Coast. Along the way, they confront the strange incident that happened on a previous family road trip when they were children. 

Favourite book:

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Which two characters would you invite to dinner and why? 

Letitia from Lovecraft Country (the book, not the TV series) and June/Offred from The Handmaid’s Tale. They’re both feisty young women who come up with smart and subversive ways to survive in an oppressive society – and to find adventure in the process. 

How do you relax?

A solo hike on my own in nature. That, or lose myself in a good novel! 

Which book do you wish you had written and why? 

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. It’s ingenious, and there’s so much to admire in it. The audacity of creating six nested stories set in entirely different time periods and locations, written in entirely different styles. The way he nails every single genre he writes in. The new worlds he creates. And the breadth of terror and wonder and humor in these stories. 

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

As long as you still love the act of writing, that’s what matters most. All the other stuff (book deals, promotion, agents & publicists) is icing on the cake. 

How would you describe your latest published book?

Complicit is a mystery set in the world of filmmaking, which follows Sarah, a young woman eager to make her mark behind-the-scenes in Hollywood. Ten years later, when a New York Times journalist approaches her about a notorious male producer, she confronts the truth of her ruined career and reveals the danger and injustice that lurks behind the supposed fun and glamour of moviemaking. 

With Celebrations: innocent parties, guilty pleasures being the theme at St Hilda's this year, which are you three favourite psychological books and why?

Room by Emma Donoghue

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon 

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier 

These books all probably emphasize the viewpoint of the ‘innocent parties’ in quite menacing settings, but they forge a strong emotional bond between the reader and narrator/protagonist. Oh, and I think they all have some celebration scenes in there, many of which feel very ‘earned’! 

If you were te rewatch a psychological film whiich film would it be and why?

Mulholland Drive. Because it’s David Lynch, and you always get something new from another viewing of a Lynch film. 

Another film I want to shout out is Searching by Aneesh Chaganti, which is a very clever concept, but also very moving, very rooted in family dynamics, and keeps you on the edge of your seat. 

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

I’ve heard so many great things about St Hilda’s, but I think the Oxford setting, the intimate atmosphere, and the chance to connect with readers and to hear authors deliver their own lectures on an aspect of storytelling they’re passionate about. It’s a chance to glimpse into each of their minds and see how different authors find inspiration in their creative journeys. 

Complicit by Winnie M Li (Orion Publishing)

You know what it's like. A comment here, a closed door there, turning a blind eye to get ahead. My name is Sarah Lai. You won't have heard of me. A decade ago I was on the cusp of being a big deal. But that was a long time ago. Now, instead of working in Hollywood, I teach students about it. And these are the two most important lessons you need to know about the film industry:1) Those with the money have all the power. 2) Those with the power get whatever they want. Ignore these rules and the whole system will crumble. Stick to the rules and you'll succeed. But at what cost? Ask yourself, what would you have done?

Information about 2023 St Hilda's College Crime Fiction Weekend and how to book tickets can be found here.

St Hilda's Crime and Mystery Weekend - Town and Country: Green Lanes to Mean Streets

St Hilda's Crime and Mystery Weekend is taking place from 12 – 14 August 2022.  

We have an homage to Mo Hayder by Nadine Matheson, an expose of rural noir by S.A. Cosby, an evening with Mick Herron (on Slow Horses) and Elly Griffiths (on Cold Comfort Farm).

Peter May is talking about his early influences. 

Ann Cleeves is looking at the Human Geography of Crime.

Philip Gooden has penned our Murder Mystery with roles performed by crime writers, and special prizes to be won.

Plus intriguing and entertaining talks by Imran Mahmood, Abir Mukherjee, Beth Lewis, Greg Buchanan, Leye Adenle, Anna Bailey, Anthony J Quinn, Trevor Wood and William Shaw. 

It is going to be spectacular!

You can book to attend in person, either the whole weekend or just Friday night with Mick and Elly (and a three-course dinner). 

Accommodation is available, and meals can be booked at the college (where the food is delicious and vegan options are available).

The full programme is here.

More details and links to ticket sales can be found here.

Criminal Splatterings

Interesting article in the Independent by John Rentoul on top 10 detective hobbies. Interesting to see what detectives such as Philip Marlowe, Max Carrados and Marcus Didus Falco to name a few liked to do in their spare time. The article can be read here.

All 4/ Walter Presents always have a wide range of brilliant crime dramas. A new one to look out for is Bullets which is a Finish thriller involving an undercover agent. More info and episodes can be found here. 

In advance of him being seen in the forth coming Slough House series Gary Oldman can be seen in Crisis a film set against the backdrop of the opioid epidemic, where three stories collide in this dramatic thriller. More information can be found here.

In case you missed it Alison Flood's review of the Guardian's thrillers of the month can be found here.

With 2021 being the 100^th anniversary of Patricia Highsmith Guy Lodge of the Guardian rounds up the best film adaptaion of her works. The article can be read here.

Friends of Mystery have these wonderful sessions called Bloody Thursday where by they interview authors and otthers in the mystery world. Normally this would be done in person but due to the pandemic it is now on line for the moment. Having just taken part in the most recent event where S A Cosby was interviewed I can certainly say that they are well worth taking part in. They only happen five times a year and are free. More information can be found here.

If you have missed the news then you will be pleased to hear that the programme for this year's Granite Noir has been released. As with most events it will be online. It will also be free. The dates are 19^th to 21^st February 2021. More information can be found here.

Also the dates for the brilliant St Hilda's crime fiction weekend have been announced. Clear your diaries! It will take place 13^th to 15^th August 2021. More information to follow.

Next week Sunday (7 February 2021) Radio 4 book club will be discussing Tana French's book The Wych Elm along with the author. More information can be found here.

On 8 February the Dallas Arts Museum will be hosting a vrtual event with Walter Mosley to celebrate the publication of his new Easy Rawlins novel Blood Grove. More information about the event and tickets can be found here.

Over on Book Riot ten of the best female assassin books have been proofiled. The list can be found here. An interesting list that is not solely crime.

Also Publishers Weekly have drawn up a list of the 10 most dynamic detective duos in crime fiction. The list cand be found here. Not totally surprised with the list but do think that others could have been included. 

Over on the International Crime Fiction Research Group webpage they have taken the opportunity of it being 100 years since the publication of Agatha Christie's first mystery novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles which introduced readers to Hercule Poirot to have a closer look at the different dimensions of space in her 45 novels and how the places where homicides were committed have evolved over the course of Christie’s career.

Hilda's Crime Countdown

Dear Partners In Crime,

A reminder that the early booking deal for this year's Crime Fiction Weekend closes on 31 March.

Our theme this year is 'Gamechangers: writers who have transformed the genre'and you can view the full line-up of authors and speakers, plus the weekend schedule here

St Hilda's 2017

So, this morning I have left a rather wet but bright London on my way to one of my favourite Crime and Mystery Conferences. St Hilda's weekend.

This time last year I drove and had the delightful company of the wonderful Sarah Weinman (who was giving her first ever paper) and my friend Kirstie Long.

This year I have reverted back to what I normally do and that is catch the coach.  Specifically the Oxford Tube!  It is in my opinion one of the most convenient ways to get to Oxford from London and to St Hilda's specifically as the coach drops you less than 10 minutes walk (by my calculations anyway) from St Hilda's.

View from my room

St Hilda's (as it is fondly known) is one of the few crime and mystery conferences that I try and not miss. It is also the oldest.  I have forgotten when I started attending but I can say it must be at least 15 years ago and I don't think I have missed one.  The closest I came to missing St Hilda's was the year there was a significant birthday in the family and I ended up doing a mad dash back to London from Oxford and returning again so that I could take part in the family festivities.  It is also the only conference that I organise my leave around.  That is the power of St Hilda's.

This year there is so much to look forward to.  The theme is Another Crime, Another Place: the role of location in crime fiction. Lots of new authors giving papers such as Stella Duffy who is presently finishing a Ngaio Marsh novel,  Yrsa Sigurðardóttir who will be giving the main Conference lecture, Abir Mukerjee whose novels are set in India, Lin Anderson, Mark Billingham (to name a few) and a mystery themed play/ quiz as well. 

It is going to be lots of fun and I shall be tweeting, taking photographs and hopefully blogging as much as possible over the weekend.  So do come long for the ride. The only thing you may wish is that you were here in person.

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The Question of Genre - 23rd St Hilda's Mystery & Crime Weekend

The Question of Genre: What is Crime Fiction?

23^rd Mystery & Crime Weekend at St Hilda’s College Oxford

19^th – 21^st August 2016

Lee Child is the conference Guest of Honour

Natasha Cooper will be the chairing the conference

Friday 19^th August

6:45pm                     Reception

7:30pm                    The Conference Dinner

                                    Speaker: Ted Childs, the creator of ITV’s Inspector Morse

Saturday 20^th August

08:00 – 9:00                      Breakfast

09:15 -                      Welcome: Kate Charles

09:30 – 11:00am         Elly Griffiths

A Gimlet Hole bore in a Chair Leg: How Crowed Rooms Led to Murder

Jane Finnis

Once Upon a Crime

11:00 – 11:30              Coffee Break

11:40 - 12:40pm        Conference speech by Lee Child - Seven Million Years of  Thriller Fiction

12:50pm - 13:50pm   Lunch

2:00pm - 3:30pm       Martin Edwards 

                                  Trending: Why is Golden Age Fiction fashionable again?

                                  Carol Westron

                                  No Servants Need Apply

3:30pm - 4:00pm       Tea Break

4:10pm - 5:40pm      Andrew Taylor

                                      Pistols at Dawn: How Crime Fiction Waylaid the Historical Novel

                                      Shona Maclean

                        You Couldn't Make it Up: Rules and compromises in   Historical Crime                                      Fiction

5:45pm – 6:30pm Signing Session for all Authors

7:15pm                     Drinks followed by Conference dinner

                                    Speaker: Val McDermid

Sunday 21^st August

08:30 – 09:30       Breakfast

09:30 – 11:00        Kate Charles

                                 From Father Brown to Stanley Chambers: The Clerical Detectiv

                                Chris Ewan

                               What’s So Funny? Humour in Crime Fiction

11:00 -11:30        Coffee

11:30 – 1:00pm     Sarah Weinman

                                The Originator’s of Domestic Suspense

                                Marcia Talley

                               Murder Least Foul: Teapots and Crafts Shops and Cats. Oh My!

1:00pm                     Closing remarks

1:15pm                     Lunch