Granite
Noir Headliners
Friday
24 February
1.30pm – 2.30pm, The
Lemon Tree Studio
Crime-stoppers Turned
Crime Writers: Denzil Meyrick and Kate London
Chaired by Stuart MacBride £9.50
Authenticity matters, so do ex-cops have the edge when
it comes to crime writing? Come along and find out, as Stuart MacBride
talks with Denzil Meyrick and Kate London. Meyrick, author of the popular DCI Daley series,
served with Strathclyde Police in Glasgow. His latest DCI Daley novel, The Rat Stone Serenade, is set in snowbound
Kintyre, where ghosts and ancient curses rise out of the past, causing mayhem and
murder. Kate London was an actress, theatre writer, and
teacher before joining London’s Metropolitan Police. After qualifying as a
detective constable she went on attachment with France’s police nationale, and
finished her career as part of a Major Investigation Team on the Met’s Homicide
Command. The Sunday Times said her debut, Post
Mortem, “vividly recreates the everyday experience of uniformed police [offering] rare insights into
how the police operate.” The follow up, Death Message, comes out in April. Stuart
MacBride works closely with forensic professionals and local police forces when
researching his popular Logan McRae novels.
7.00pm – 8.00pm, The
Lemon Tree Studio
In Conversation with Stuart MacBride
£9.50
Who
better to kick off our opening night than local legend Stuart MacBride, whose
novels have sold more than 2.5 million copies — and counting! He’ll be talking
to Gordon J Brown, one of the founders of Bloody Scotland, about his bestselling
Sergeant Logan McRae novels, which have earned Aberdeen pride of
place on the Noir map of Scotland. The latest, In the Cold Dark Ground was his sixth number 1 The Sunday Times
bestseller in as many years. MacBride has said: “They always say, ‘write what you know’ so I did – using Aberdeen as the
backdrop for a series of horrific crimes, murders, serial killers, and much
eating of chips and drinking of beer. Of these, the only ones I have any direct
experience of are beer and chips, but some nice local police officers helped me
fill in the rest.”
9.00pm – 10.00pm, The
Lemon Tree Studio
In Conversation with Chris Brookmyre
£9.50
Winner
of the McIlvanney Prize at this year’s Bloody Scotland, Chris Brookmyre is one
of our finest, and funniest writers. He’ll have you crying with laughter one minute,
quivering with anxiety the next and marvelling at the inventiveness of his...
vocabulary... throughout. Join us for the paperback launch of the award-winning
Black Widow, a feminist psychological
thriller set in Inverness. It’s a hair-raising ride through the back alleys of
cyberspace, where reputations are built — and destroyed — with the stroke of a
key. This story is so surprising that even the twists have twists. Chris may
also give us a sneak preview of his new novel, out this summer.
Sunday 26th February
3pm – 5pm, 1906
Restaurant at HMT
Poisoned High Tea, with Dr Kathryn Harkup
£18, £25 with Prosecco
What
could be more inviting on a chilly Sunday afternoon than a plate piled high with
warm scones, pastries and dainty sandwiches, washed down with strong coffee or
aromatic tea? But beware! Dr Kathryn Harkup, author of A is for Arsenic, is here to remind us that in the hands of
literary Grande Dame Agatha Christie, everything on the menu could — and did —
become a lethal weapon. While you dine,
Dr Harkup will talk about some of Christie’s favourite poisons, describing how
the Queen of Crime deployed them, and where she found her inspiration. It all
adds up to one unforgettable meal!
9pm – midnight, The Belmont Filmhouse
Noir at the Bar, (with Gunnar Staalesen)
hosted by Russel D Mclean FREE ENTRY
Host
Russel D McLean (founder of Glasgow’s Noir at the Bar) hosts this informal gathering
of festival and local talent for a night of readings and hijinks in the bar of
the Belmont Filmhouse, and we’ll be kicking things off with an appearance by Gunnar
Staalesen. The format originated in Philadelphia and has sprung up around the
world to become an international phenomenon. Anything can happen: you’re likely
to hear new work, readings from published novels, maybe even a song or two. Get
up close and personal with some of your favourite writers in a relaxed setting.
IN CONVERSATION – Interrogations
Friday 24 February 3.30pm – 4.30pm, The
Lemon Tree Studio
Atmospheric Pressure: Doug Johnstone and
Sarah Ward £7.50
Discover
why choosing the right location for a novel is as important as identifying the
killer. Doug Johnstone’s new novel Crash
Land is set in Orkney, while Sarah Ward’s A Deadly Thaw takes place in the Peak District. Both evoke a vivid
sense of place as integral to the story as its characters and plot. Johnstone
says: “Orkney is tremendously atmospheric, and all the old archaeological
sites. . . give a real feeling that the past is absolutely intertwined with the
present in everyday life. There’s an innate sense of claustrophobia, that exists
on islands that’s hopefully tailor-made for tense and suspenseful writing.” The
Financial Times said A Deadly Thaw
“bristles with the same persuasive psychological detail and atmosphere that
distinguishes Nordic noir.”
Saturday 25 February 11am - 12 noon, The
Lemon Tree Studio
Pantsers Versus Planners with Chris
Brookmyre, Kati Heikkapelto,
Doug Johnstone and Kate London £7.50
When
writing a novel, is it better to plan meticulously or fly by the seat of your pants,
seeing where the story takes you? Should you start with charts and character
profiles, or a couple of scribbled-on post-it notes? Do you have to know ‘whodunit’
before launching into your opening paragraph? Join authors Chris Brookmyre,
Kati Heikkapelto, Doug Johnstone and Kate London for a frank discussion about
working methods that’s sure to offer aspiring authors.
Saturday 25 February 1pm - 2pm, The Lemon
Tree Studio
Blurred Lines: with Denise Mina and Nicola
White £7.50
Why
are so many of us suspicious of true crime books, when we gobble up crime fiction?
Who decided that fiction contains a moral centre that is missing from reportage,
or that enjoying true crime books is as unseemly as rubbernecking at the scene
of an accident? Why do certain real life tragedies capture the public — and so
many writers’ — imagination? And don’t most crime novels have roots in real
events? These are some of the issues these award-winning authors will tackle in
a provocative, idea-filled session. Denise
Mina’s new novel, The Long Drop, is
based on serial killer Peter Manuel and set in 1950s Glasgow. Nicola White’s In the Rosary Garden, winner of the 2013
Dundee International Book Prize, was inspired by the Kerry Babies tribunal of
the 1980s.
Saturday 25 February 3pm - 4pm, The Lemon
Tree Studio
Does Evil Exist? With Denise Mina, Richard
Holloway and Dr Zohar Hadromi-Allouche £7.50
Transgression
lies at the heart of every crime novel. Some acts are so horrific that we label
their perpetrators born devils. Are there malevolent forces in the universe
capable of overriding free will and morality? Or does the idea that someone is
evil enable us to step away and ignore the real roots of anti-social behaviour? Denise Mina, Richard Holloway, and Dr Zohar
Hadromi-Allouche discuss historical concepts of evil and our perceptions of
wrong-doers. Whether you’re a reader, or a writer wrestling with these dilemmas
on the page, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss. Denise Mina is the author of more than 12
acclaimed novels and a member of the Crime Writers’ Association Hall of Fame.
Richard Holloway, FRSE, is a writer and broadcaster, whose most recent book is A Little History of Religion. He is a
former Bishop of Edinburgh and was Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church from
1992 to 2000. Dr Zohar Hadromi-Allouche is a lecturer in Islam at Aberdeen
University’s department of Divinity and Religious Studies. Her research
interests include the relations between religious and folk literature.
Saturday 25 February 5pm - 6pm, The Lemon
Tree Studio
The Customs of the Country: Gordon J Brown
and Quentin Bates £7.50
Gordon
J Brown, a co-founder and director of Bloody Scotland, splits his time between
the UK, the U.S.A. and Spain. The hero of his US-based series, Craig McIntyre,
is ex-military turned bodyguard — and a man who attracts violence like a
magnet. Quentin Bates, a co-founder of the Iceland Noir festival, spent more
than a decade living in Iceland, where his
Gunnhildur Gísladóttir series is set. As well as his journalism and novels,
Bates also translates Scandi Noir for English-speaking readers. Join them for a
discussion delving into the different sensibilities and expectations of
American versus Scandi crime fiction and a look at how these physical and
emotional terrains have shaped their own work.
Nordic Noir International Noir from our Nordic
neighbours
Saturday 25 February 7pm – 8pm, The Lemon
Tree Studio
Hot Scandi Crime: Thomas Enger and Thomas Rydahl
£9.50
Former
sports journalist Thomas Enger plunges us into Oslo’s dark underbelly and the
fast-moving world of 24-hour news with his popular Henning Juul novels, which
are published in 26 countries. His most recent in English, Cursed, involves a missing woman, a dead man and a wealthy family guarding
terrible secrets. Juul is also coming to terms with his son’s death. Enger has
been called “one of the most unusual and intense writers in the field. ”Denmark’s
Thomas Rydahl is a writer and translator. He’ll be talking about his debut, The Hermit, which won the Danish
Debutant Award — the first time it has ever gone to a thriller. He’s also won
the Glass Key Award for the best Nordic crime novel, and the Harald Mogensen
Prize for the best Danish crime novel. Set
on a deserted beach on the Spanish island of Fuerteventura, it features a distinctive
— and highly unlikely — detective.
Saturday 25 February 9pm – 10pm, The Lemon
Tree Studio
Meet Sweden’s Queen of Crime with Kristina
Ohlsson £9.50
Superstar
Kristina Ohlsson is beloved in Sweden for both her crime fiction and her
children’s books. Her novels The Chosen
and Hostage, feature investigative analysts
Fredrik Bergman and Alex Recht. Ohlsson did her research at the coalface: she’s
worked for Säkerhetspolisen, the Swedish Security Service; the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs; the Swedish National Defence College; and the Organization for
Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), where she was a Counter-Terrorism Officer.
Her novels have been shortlisted for Best Crime Novel of the Year by the Swedish
Academy of Crime Writers.
Sunday 26 February 1.30pm – 2.30pm, The
Lemon Tree Studio
Challenging Conventions, With Antti
Tuomainen and Russel D McLean £7.50
Once
you’ve mastered the rules, all the fun is in breaking them! Meet two accomplished
authors unafraid to tweak conventional formats to their own nefarious ends. In Ed’s Dead, McLean delivers a fast-paced domestic
psychological thriller with a satiric twist, proving once and for all that the
female of the species is deadlier than the male. In 2013, the Finnish press dubbed Tuomainen
The King of Helsinki Noir. He was one of the first to challenge the
Scandinavian crime genre formula, and his work has been praised not only for
the heart-stopping twists in his tales, but also for his use of language. The Mine is a gripping, beautifully
written tale of corruption and revenge, set in northern Finland. He’s a past winner
of the Clue Award for Best Finnish Crime Novel of 2011.
Sunday 26 February 3.30pm – 4.30pm, The
Lemon Tree Studio
Crime with a Social Conscience: Kati
Hiekkapelto and Eva Dolan £7.50
Sharp
social criticism and dark home truths are a hallmark of modern crime fiction,
and these talented authors are so adept at weaving controversial social
issues through their thrilling mysteries that you never spot the join. In The Exiled, Hiekkapelto sends Anna
Fekete back to her Balkan birthplace, but
the investigator’s holiday turns into a murder investigation. Hiekkapelto won
Best Finnish Crime Novel of the year for The
Defenceless in 2014. Eva
Dolan’s DS Ferreira and DI Zigic, members of Peterborough’s Hate Crimes
Unit, investigate crimes against people who can’t always speak for themselves.
Tell No Tales was shortlisted for the
Theakston’s Crime Novel of
the Year and After You Die, was
long-listed for CWA’s Gold Dagger. Eva’s new book, Watch Her Disappear, is set in the transgender community.
Sunday 26 February 6pm – 8.30pm, The
Belmont Filmhouse
Nordic Noir, Cold Hearts film screening £10
One
of the fathers of Nordic Noir, Gunnar Staalesen introduced the world to PI Varg
Veum in 1977. Forty years later, his complex, engaging anti-hero is still going
strong, despite a stint in rehab and a string harrowing cases that might have
broken a lesser man. Jo Nesbo calls Staalesen “The Norwegian Chandler” and Bergen honoured him by erecting a
life-sized statue of Veum in the city centre.
We are delighted to welcome Staalesen to Granite Noir to introduce a
rare UK screening of Cold Hearts.
While investigating a case of missing sisters in Bergen’s prostitution network,
Varg Veum faces an impossible choice: let the criminals go free or expose his
pregnant wife to mortal danger. (2012. Director: Trond Espen Seim. Writers:
Geir Meum Olsen, Gunnar Staalesen) After the film there will be a conversation
and audience Q&A with Staalesen.
Crimewatch Granite Noir screenings at the Belmont
Filmhouse
Monday 27 February 8.30pm, The Belmont
Filmhouse Easy Money £10/£8 concession
A
Swedish thriller based on the 2006 novel by Jens Lapidus, Easy Money (Snabba Cash)
sees Joel Kinnaman star as Johan Westlund, a poor man who leads a double life
among Stockholm’s elite. After meeting a wealthy girl, he has to go to
increasingly criminal lengths to fund his lavish lifestyle, shortly finding
himself far from his depth. Easy Money
was well received by critics and audiences alike and had a UK release in 2013. (2010.
Director: Daniel Espinosa)
Tuesday 28 February 6pm, The Belmont
Filmhouse Jar City £10/£8 concession
A
classic Scandinavian, world-weary detective played to perfection by Ingvar
Eggert Sigurdsson (Of Horses And Men)
searches for answers in a murder case in this film based on the novel Myrin by
author Arnauld Indridason. Jar City,
like much Scandi drama, is grim, bleak and black, so it feels appropriate that
much of the murder case revolves around genetics – clearly there’s something in
Scandinavian DNA. (2006. Director:
Baltasar Kormákur)
North-East Noir Crime Writing from Aberdeen City &
Shire
Sunday 26 February 11.30am – 12.30pm, The
Lemon Tree Studio
In Conversation with Claire MacLeary and
Clio Gray £7.50
Cross Purpose heralds the arrival of a
distinctive new voice, debut novelist Claire MacLeary. When Maggie Laird’s
disgraced husband, an ex cop, dies unexpectedly, her life is turned upside
down. To pay off debts she takes on his struggling detective agency, enlisting
the help of her neighbour, ‘Big Wilma’. The discovery of a mutilated body draws
them into the unknown world of Aberdeen’s sink estates, clandestine child-minding
and dodgy dealers. Gritty and funny, Cross
Purpose is also a paean to friendship, demonstrating how women of a
“certain age” can defy the odds. Acclaimed
author Clio Gray’s exciting new Scottish Mystery Trilogy begins with Deadly Prospects. It’s set in
Sutherland, in 1869, when a big corporation rolls into town determined to
reopen its mine and reinvigorate the harsh conditions in this remote Highland
enclave. When a body is found next to some strange inscriptions, things take a
sinister turn. Grey’s previous historical thrillers were bestsellers. The Anatomist’s Dream, was nominated for
the Man Booker prize in 2015, and long-listed for the Bailey’s Prize in 2016.
Little Criminals
Granite Noir Family Events
Saturday 25 February 2pm – 3pm, Children’s
Library What Happens Next? With Vivian French FREE - BOOKING REQUIRED
Fancy
writing a mystery but not sure where to start? Acclaimed author Vivian
French
leads budding writers on a hair-raising trip into Aberdeen’s past. Using an
historical ‘Wanted’ poster from the
city’s archives, you’ll create a participatory story that solves a
100-year-old-mystery. No pencil or paper needed, just bring your imagination!
Sunday 26 February 2pm – 3pm, Children’s
Library Drawing Baddies with Shoo Rayner FREE - BOOKING REQUIRED
Sharpen
your pencils for a fun session with bestselling author and YouTube
sensation
Shoo Rayner, who promises: “If you can
make a mark on a piece of paper, you can draw.” With his trademark wit and
style, Rayner will demonstrate how to master basic drawing shapes so you can
create creepy criminals. You’ll learn how to polish your pictures of nefarious
nasties, super sleuths and naughty no-good-nicks to make them truly
spine-tingling. Paper and pencils will be supplied.
Sunday 26 February 12.30pm – 1.30pm,
Central Library
Taking Inspiration from the Past with Elly
Griffiths and S G MacLean £7.50
Two
masters of the form reveal their top tips for writing historical fiction, including
how and where to do your research, when to stop swotting and start writing,
how to keep facts from derailing your plot the art of listening to your characters,
and how to know when to deviate from the facts to keep the story moving.
2016 CWA Dagger in the Library winner Elly Griffiths is renowned for her Ruth Galloway
mysteries. In 2015, she launched the Stephens and Mephisto series, set in 1950s
Brighton. They draw from archival documents and live research, including
interviews with her grandfather, a former music hall comedian. The Chalk Pit, her ninth Galloway novel,
comes out this week, and Elly is this year’s Programming Chair of the Harrogate
Crime Writing Festival. S G
MacLean is the author of the acclaimed Alexander Seaton historical crime novels,
set in Banff, Northern Ireland and Aberdeen. She found inspiration in the archives
while doing a PhD in 17th century history at the University of Aberdeen. Curious about the lives behind the
statistics, she created the thwarted clergyman turned schoolmaster, forced to
clear his name after being framed for murder. Her new series, set in Oliver
Cromwell’s Commonwealth, includes The
Seeker, which won the CWA Historical Dagger Award, and The Black Friar.
Sunday 26 February 2pm – 3pm, The Town
House
Who killed David Dun? With William Hepburn of
the University of Aberdeen £7.50
Burgess,
shipmaster and all-round rogue, David Dun had plenty of enemies in Medieval
Aberdeen and appeared in court on a monthly basis. When he is found murdered
you, as the town clerk with access to the town’s legal records, must attempt to
work out which of Dun’s many enemies was behind the killing. Using real
extracts from historic Aberdeen Burgh records, this live narrative game will
allow the audience to vote on decisions and try to solve the crime!
