Blok Party

 

Books, particularly Crime, Mystery and Thriller novels are a great refuge from the ubiquity of these days of COVID, as well as the long nights. The dark edge of literature is not only a cognitive escape for readers, but also writers. The problem is how to spread the word about new releases when the world is under lockdown, and gatherings restricted by Governmental Statute? 

We have Googlemeet, MS-TEAMS, Zoom, Loom, Facetime, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Shots Mag Blog…..….and the plethora of online venues, where an internet connection can help gather people together – where once we met in bookstores and clubs in London to talk books, and to enjoy a social drink…..as opposed to what some of us do today.

 

So it was a pleasure to find myself together with fellow bibliophiles, journalists and hard drinkers - Deidre O Brien, Jake Kerridge, Zoe West, Lisa, Claire together with Rachael Blok, and her publishers Head of Zeus – all behind the safety of a PC Screen, to talk and learn about the upcoming INTO THE FIRE which is being released on April 1^st 2021. So here’s what I garnered about this new name [to me] from Head of Zeus’ Blok Party -

Rachael Blok is the author of the Marten Jansen series, set in St Albans. We’re gathered at the Blok Party, to learn about her third novel - Into the Fire, and discover very briefly about Rachael’s publication journey so far.

Her first book, Under The Ice, was published at Christmas 2018 and prompted the Daily Mail to describe her as 'a truly special talent'.

 

Her next book, The Scorched Earth, which was reviewed in several broadsheets and tabloids, confirmed her as a rising star in crime writing.

 

And then of course the pandemic hit. Head of Zeus was hugely disrupted so decided to delay her third novel - Into the Fire by six-months. So, while she was waiting for editorial notes (delayed by over six-months) she got involved with an elegant crime short story project which became two collections - Afraid of the Light and Afraid of the Christmas Lights, with a selection of other established crime authors.

 

Her books are really a blend of police procedural and psychological thriller - and they are also complemented by extremely fine writing - lyrical, haunting, poetic.

 

And in her third book, her skill is evidenced further.

 

This time, her twist on the procedural is to add a locked room element.

 

Into The Fire takes place in a beautiful stately mansion outside St Albans, and stars a cast of glamorous celebrities, politicians and entrepreneurs. This house party is full of simmering secrets… and before long the characters realise there is a murderer in their midst.

 

So, if you’ve not uncovered the dark secrets trapped within Rachael Blok’s work, you have time to experience the vicarious thrills of her first two novels [now in paperback] and all from the comfort [and vantage point] of your armchair – cocktails or hard liquor are optional, but useful to steady ones’ nerves as you enter Blok’s dark imagination…….I have my copy…and also her first two - have you pre-ordered yours?

 

For more information about the work of Rachael Blok, click HERE

 

Shots Magazine, would like to thank Laura Palmer and Kate Appleton from Head of Zeus as well as the energetic Sophie Ransom from Midas, London for the invitation to Rachael Blok’s party, and the fine selection of cocktails mailed to us in readiness for the launch celebrations of INTO THE FIRE - or what I term ‘The Blok Party’.

An October Surprise from Audible

 

Before Halloween is upon us, it might be worth downloading this remarkable literary crime thriller WHITEHAVENS by Parker Bilal from Audible, in readiness for that night - All Hallowes Eve.

But first a little background: Yet again, Audible present an exclusive, a crime thriller to debut as an audiobook before entering print or as an eBook; Audible’s 2020 October surprise -

So, what is Whitehavens all about?

In a mission that goes badly wrong, loyal assassin Brodie takes out the nephew of the criminal mastermind he works for – and the hitman suddenly finds himself in the firing line. Saved by the woman he was sent to kill, Brodie is injured and at her mercy. But Brodie and Karima know too much about unforgiving gangster Donny to remain alive. Brodie his gun for hire. Karima his accountant. They both know where the bodies are buried.

And when Donny turns the might of his brutally violent empire on them there’s only one thing to do: run. Because as Brodie knows all too well, a moving target is harder to hit. Bound together, this unlikely couple must do all they can to survive. But can Karima ever trust the man who was sent to end her life?

Taking flight, they can only outpace their would-be killers for so long. When they run out of road, they have one last shot at freedom. But can they make it – before it’s too late?

(c) 2020 AUDIBLE UK

Whitehavens by Parker Bilal is a standalone spin off from the Crane & Drake Series. Inspired by personal experience, Whitehavens follows the story of the hitman who suddenly finds himself to be the marked man.

Released exclusively to Audible and narrated with flourish by actor Damian Lynch, it’s a thought-provoking distraction from the Covid-19 lockdown.

Parker Bilal was born in London, he has lived in Khartoum, Cairo, Denmark, Barcelona and currently, Amsterdam. He began writing literary fiction under his own name Jamal Mahjoub publishing seven critically acclaimed literary novels, which have been widely translated.

However, in 2012 Mahjoub realised a long-held dream of breaking into Crime Fiction with The Golden Scales, the first in his Makana series. Set in Cairo, the series covers the decade from 2001 to 2011 and the Arab Spring.

For more information, head to www.audible.co,uk and join the growing numbers who have that £7.99 / month membership.

Click HERE, and HERE, and HERE, and HERE, and HERE, and HERE, and HERE for why Audible is so important for advocates of the Crime and Thriller genre.

Audible’s Prescient Crime Thriller of the Month

 

Book reviewers when congregated [even online in these weird days of Covid-19], often mutter “same old, same old” when discussing some of the latest crime thriller releases. A common wish from the literary community is the desire for something new, something fresh, something unexpected. This reminded me of an intriguing comment legendary Publisher Christopher MacLehose once said, introducing a book back in 2008 at the London Press Club, a debut novel that would breakout into the mainstream, not just circled by the wagons of genre –

He informed us that the job of the publisher is to bring books to the public that they didn’t want; books that they didn’t anticipate; and books that would nonetheless make an impression and challenge their way of thinking.

Read More from that launch HERE

I was delighted to sample a debut that is far from the ‘same old, same old’, and an extraordinary novel that this month's Audible crime and thriller selection.

It’s entitled Deadly Sacrifice by Stella Oni and like the award-winning and celebrated debut, My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite, it has comes from an author with a Nigerian heritage – BUT that’s where the similarity ends, because Deadly Sacrifice is something entirely different, and darker.

So, what’s this month’s Audible Crime Thriller of the month about?

When a childs severed hand is found, DC Toks Ade and DS Philip Dean are put on the case. Thrown into a world of Nigerian traditional customs, ritual sacrifice, and international trafficking, they must find the guilty parties before more children are lost and more limbs are found. A chilling new thriller introducing Detectives Toks Ade, Philip Dean, and investigative author Coretta Davis.

And we present an interview with Stella Oni HERE

Stella was born in Clapham, London, brought up in Nigeria and lives in the UK. She has a degree in Linguistics and African Languages from the University of Benin and a MSc in Information Systems and Technology from City University, London. Stella works as a Business Intelligence Analyst and writes on culture, food, travel, health & wellbeing. Stella believes that her experience of growing within two worlds has given her a unique perspective and she is happy to share this. She has been shortlisted for the SI Leeds Literary Prize, UK. She is a regular contributor to Thrive Global and currently runs the culture blog African Britishness-a celebration of being African and British.

Audible’s production of this startling debut is brought to life by the actress (Reanne) Weruche Opia known for her roles in I May Destroy You for BBC/HBO, Inside No.9 and Bad Education for the BBC and Top Boy for Channel 4 – as well as narrating Audible’s production of Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, The Serial Killer, among other audio books.

Deadly Sacrifice is also one of the books that celebrates diversity in the Twenty in 2020 literary promotion culminating from a year-long project from Jacaranda Books in association with Words of Colour Productions.

Following a hugely popular call-out for unpublished Black British writers, independent publisher Jacaranda has picked twenty top submissions to publish over the course of 2020. Apart from the crime and thriller genre, the Twenty in 2020 celebration also traverses literary fiction, poetry, memoir, history, romance and more, and together works to add to the diversity of literature, characters and authors available to UK readers—and to inspire a whole new generation of readers, writers and publishing professionals.

If you are not an Audible member, you can join Audible and take advantage of their £7.99 / month subscription, even taking Deadly Sacrifice as your free book, as part of their introductory offer – click HERE for more information on joining Audible.

Audible UK are to be applauded for the support they provide the crime and thriller fiction genre, especially as the importance of audiobooks increases within publishing. They commission new work such as the pseudonymous Alex Callister’s thrillers as well as supporting the genre, including sponsoring one of Crimefest’s annual awards. Previous Audible crime and thriller selections we enjoyed can be accessed HERE, HERE and HERE.

We’d like to advise our trusty Shots Readers that you are welcome to attend the launch of Deadly Sacrifice, which is occurring next week as a free online event [due to the pernicious ubiquity of this surreal COVID-19 situation].

Mark your diaries - The book launch will take place on Thurs 17 Sept from 6.30pm to 8.30pm and will include an introduction, author Q&A with editor, publisher & writer Kadija Sesay, plus readings of extracts from the book by the author.

For more information from The Arts Council on registering for this free event, click HERE. We hope to see many of you there next week, but behind the safety of a PC or Smart-Phone screen.

Stella Oni can be found on Twitter > @SOnithewriter with more information HERE and HERE and actress Weruche Opia’s Twitter > @WerucheOpia can be found HERE

Photo credits: Audible UK, Stella Oni, Weruche Opia, Jacaranda Books, Foyles Charing Cross Rd, Words of Colour Productions, Amazon UK, BBC, HBO, The Arts Council and MIDAS.

Shots Magazine would like to thank Ben McCluskey of Midas Public Relations, for his help with this feature, as well as the team from Audible original productions [UK].

Escape Lockdown with Audible’s Nigel McCrery

With the Lockdown about to enter another month [with relaxation of some of the criteria], many of us look for methods of escape from the ubiquity of this COVID-19 situation.

At times, reading for long periods becomes difficult due to latent anxiety about our future. Sleep becomes elusive as the nights become long; and when all that appears relevant is this weird virus in our midst.

I have found immersive thriller fiction to be one method of escape in these surreal times; especially when addictive narratives are read to us via the Audible platform.

Audible features many excellent crime and thriller narratives, and supports the genre, including sponsoring one of Crimefest’s annual awards.

Of many great thriller writers, I’ve come to admire the work of screen-writer Nigel McCrery, with his extraordinary DCI Mark Lapsie police procedural novels, narrated with verve by actor Glen McCready.

There are currently four books in the series, with Scream being the latest release –

You will never have felt pain like it in your life. I want you to know...there's nothing you can do to stop it - nothing you can tell me, nothing you can offer me....

A woman screams in pain. Twenty-seven times, until she dies. The sound file was sent to DCI Mark Lapslie from an anonymous email address. Why is she screaming? Why would someone record that horrifying noise? And why send it to him? He soon learns that the file was sent from the hospital where he is being treated for synaesthesia - a neurological condition that cross-wires his senses so he tastes sound - and where his new girlfriend works.

When a body is discovered, the most shocking murder scene Lapslie has ever encountered forces him to realise there is a violent killer out there, a killer whose method of choice is torture. Will Lapslie find the killer? Who will have to die before he does?

The preceding novels [available on Audible] are –

Core of Evil

Thirteenth Coffin

Flesh and Blood

Bloodline

Tooth and Claw [read by Mark Meadows]

Click Here to read more

Nigel’s novels are available in paper and eBooks from Quercus Publishing HERE as well as Audible.

For many the name Nigel McCrery will be familiar from his screenwriting work [Silent Witness, New Tricks et al], though this former policeman’s crime-fiction is well worth exploring, especially when locked-down, and an immersive distraction is required.

Nigel gave a revealing interview to the Daily Mail in 2008 –

'I worked as a lorry driver, a bar tender and even a hospital orderly shaving pre-operative patients. In 1978 I applied to join the Nottinghamshire Constabulary. I didn't do it to solve crime, I did it because I wanted to be middle class,' he says bluntly.

'My dyslexia didn't help. I had to take statements home and correct them with a dictionary. Can you imagine doing that now?

'I enjoyed my years in the force but there were tough times. At the height of the miners' strike when I had a new baby and an exhausted wife (he married Gill in 1976), I asked to be assigned away from the picket line.

'Soon afterwards I found an empty bottle hanging from a noose in my locker. There was a note with it which read, "We've left you this because we heard you'd lost yours..."'

He quit the force in 1987 after injuring his back, but his nine years in uniform would later give him the material he needed to create Silent Witness.

He would base its protagonist, forensic pathologist Sam Ryan, on Professor Helen Witwell with whom he worked in Nottingham.

His years on the beat would also give him the idea for New Tricks - born out of a chat he had with a detective who'd been assigned to a squad dealing with cold cases.

Read More HERE

For more information on what’s available from Audible > CLICK HERE

And to join Audible’s growing listeners and become a member > CLICK HERE

A Funny Thing Happened en route to Black Thorn

I am rarely surprised at the coincidences and weird happenings in life; though a voracious appetite for reading crime and thriller fiction can make one rather paranoid, as I found to my amusement (and that of Linwood Barclay and Kate Mills of HarperCollins UK) last week.

I found myself in London last Thursday, walking toward Covent Garden. I was deep in thought, my mind still contemplating my recent exposure to a particular novel, one that I am not allowed to talk about until the 16^th of May 2019. It is a highly anticipated thriller, one that I had concerns over, namely in trying to rein in my expectations as my anticipation was high, so very high.

Though since reading it, I have to say, this book has left shards of glass in my mind, sharp edges I feel from time to time, all due to being exposed to the manuscript. 

A line from Thomas Harris’ 1999 thriller, HANNIBAL is apt.

“The exposition of Atrocious Torture Instruments could not fail to appeal to a connoisseur of the worst in mankind. But the essence of the worst, the true asafoetida of the human spirit, is not found in the Iron Maiden or the whetted edge; Elemental Ugliness is found in the faces of the crowd.”

You can read an excerpt HERE of the book that has me excited, so excited 

Anyway, as ever I digress.

I was walking to a literary function organised by Midas PR and Canongate Publishing in Covent Garden, London. It was the launch of the new crime fiction imprint Black Thorn and hosted by Waterstones Covent Garden – CLICK HERE for background on the genesis of this exciting new initiative.

The heavens opened; rain fell; it was like a scene from Blade Runner. But I was thinking about Thomas Harris’ Cari Mora, specifically the villains that decorate the narrative.

Then I heard my name being shouted.

At first, I ignored the shouting ‘Ali’ but as it grew more urgent, the chanting ‘Ali’ became unnerving, I stopped to look around, but all I heard was ‘Ali’ again and again. I started to get worried as I couldn’t see who was shouting my name in the rain. This is the problem when I read so many thrillers – Paranoia and the latest Thomas Harris book keeps circling my mind, controlling my imagination like a nightmare, a lucid dream.

Then a car pulled up to the kerb (sidewalk) beside me. A window rolled down, and as I backed away from the car, my imagination was now a scream telling me to “run”. I was ready to escape - but then as the blacked-out windows rolled down, I saw inside - it was Publisher Kate Mills of HarperCollins UK [HQ] with Linwood Barclay.

I laughed and they laughed, phew! I took a photo as is my habit, a method to decorate my memory, not unlike Dr Hannibal Lecter who created a memory palace in which to escape while incarcerated in solitary confinement in Baltimore.

I was relieved that neither of the villains, that the Thomas Harris character Hans-Peter Schneider works for in Cari Mora, were the ones shouting my name, despite them constantly creeping into my nightmares. Instead it was Linwood Barclay who spotted me from the back of the limousine he shared with publisher Kate Mills, following a day preparing the UK launch of his next book, his first with HarperCollins UK – another thriller that I am highly excited about, ELEVATOR PITCH.

The last time I was with Linwood and Kate, was back when they both worked for Orion Publishing and treated me to an extraordinary dinner, in Baltimore during Bouchercon 2008. Though it was now a sad memory as it was the last time I had dinner with Cathy and Edward Wright.

I waved Kate and Linwood off, delighted that some weird Thomas Harris villains (torn from my vivid imagination) hadn’t tracked me down to London. I continued my journey through sheets of monsoon-like rain, finding myself in the company of the equally drenched Scottish Crime Writer Caro Ramsay at the venue for the Black Thorn party, Waterstones Covent Garden.

I’d just finished her last novel, the ninth in her Glasgow based police procedural series, and one of the first to be released under the new Canongate imprint Black Thorn.

I mentioned to Caro that the series has come a long way from Absolution, and The Suffering of Strangers is an extremely disturbing book. Caro laughed, and so did I even though her last work was dark, very dark.

Like Thomas Harris, and Harlan Coben like Linwood Barclay; Caro Ramsay is a very funny and life-affirming person, again proving that axiom, that the writers with the darkest imaginations (from my experience) are the nicest, and most generous as well as the funniest of people.

I shook off the rain from my jacket, and the wet smears that coated, and decorated my grey hair and joined the lively throng at Waterstones, Covent Garden.

We had gathered, out of the rain to celebrate the release of the first four novels from Black Thorn. It was great to meet and talk with the authors again, especially Catherine O’Connell who had flown in from America to make the launch.

The first offerings from Black Thorn, are -

Catherine O’Connell for ‘The Last Night Out’ (May)

David Hewson for ‘The Savage Shore’ (May)

Simon Brett for ‘The Liar in The Library’ (June)

Caro Ramsay for ‘The Suffering of Strangers’ (June)

The Bookseller reported last year -

Canongate is to launch a new crime fiction imprint called Black Thorn in May 2019, following its acquisition of fiction publisher Severn House in 2017.

Publishing a wide range of titles from Severn House’s list into paperback for the first time, Black Thorn will release two of the list's paperbacks each month and simultaneously around the world. This will be the first time that many of these Severn House titles have been available to the trade. The imprint will be managed by publishing coordinator Holly Domney, who has moved from her role within Severn House.

Read More HERE

I was delighted to hear that Kate Lyall-Grant would continue as Commissioning Editor, as her experience and keen eye has always provided readers with high-quality crime and thriller fiction, both from Severn House, and in her previous positions within publishing; and it was great to see Kate attend the launch party. I was delighted to meet up with my old colleague Simon Thorogood as it had been a while since we last met, back when worked at Random House, but is now well-settled with Jamie Byng and an integral facet of the Canongate editorial team. 

Soon it was time to put down our glasses of wine and slivers of cake, as Jamie Byng welcomed us, and his speech is recorded in my usual gonzo fashion HERE and embedded below

We present an array of photographs of the event.

For more information about Black Thorn, the new initiative in crime fiction via Canongate Publishing CLICK HERE and for the media launch via MIDAS CLICK HERE

And finally, a big thank you to Sophie Ransom and Jason Bartholomew of Midas for the invitation to the party, as well as a tip of the hat to Linwood Barclay and Kate Mills for giving me a fright, as I walked in the rain, lost in my thoughts about the characters Thomas Harris decorates his 6^th novel Cari Mora with.

Photos © 2019 A Karim

The “Black Thorn” Report : Crime & Thriller Publishing

Literary commentators within the Crime and Thriller community had seen Severn House as a key specialist publisher over the years develop their position. They had absorbed the smaller Crème de la Crime publisher, enhancing their niche, one that was focused toward high quality hardcovers, especially historical crime and thriller fiction.

Their market was developed by flamboyant Chairman Edwin Buckhalter right from the company’s origins in 1974, focused on what is termed the ‘mid-list’, though Severn House is better known for its UK library and hardcover output, it should also be noted that ~70% of its sales come from its US publication catalogue. I knew much of their US Wing, due to Edwin’s appearances and Severn House’s presence at Bouchercon [the annual world crime and mystery convention] and other US literary events.

With a UK based team that also comprised Michelle Duff and Mandy Shaw, Severn House strengthened their business a few years ago by taking on renowned publisher Kate Lyall-Grant, who became their commissioning editor.

It was with surprise that we learned last year of Severn House’s sale to the eclectic and energetic Scottish independent publisher Canongate lead by Jamie Byng. This is an exciting development due to the strength and brand presence of Canongate, who publish high quality fiction, and are not defined by the perimeters of genre classification. They also have an impressive paperback presence in the market, which Severn House didn’t – as Edwin Buckhalter’s business devoted themselves to lower print-run, high quality and distinctive hardcovers.

Though since the acquisition, the Severn House list would become an imprint within Canongate, and retain a distinction, in that it would focus on Quality Crime, Mystery, Historical and Thriller Fiction. The imprint would be named BLACK THORN and be managed separately from parent Canongate, as reported in The Bookseller last Autumn –

Canongate is to launch a new crime fiction imprint called Black Thorn in May 2019, following its acquisition of fiction publisher Severn House in 2017.

Publishing a wide range of titles from Severn House’s list into paperback for the first time, Black Thorn will release two of the list's paperbacks each month and simultaneously around the world. This will be the first time that many of these Severn House titles have been available to the trade. The imprint will be managed by publishing coordinator Holly Domney, who has moved from her role within Severn House.

Read More HERE

I was delighted to hear that Kate Lyall-Grant would continue as Commissioning Editor, as her experience and keen eye has always provided readers with high-quality crime and thrillers, both from Severn House, and in her previous positions within publishing.

So it was with pleasure that I received an invitation from Sophie Ransom and Jason Bartholomew of MIDAS to join Jamie Byng and the team at Canongate for an excellent ‘high tea’ in Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia, London to launch this exciting new Crime & Thriller Imprint from Canongate, Black Thorn (following their acquisition of Severn House).

Among the invited guests were Natasha Cooper, Marcel Berlins, Jon Coates, Barry Forshaw and Mike Stotter.

And also in attendance were the authors bringing the first four books to Black Thorn -

Catherine O’Connell for ‘The Last Night Out’ (May)

David Hewson for ‘The Savage Shore’ (May)

Simon Brett for ‘The Liar in The Library’ (June)

Caro Ramsay for ‘The Suffering of Strangers’ (June)

Jamie Byng said, “When we were assessing Severn House as a possible acquisition, one of the many exciting opportunities that we felt it offered was the launch of a commercial fiction paperback list, drawing from Severn House’s outstanding roster of books and authors. So, I am thrilled that we are now able to share our plans for Black Thorn which we believe is going to be a great success and which adds a distinctive new strand to Canongate’s publishing output.”

The new imprint will be managed by Holly Domney as Publishing Coordinator, who has moved from her role within Severn House.

Holly said, “The authors on the Black Thorn list are crime writing veterans and their experience shows in the quality of their stories. Catherine O’Connell’s The Last Night Out was so gripping I nearly missed my train stop. Simon Brett’s The Liar in the Library made me laugh out loud. The variety of titles within Black Thorn’s catalogue will feed the hungriest of crime fiction readers who need to devour one mystery, then reach for the next one.”

Read More HERE

It was good to meet up with Jamie Byng as I had been a strong supporter of Canongate, from those early days in the 1990s. Of particular enthusiasm, was my love of Doug Winter’s extraordinary novel Run, as well as Canongate’s eclectic range of great writing that they published over the years. I also remarked on how pleased readers were that they kept the late William McIlvanney’s Jack Laidlaw novels in print.  

So, as we arrived at Charlotte Street, we mingled over high tea, discussing this exciting new initiative, and before long we took our seats and listened to Jamie Byng outline what we could expect from Black Thorn, which we present here in an exclusive video of the event, filmed in ‘gonzo style’ on my trusty Iphone, Steven Soderbergh style, like that director’s movie UNSANE

It runs 26 minutes, and is embedded below, and available from this link HERE and includes the four authors talking about their work, the first novels to be released under the Black Thorn imprint -

Following this Jamie Byng asked if we had any questions, for which Marcel Berlins queried if Black Thorn would restrict their output to purely Crime and Thriller Fiction. Byng replied that, that was the initial intention, as Canongate published widely but he and his colleagues would see how the Black Thorn imprint developed. Barry Forshaw asked if Jamie Byng had any plans for Horror Fiction, and again Byng remarked he was very open, as he published good writing.

That gave me the opportunity to mention my favourite sub-genre of fiction, what is termed “The Weird”, an area of writing and reading, that I am passionate about. Again, Byng though intrigued by ‘The Weird’, said he and his colleagues at Canongate would be open to publishing all areas of good fiction writing, though initially Black Thorn would focus purely upon Crime and Mystery Fiction, and that what Canongate could bring would be a mass market reach, with paperback publication to augment Severn House’s quality hardcover range.

I also reiterated that Canongate should not underestimate Severn House’s US and Canadian markets, and Jamie agreed reiterating that the North American sector represented over 70 % of the Severn House’s sales. And on closing I enquired if Canongate had received any interest from a well-known British Cider Brewer, which was greeted with a laugh; when I added that sponsorship from Brewers and Crime Fiction is not unheard of, take the well known Theakstons’ Crime Writing Festival from that Yorkshire town of Harrogate.

And with that, we all retreated to a nearby Pub, where we sat and talked about books, writing and publishing over beers, as well as ‘The Weird’, my fascination, in my own writing, as well as reading and viewing work that is strange and unusual.

We present a selection of photos from the event, and wish all within Black Thorn and Canongate great success in this exciting new venture for Crime, Mystery and Thriller Fiction.

More info on Crime and Thriller from Black Thorn Imprint click HERE

More info on Canongate Publishing click HERE

Photos © 2019 A Karim