The CWA’s National Crime Reading Month a Blazing Success this June

With over 150 events from the Channel Islands to the tip of Scotland via ambassador Emma Christie’s camper van in Croatia and institutions such as the British Library and Senate House, National Crime Reading Month 2023 has been declared a huge success by the Crime Writers Association and its partner, The Reading Agency.

Kicking off with simultaneous launches in London, Belfast and Edinburgh, National Crime Reading Month director, Irish crime writer Sam Blake, this year focused on the many subgenres within ‘crime’. Sam Blake explains: “From cosy to hardboiled, romantic to dystopian the #pickupapagerturner hashtag linked in-person and online events throughout Britain and Ireland, bringing new readers to every aspect of the genre. I’m thrilled with the number of events and readers that we have reached this year. Our ambassadors have been amazing, organising and attending events in June, and our partnership with The Reading Agency is true synergy.”

The Reading Agency’s Quick Reads series regularly features crime reads, and aims to increase access to reading through shorter, engaging texts by great authors, bringing new readers to the page. Partnering for the sparkling London launch event, hosted by Waterstones Piccadilly, The Reading Agency has brought the NCRM message to libraries, which, together a magnificent response from CWA members, independent bookshops and Waterstones nationwide – and this year, a school - has secured National Crime Reading Month as a key event in the literary calendar.

Karen Napier, CEO of The Reading Agency said: “Through our work with adults, we see the crucial importance of crime writing. As well as being an important genre for reading lovers, crime writing can provide a fantastic route into reading for less confident and emerging readers. It has been a pleasure to work with our partners at Crime Writers Association to bring the joy of crime fiction to people across the UK this summer.”

NCRM events included workshops, talks, panel events, and themed walks, with
Weymouth library hosting murder mystery board game sessions. There was ‘literally’ something for every reader. Events listed at the National Crime Reading Month website www.crimereading.com can be searched by location so readers are able to see what’s happening near them. Launch events alone brought over 300 crime lovers together with some of the UK’s biggest authors, with Steve Cavanagh’s star-studded online event reaching another 150 (watch it back at crimereading.com).

Sam Blake says: “We’ve had terrific support from LoveReading.com and we will be linking to their articles, as well as Waterstones recommended reads, podcasts and blog posts - including one focusing on LGBTQ characters - so readers can read/watch or listen back after June. Articles, podcasts and recorded online events will remain on the site until NCRM 2024, giving readers – and authors – a feel for the possibilities.”

This year the CWA welcomed the first school to NCRM where, at Yavneh College in Borehamwood, librarians ran a series of crime-related events. Students were treated to a crime-themed ‘books and biscuits’, a regular lunchtime reading event for years 7-11s. They ran their first ever school-wide murder mystery with clues in the library and beyond, to work out whodunnit. The CWA’s Abi Silver was invited to speak on different types of crime fiction; psychologist Brendi Waks ran a fascinating session on psychopaths for sixth formers and Carl Woolf, criminal advocate, discussed murder cases. Librarians librarians Amanda Blakeley and Laura Brandman said, ‘We have made book displays, including crime fiction, psychology and true crime, and there is a real buzz amongst our students!’

National Crime Reading Month leads up to the prestigious Daggers, the CWA’s internationally recognised awards, this year taking place on 6th July in London. 

Vaseem Khan, chair of the CWA said: "This year's National Crime Reading Month has been bigger and more gripping than ever. The Crime Writers' Association-led initiative has seen events take place across the country in June, showcasing the broad church that crime fiction now represents and reflecting the enormous appetite for murder and mayhem among the British reading public. Thank you to all those who organised or participated!

Alex Hay on heist plots

 Heist novels are having a moment. 

Take PJ Ellis’s Love and Other Scams, a glorious debut romcom telling the story of two con-artists plotting a diamond robbery at London’s ritziest wedding. 

Or Sophie Wan’s Women of Good Fortune, coming in March 2024, a fast and fabulous story about bride-to-be Lulu, grudgingly marrying an eligible Shanghai bachelor while her friends plot to steal her wedding gifts. 

Or – if I may be so bold – my own historical heist, The Housekeepers, which publishes in July 2023. Set in London in 1905, it tells the story of sharp-witted Mrs King, dismissed from one of Mayfair’s grandest mansions, and about to launch the most audacious robbery high society has ever seen in order to get her revenge. 

What makes a heist a joy to read – and write? 

Well, from this author’s perspective, it’s all about structure. For heists have rules. We need a glorious prize, a thousand obstacles, a set of fearsome opponents guarding their treasures. And the prize at the heart of the novel can be metaphorical as well as literal. So it goes in The Housekeepers. For Mrs King, leading a gang of former servants and criminal associates, is certainly seeking a fortune – but she’s also after something more subtle and slippery altogether: the truth. Answers to questions that have nagged at her all her life…

Mrs King’s path has clear milestones, ordained by the archetypes of the heist plot: gathering her team, unveiling her plan, running side-jobs here, overseeing double-crossings there. We get surprises, scandals, subterfuge, secrets. And, perhaps most important of all – friendship. Loyalty. The coming-together of a merry band wreaking revenge upon their world – or delivering justice, however you look at it. For of course the heist must operate to its own unique moral code – and that’s all part of the delight. 

The Housekeepers has been described as Upstairs Downstairs meets Ocean’s Eleven which is possibly THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT that could ever be bestowed upon it. The iconic Danny Ocean is of course the perfect example of a heist protagonist. Cool-headed, charismatic, secretive; he drives his team, and his story, with verve and ambition, and we are gripped as well. It was the remote, sardonic qualities of the heist leader that I was channelling when creating my very own Mrs King. Because it takes more than gumption to rob a Las Vegas casino – or a glorious Park Lane mansion. You need a chip of ice in the heart, a certain audacious self-belief, too.

Perhaps this is what lured me into writing a heist most of all. Haven’t we all wished, at times, to right the wrongs around us? Haven’t we all felt squashed, put-down, bypassed, jaded? I started writing The Housekeepers in the summer of 2020, as we emerged from the first grim lockdown at the start of the Coronavirus pandemic. Work was stressful. Life was scary. And writing Mrs King was my escape. I entered her world – licked with all the delicious textures and tones of the past – but I entered her mindset, too. And this was the real treat. I gave her the traits I deeply admire: resilience, ambition, capability, compassion. And those I don’t (but must admit I share): envy, impatience, irritability. But through Mrs King I could raze my enemies to the ground, lift my friends to the skies – and earn myself a splendid fortune (and a glorious 1905 model Rolls Royce) along the way. 

Wish-fulfilment? Absolutely. 

A joy to write? Unendingly. 

In chapter one of The Housekeepers, Mrs King is dismissed from her post, thrown out of the opulent mansion she’s served for over twenty years. As she marches through the back gate, she plucks a wildflower from the ground. Her first theft. Or rather, her first correction. “It wasn’t simply stealing, not at all,” she thinks. And at the end of the day, this is why I love heist plots. They aren’t just about crimes. They’re not simply tales of cops and robbers. They’re about possession and self-possession, about determination. They’re about belonging. In other words: the stuff of life. 

And novels.

The Housekeepers by Alex Hay (Headline)

Upstairs, Madam is planing the party of the season. Downstairs, the servants are plotting the heist of the century. When Mrs King, housekeeper to the most illustrious home in Mayfair, is suddenly dismissed after years of loyal service, she knows just who to recruit to help her take revenge. A black-market queen out to settle her scores. An actress desperate for a magnificent part. A seamstress dreaming of a better life. And Mrs King's predecessor, who has been keeping the dark secrets of Park Lane far too long. Mrs King has an audacious plan in mind, one that will reunite her women in the depths of the house on the night of a magnificent ball - and play out right under the noses of her former employers...  They come from nothing, but they'll leave with everything.

Alex Hay’s debut novel, The Housekeepers is published by Headline on July 6th.

Jill Johnson on The Dose Makes The Poison

Crime writers love poison. It’s the murder weapon of choice for a woman. It doesn’t require physical strength and it’s easy to administer to an unsuspecting victim. Also, it can take hours, sometimes days to take affect during which time the murderer can flit away to some safe place - perhaps on the other side of the planet - before the detective has even assigned a crime number. 

Crime writers love poison but as Paracelsus said five hundred or so years ago,

‘All things are poison, and nothing is without poison; the dosage alone makes it so a thing is not a poison.’

Or, to use the shorter, more familiar version ‘the dose makes the poison,’ meaning that anything and everything can kill if the dose is right - even water and oxygen. 

Paracelsus was a Swiss physician, alchemist, astrologer, theologian and philosopher, an all-round Renaissance man. He lived in the late 14 and early 15 hundreds and died at the ripe old age of 47. Not bad for the times. He is credited with being the ‘father of toxicology’ but like all respectable Renaissance polymaths, he believed everything was connected. The study and use of poisons was just one of the many tools in his medical box.

Crime writers love poison and it’s their job to get the dose right, which can be tricky when anything and everything can kill… but if their protagonist is a professor of botanical toxicology, then at least someone knows what they’re doing.

The protagonist in Devil’s Breath is Eustacia Amelia Rose, professor of botanical toxicology at University College London. She would most certainly have studied Paracelsus when she was a student. Like him, she would also have undertaken many research projects focusing on harmless, dangerous and fatal doses of poison. She would definitely know the most effective way of introducing a toxin into a body. In fact, her vast knowledge would make her an unparalleled expert in plant poison murder. Which is why, when someone dies after being injected with a fatal dose of a toxin extracted from a rare and extremely poisonous plant, she becomes DCI Roberts’ prime suspect. 

The interesting thing about the toxins from poisonous plants is that although a large dose can kill, a small dose can actually cure. Take the yew tree, the most poisonous tree in the U.K. It produces a poison called taxine which can kill in 20 minutes. But it also produces a medicine called taxol which is used for the treatment of breast cancer.

Meadowsweet and the willow tree contain salicylic acid, natures version of Asprin. A small dose can help with pain relief. A large dose will thin your blood and cause internal bleeding.

If Vinca major, common name Periwinkle, is ingested, it can dramatically lower your blood pressure and cause heart arrhythmia. It also stops the production of white blood cells, which can kill you. But it also produces a medicine that can save the life of people with leukaemia… the dose makes the poison.

Crime writers love poison. Agatha Christie wrote 85 books. 41 of them, almost half, included poisons and about a quarter of those were plant poisons. Hyoscyamine from Henbane, nicotine from Nicotiana, ricin from the Castor Oil Plant, asprin from Willow Trees, aconite from Monkshood, morphine from Poppies, taxine from Yew, belladonna from Deadly Nightshade and gelsemium from Yellow Jasmine feature in books such as A pocket Full of Rye, And Then There Were None, Dead Man’s Folly and They Do It With Mirrors. She drew much of her inspiration from her garden at Greenway, her house in Torquay and it’s widely acknowledged that although most of her poisons knowledge came from her years working in a pharmacy, her prolific use of plant-based chemicals in so many of her books is a testament to her gardening expertise.

Crime writers love poison. I’m no exception. The title of my crime mystery Devil’s Breath comes from the street name for the powdered seeds of the Columbian Borrachero shrub. The compound, which contains the chemical scopolamine, has been used in South American spiritual rituals for hundreds of years and is said to cause hallucinations, frightening images and a lack of free will. It was the lack of free will that I was most interested in. In the story, the protagonist Professor Rose becomes infatuated with a beautiful Brazilian woman. Pursuing her leads the professor into situations she would never ordinarily enter and encounters with people she would never ordinarily meet. The Brazilian has a hold over the Professor. As powerful as if the woman had blown Devil’s Breath powder into her face.

Devil's Breath by Jill Johnson (Bonnier Publishers) Out Now

I've always been better with plants than people . . . Eustacia Rose is a Professor of Botanical Toxicology who lives alone in London with only her extensive collection of poisonous plants for company. She tends to her garden with meticulous care. Her life is quiet. Her schedule never changes. Until the day she hears a scream and the temptation to investigate proves irresistible. Through her telescope, Professor Rose is drawn into the life of an extraordinarily beautiful neighbour, Simone, and nicknames the men who visit her after poisonous plants according to the toxic effect they have on Simone. But who are these four men? And why does Eustacia Rose recognise one of them? Just as she preserves her secret garden, she feels inexplicably compelled to protect her neighbour, but Eustacia soon finds herself entangled in a far more complicated web than she could ever have imagined. When her precious garden is vandalised and someone close to Simone is murdered with a toxin derived from a rare poisonous plant, Eustacia becomes implicated in the crime.  After all, no one knows toxic plants like she does . . .

All Good Things Must Come to an End: the Bittersweet Emotions Concluding a Series.

During lockdown, I wrote 50,000 words on a time-jump novel – a love story. It was good, but I had the annoying habit of killing people – too many for a romance, my agent dryly pointed out.

So, the book was a duff, but the characters – grumpy, loner Robin Butler and chatty Freya West – stuck in my head. I returned to my happy place, and started writing a police procedural. I had an idea – that a man would be found dead in a hotel room with all the markers of a tragic accident, but where the cop he was having an affair with suspected more sinister goings-on. That became Last Place You Look – the first in the Butler and West series.

Robin Butler and Freya West have been an absolute joy to write. Some characters arrive fully formed and Robin was exactly that. From the beginning I knew how he would react in any circumstance, down to what he would say and the expression on his face. I even knew what he looked like.

This makes the process of writing a book incredibly easy. Or at least – easier! Half of the battle of a first draft is getting to know the characters. But with Butler and West that was sorted from the off. All I needed was a pesky plot. No mean feat!

There was a downside – they had an incredible amount of backstory. I have spreadsheets detailing mannerisms, descriptions, timelines, ages and murder victims. Exposition can get boring and wordy – necessary for those who hadn’t read the books before but not so much it gives previous plots away. Thank goodness for editors, to give feedback on the worst of this.

But as someone I deeply loved, I had a habit of putting Robin through the worst of situations. He starts the series utterly alone and depressed, and across five books – trying to avoid spoilers – his best friend is arrested for murder, he’s been punched in the face, dumped by his girlfriend, and put into hospital twice.

And that’s not mentioning his long-standing crush on Freya.

From the beginning, Robin and Freya were destined to be together. But, as in all good romances, the path of true love can never run smooth.

Putting a love story into a crime book has met with mixed reviews from readers. Personally, I love it. The best thrillers have an element of romance – the Strike series by Robert Galbraith, Josh and Maeve as written by Jane Casey, Patricia Cornwell’s Scarpetta and Wesley. It is human to fall in love. We invest our time in these people; we care. 

Even with the best of these novels, a writer can’t keep star-crossed lovers apart forever. I wanted Robin and Freya to fall in love – they deserved their happy ending. But it’s bittersweet. Once together, they can’t work as partners in the police force. So, in my head at least, the series had to end.

Completing that final proofread of Out of the Ashes was, I must confess, a little emotional. The book, and the series, is exactly how I wanted it to be and I have been overjoyed by ever single review and message from readers saying how much they’ve loved it. I will miss Robin. It’s a strange thing to say about a character that exists solely in my own head, but it’s true. If I’d spent as much time thinking about a real man as I have Robin, my husband would have reason to be concerned.

I am excited already about what’s next to come. I have just finished the first book in a new series. Finding the Dead follows PC Lucy Halliday, a police dog handler to her specialist search dog, Moss, as she comes to terms with the disappearance of her husband, eighteen months previously. But when they find a body in the woods, the subsequent murder investigation, under the watchful eye of DI Jack Ellis, gives Lucy pause. All this time, Lucy has suspected her husband is dead. A renowned journalist, he was investigating something new when he went missing. Could this woodland hold the answer?

There are dead bodies, dirty cops, dogs and deception. And a little romance – but not where you might expect it.

As for Butler and West, I still have plans. An idea is growing. So, who knows, they may yet return…

In the meantime, you have Lucy, Jack and Moss to keep you company. I hope you love them as much as I do.

Out of the Ashes by Louisa Scarr (Canelo Press) Out Now.

Stalking. Arson. Murder.Butler and West are back together... and the stakes have never been higher.When an old friend tells DS Freya West that she's being stalked by someone she met online, Freya promises to help. But there are no leads, and the dating site refuses to give up their data. To make matters more complicated, DI Robin Butler is back in town. He's investigating a string of arson attacks that have escalated to murder, and the cases seem to be connected somehow. They're going to need their wits about them... Because this is a killer more devious than any they've hunted before, and he wants to obliterate everything they hold dear.

You can find Louisa Scarr on X @paperclipgirl. And on Instagram @louisascarrwriter and on Facebook.

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.

Black Spring Crime Series

Founded in 1985, The Black Spring Press list had published literary classics and major figures, including Leonard Cohen, Orson Welles, Anais Nin, Momus, Carolyn Cassady, Charles Baudelaire, Nick Cave, and many more.

Black Spring Press Director Dr Todd Swift has formed the new imprint following the hire of consultant crime editor Luca Veste. He says “Black Spring has been publishing darkly twisted and genius writers since the 1980s and think we can put a fascinating spin on the crime genre with our upcoming slate of titles.”

The first title published under the new imprint has just been released ‘A Crime in the Land of 7,000 Islands’ by Zephaniah Sole – described as Silence of the Lambs fused with Grimm’s Fairy Tales. International bestselling author Stuart Neville said of the novel “an extraordinary feat of storytelling, blending the real and the fantastical, with a hard-edged crime procedural woven through the rich imagery of a child's imagination.” Zephaniah Sole is the pseudonym for a working FBI Agent, with the novel dripping with rich reality, with fantastical elements complimenting it throughout.

Upcoming releases include hard-hitting detective novel The Scotsman by Rob McClure, Jasper’s Brood by JK Nottingham – a dark and twisting narrative with a main character you’ll struggle to forget, and The Winter of Shadows by Clare Grant – a historical crime novel with a delicious premise and incredible writing.

Consultant crime editor Luca Veste – the bestselling author of nine novels including Dead Gone, The Bone Keeper, and You Never Said Goodbye – says “Working with the team at Black Spring Press in the creation of this new imprint has been a dream so far. After reading A Crime in the Land of 7,000 Islands, I knew I had to work with this press and couldn’t be more delighted to be a part of what promises to be a crime publisher and imprint like no other. Originality is what we’re looking for and with our soon to be released titles, we believe crime fiction lovers will find new and fresh voices and stories they may not have experienced before. It’s an honour and a privilege to be a part of the Black Spring Crime team bringing this to life.”

More information can be found at www.blackspringpressgroup.com and on Twitter @BlackSpringC

To contact Luca Veste – lucaveste@gmail.com

For any press/interview enquiries for authors or Black Spring, contact Amira - amira.eyewearpublishing@gmail.com or blackspringcrime@gmail.com

List of upcoming releases…

A Crime in the Land of 7,000 Islands – Zephaniah Sole – Out Now

The Scotsman – Rob McClure – July 2023

Creative Justice – Tristan Walker – August 2023

Jasper’s Brood – JK Nottingham – September 2023

The Winter of Shadows – Clare Grant – October 2023

After Uyuni – CJ Howell – November 2023

Expiation – Steve Welsh – January 2024

2023 Ngaio Marsh Award Longlist Revealed

 

Poker, poverty, and the power of storytelling: 2023 Ngaio Marsh Award Longlist Revealed

A poker-playing sleuth, a poet’s gritty take on life on Aotearoa’s poverty line, a rural mystery entwined with heart-wrenching exploration of dementia, and the long-awaited return of a master of neo-noir are among the diverse tales named today on the longlist for the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel.

Now in their fourteenth season, the Ngaio Marsh Awards celebrate excellence in New Zealand crime, mystery, and thriller writing. They are named for Dame Ngaio Marsh, one of the Queens of Crime of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, who penned bestselling mysteries that entertained millions of global readers from her home in the Cashmere Hills. “I’d like to think Dame Ngaio would be proud of how our modern Kiwi storytellers are continuing her literary legacy, bringing fresh perspectives and a cool mix of fascinating tales to one of the world’s most popular storytelling forms,” says awards founder Craig Sisterson. “In recent years we seem to be going through our own golden age, with our local writers offering a treasure trove of terrific stories for readers at home and all over the world.”

The longlist for the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel includes a mix of past winners and finalists, several first-time entrants and new voices, and the long-awaited return of one of the leading lights of the early 2000s New Zealand literary scene. “In crime and thriller writing it’s natural for authors to make it really tough on their characters,” says Sisterson, “but our entrants made it tough on our judges too. This year’s longlist is a wonderful showcase of Kiwi creativity, with a great range of stories that explore some deep and very important issues in among the page-turning intrigue and thrills.”

The Ngaio Marsh Awards have celebrated the best New Zealand crime, mystery, thriller, and suspense writing since 2010. The longlist for this year’s Best Novel prize is: 

Too Far From Antibes by Bede Scott (Penguin SEA)

Exit .45 by Ben Sanders (Allen & Unwin)

Remember Me by Charity Norman (Allen & Unwin)

Blue Hotel by Chad Taylor (Brio Books)

Poor People With Money by Dominic Hoey (Penguin)

The Darkest Sin by DV Bishop (Macmillan)

The Doctor's Wife by Fiona Sussman (Bateman Books)

Miracle by Jennifer Lane

Better The Blood by Michael Bennett (Simon & Schuster)

In Her Blood by Nikki Crutchley (HarperCollins)

The Pain Tourist by Paul Cleave (Upstart Press)

Blood Matters by Renée (The Cuba Press)

The Slow Roll by Simon Lendrum (Upstart Press)

Paper Cage by Tom Baragwanath (Text Publishing)

The longlist is currently being considered by an international judging panel of crime and thriller writing experts from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Finalists for Best Novel, Best First Novel, and Best Non-Fiction will be announced in August, with the finalists celebrated and the winners announced as part of a special event held in association with WORD Christchurch later in the year.

 A video of the Longlist can be found below.

For more information on this year’s Best Novel longlist, or the Ngaio Marsh Awards in general, please contactngaiomarshaward@gmail.com, or founder and judging convenor Craig Sisterson, craigsisterson@hotmail.com  

Capital Crime Launched!

CAPITAL CRIME RETURNS END OF AUGUST WITH RICHARD OSMAN, KATE ATKINSON, RICHARD ARMITAGE, DOROTHY KOOMSON AND HAPPY VALLEY CREATOR SALLY WAINWRIGHT TO HEADLINE

Richard Armitage, Peter James, Richard Osman, Yomi Adegoke, Joanne Harris, Imran Mahmood, Liz Nugent and Nicola Williams are amongst the authors confirmed for Capital Crime, London’s largest celebration of crime and thriller writing, which returns 31st August – 2nd September.

In the Leonardo Royal London, the festival’s exciting new home, over 140 leading voices from crime fiction will be speaking about everything from horror and history in crime to the legacies of Marple, Chandler and Bond, alongside Capital Crime’s social outreach programme which has been in place since 2019, and the second year of the Fingerprint Awards, voted for by readers. Taking place in the shadow of St Paul’s Cathedral and with a Goldsboro Books pop-up bookshop, it promises to be a brilliantly entertaining and insightful weekend for crime fiction enthusiasts.

 Now in its third year, Capital Crime is proud to be a part of and contributor to the vibrant culture scene with the city, and has quickly established itself as one of the biggest festivals in the UK, with a reputation for originality, innovation, and a focus on creating an incredible reader experience with creatively curated and inclusive panels. Co-founded by Goldsboro Books MD David Headley, it has welcomed readers from around the country to see British authors such as Robert Harris, Anthony Horowitz and Paula Hawkins appearing alongside international talent including Icelandic Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir and US bestsellers Jeffrey Deaver and Chris Carter.

 Headley and his team at Goldsboro Books have helped launch the careers of so many authors since it opened almost 25 years ago, by uniting incredible writing with their loyal, ever-growing community of passionate readers. Renowned for their thoughtful and impactful new initiatives to engage communities of readers, Capital Crime is a brilliant extension of this vision with an outstanding programme of over 40 entertaining, accessible events that explore all corners of the genre, and the opportunity to meet your literary heroes. 

 On the first day of the festival (Thursday 31st August), the afternoon will start with the Future Generations Afternoon Takeover, a series of events dedicated to Capital Crime’s social outreach programme. This sees sixth form students and their teachers from schools in South London invited to meet authors and publishing professionals, with the aim of demystifying the industry and opening it up to attract new and diverse young voices into publishing. There will also be an industry panel, with Amy Baxter, Christina Demosthenous and Leodora Darlington talking to Manpreet Grewal about their journey in publishing and their goals for future.

The afternoon will also see a discussion on the moral dilemmas of crime writing with Yomi Adegoke, Jack Jordan, Lia Middleton, Nicola Williams and Nadine Matheson; and a panel on the legacy of Miss Marple with Elly Griffiths, Dreda Say Mitchell, Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley. Moderated by Ayo Onatade, Charlie Higson, Bonnie McBird, Katherine Bradley will what it’s like to continue the legacies of James Bond, Sherlock Holmes and 1984, and writing their iconic characters for a modern audience.

The evening will conclude with The Fingerprint Awards, the Capital Crime awards ceremony which allows crime and thriller lovers to select the winner of five categories, including Crime Novel of the Year; Thriller Novel of the Year; and Historical Crime Novel of the Year. 

Friday will see international bestseller Kate Atkinson interviewed by festival co-founder David Headley; top ten bestsellers Lisa Jewell and Adele Parks in conversation with Sarah Shaffi; Louise Candlish and Dorothy Koomson speaking with Lisa Howells and Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright interviewed by Amy Raphael. 

 Panel highlights from the day include C J Taylor, Olivia Kiernan and Susi Holliday revealing the locations and relationships that create the perfect home for crime fiction with Sam Brownley; and S J Parris, A J West, K J Maitland and Anna Mazzola debating historical inspiration in crime writing with Vaseem Khan, whilst Rob Scragg, Judith O’Reilly, Chris McGeorge and Fiona Erskine of the Northern Crime Writing Syndicate will be challenged to create a bestseller in one hour. In addition, Liz Nugent, Catherine Ryan Howard and Andrea Carter will be speaking to Jane Casey about Irish crime writing, and Anna Motz, Matt Johnson and Donna Freed will discuss society’s obsession with true crime and its influence on crime fiction with Victoria Selman. 

 The first two rounds of Capital Crime’s fun-filled quiz, ‘Whose Crime Is It Anyway’, will also be taking place, featuring teams of debut authors.                                                                          

Saturday will see Fiona Cummins, Mark Edwards and Kia Abdullah speak to Araminta Hall about fictional good characters who end up doing terrible things; J P Delaney, Leye Adenle and Louise Hare in conversation with H B Lyle to talk about crime fiction across the world; and Will Dean, Louise Swanson and Gillian McAllister speak to S J Watson about high concept ideas in the world of crime-fiction. Bestsellers Joanne Harris and Sarah Pinborough will discuss the role of women and gender in thriller-writing; Gareth Rubin, Janice Hallett and Cara Hunter will dissect the importance of structure and form in crime writing; and Laura Shepherd-Robinson, Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman will talk about misdirection and illusion in crime fiction. 

The day will finish with Peter James speaking about his famous creation Roy Grace; actor Richard Armitage speaking about his debut crime novel Geneva, and Richard Osman in conversation with Miles Jupp. 

There will also be exciting public events throughout the weekend, including proof parties and launch events forVictoria Selman’s exciting new thriller All the Little Liars and David Fennell’s new serial killer thriller The Silent Man, and dancing until the early hours of Sunday morning at Capital Crime’s closing party Murder on the Dance Floor. 

The full programme can be found here from 10am today (Tuesday 27th June):https://www.capitalcrime.org/capital-crime-schedule

 

 

In The St Hilda's Spotlight - Chris Brookmyre

Name Chris Brookmyre:

Job:- Author

Website:- https://www.brookmyre.co.uk

Twitter:- @cbrookmyre

Introduction:- 

Chris Brookmyre is a Scottish author whose debut novel Quiet Ugly One Morning (1996) established him as a firm favourite of readers who like their books with lots of dark black humour. They mainly have a police procedural frame, mixed with comedy, politics, social comment and action with a strong narrative. Quite Ugly One Morning won the Critics' First Blood Award for Best First Crime Novel of the Year in 1996. Boiling a Frog won the Sherlock Award for Best Comic Detective in 2000.. All Fun And Games until Someone Loses an Eye was the winner of the seventh Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction in 2006.

His novel Black Widow (2016) won the McIlvanney Prize and the and the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award. In 2020 h won the CWA Dagger in the Library for his body of work. 

Chris Brookmyre is a member of the Fun Lovin' Crime Writers,

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

The book I'm working on, as yet untitled, is one of the most baffling mysteries I've ever conceived. It revolves around the concept of what would happen if an octogenarian Miss Marple-esque cosy sleuth crossed paths with a hardboiled noirish Harry Bosch figure, playing with how the styles and values of their sub genres would collide.

Favourite book:

Swing Hammer Swing by Jeff Torrington. It’s by no means a crime novel; in fact its author said of its lack of plot, “plots are for cemeteries”. But try to imagine a four hundred page Billy Connolly routine about someone going around his favourite haunts in the Gorbals in the 1960s as the world he knows is demolished around him. It’s the spirit of Glasgow distilled in literature, and quite simply the funniest novel I've ever read and reread and reread.

Which two characters would you invite to dinner and why? 

As I co-write with my wife, Marisa, I would have to invite James Young Simpson. He is a character in our Ambrose Parry novels, but he's also the historical figure Marisa is most fascinated with. He would be uproarious company if history is anything to go by, though we would need to be wary of him plying us with what he called his “special champagne”, which was basically chloroform diluted in soda water.

I'd also like to invite Danny Weir, aka Weird, from Ian Banks’ novel Espedair Street. I’d love to hear him regale us with debauched stories of excess as a Seventies rock star, and maybe he could also get out a guitar and let us hear what Frozen Gold’s songs actually sounded like.

How do you relax?

At the age of 49 I took up the guitar, which remains one of the best decisions I have made in the last five years. I can lose hours playing it, and it is the one activity that keeps my mind from straying back to whatever story I’m working on. I rehearse songs for Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers shows and learn other songs just for the pleasure of playing them.

Which book do you wish you had written and why?

Douglas Adams’ SF time-travel crime caper Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. To be able to write a fast-paced mystery story that is also warmly optimistic and gloriously funny, and to bring it in under 80,000 words would be the apex of my aspirations.

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

Don't consider it skiving off to go for a walk around the block. Walking is writing, and sometimes the worst thing you can do is force yourself to sit at the computer.

How would you describe your latest published book?

I would describe The Cliff House as a respectful riposte to And Then There Were None. It’s about seven women invited to a party on a private island, where the consequences of past misdeeds will finally catch up to them, but while Agatha Christie’s is a book about retribution, The Cliff House is a book about forgiveness.

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

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. It was the first book to give me a disturbingly authentic perspective into the mind of a serial Killer.

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks. As disturbing as it is funny, it puts you in the mind of an inventively twisted individual who lives for murder and mayhem, only for you to find out ultimately that they are the victim via the second greatest twist I've ever read. (The greatest twist I’ve ever read was also written by Ian M Banks, in Use Of Weapons.)

The Alienist by Caleb Carr. A pungently atmospheric depiction of Nineteenth Century New York and the pioneering days of criminal psychology.

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

Inside Man, directed by Spike Lee. In essence, all heist stories are psychological thrillers, as they're all about social engineering and manipulating perception. I can watch Inside Man over and over because it's a Swiss watch of a movie, intricately constructed, perfectly played and directed with such panache.

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

I am looking forward to hearing some great writers offer refreshing perspectives on the work that has inspired them. It’s the kind of experience that tops up your creativity tank.

Cliff House by Chris Brookmyre

One hen weekend, seven secrets... but only one worth killing for. Jen's hen party is going to be out of control. She's rented a luxury getaway on its own private island. The helicopter won't be back for seventy-two hours. They are alone. They think. As well as Jen, there's the pop diva and the estranged ex-bandmate, the tennis pro and the fashion guru, the embittered ex-sister-in-law and the mouthy future sister-in-law. It's a combustible cocktail, one that takes little time to ignite, and in the midst of the drunken chaos, one of them disappears. Then a message tells them that unless someone confesses her terrible secret to the others, their missing friend will be killed. Problem is, everybody has a secret. And nobody wants to tell.

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

Dashiell Hammett Award Winner

The International Association of Crime Writers, North American Branch (IACW), announced the winner of the 2022 Dashiell Hammett Award for Literary Excellence in Crime Writing:  Samantha Jayne Allen for Pay Dirt Road.

Friday Night Lights meets Mare of Easttown in this small-town mystery about an unlikely private investigator searching for a missing waitress. Pay Dirt Road is the mesmerizing debut from the 2019 Tony Hillerman Prize recipient Samantha Jayne Allen.

Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Alllen (‎ St Martin's Press )

Annie McIntyre has a love/hate relationship with Garnett, Texas. Recently graduated from college and home waitressing, lacking not in ambition but certainly in direction, Annie is lured into the family business—a private investigation firm—by her supposed-to-be-retired grandfather, Leroy, despite the rest of the clan’s misgivings. When a waitress at the café goes missing, Annie and Leroy begin an investigation that leads them down rural routes and haunted byways, to noxious-smelling oil fields and to the glowing neon of local honky-tonks. As Annie works to uncover the truth she finds herself identifying with the victim in increasing, unsettling ways, and realizes she must confront her own past—failed romances, a disturbing experience she’d rather forget, and the trick mirror of nostalgia itself—if she wants to survive this homecoming.

2022 Shirley Jackson Awards

In recognition of the legacy of Shirley Jackson’s writing, and with permission of the author’s estate, The Shirley Jackson Awards, Inc. has been established for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic.

Nominees for the 2022 Shirley Jackson Awards

NOVEL

Beulah by Christi Nogle (Cemetery Gates Media)

The Dead Friends Society by Paul Gandersman and Peter Hall (Encyclopocalypse Publications)

The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias (Mulholland Books)

Jackal by Erin E. Adams (Bantam)

Unwieldy Creatures by Addie Tsai (Jaded Ibis Press)

Where I End by Sophie White (Tramp Press)

NOVELLA

The Bone Lantern by Angela Slatter (PS Publishing)

Bound Feet by Kelsea Yu (Cemetery Gates Media)

Catastrophe by Deirdre Danklin (Texas Review Press)

Lure by Tim McGregor (Tenebrous Press)

Pomegranates by Priya Sharma (PS Publishing)

The Wehrwolf by Alma Katsu (Amazon Original Stories)

NOVELETTE

Azeman or, the Testament of Quincey Morris by Lisa Moore (Black Shuck Books)

“Challawa” by Usman T. Malik (Dark Stars:  New Tales of Darkest Horror)

“Sweetbaby” by Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld, October 2022)

“This Place is Best Shunned” by David Erik Nelson (Tor.com)

What the Dead Know by Nghi Vo (Amazon Original Stories)

SHORT FICTION

“Brother Maternitas” by Viktor Athelstan (Your Body is Not Your Body)

“The Church of Divine Electricity” by Emily Mitchell (The Southern Review)

“Dick Pig” by Ian Muneshwar (Nightmare Magazine, Issue 112)

“Halogen Sky” by Wendy N. Wagner (VASTARIEN:  A Literary Journal, vol. 5, issue 1)

“Pre-Simulation Consultation XF007867” by Kim Fu (Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century)

 SINGLE-AUTHOR COLLECTION

And At My Back I Always Hear by Scott Nicolay (Word Horde)

Breakable Things by Cassandra Khaw (Undertow Publications)

Hell Hath No Sorrow Like a Woman Haunted by RJ Joseph (The Seventh Terrace)

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu (Tin House)

Splendid Anatomies by Allison Wyss (Veliz Books)

We Are Here to Hurt Each Other by Paula D. Ashe (Nictitating Books)

EDITED ANTHOLOGY

Chiral Mad 5, edited by Michael Bailey (Written Backwards)

The Hideous Book of Hidden Horrors, edited by Doug Murano (Bad Hand Books)

Other Terrors, edited by Vince A. Liaguno and Rena Mason (William Morrow)

Screams From the Dark:  29 Tales of Monsters and the Monstrous, edited by Ellen Datlow (Tor Nightfire)

Your Body is Not Your Body, edited by Alex Woodroe and Matt Blairstone (Tenebrous Press)

2022 SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARDS CEREMONY

The 2022 Shirley Jackson Awards will be presented in-person on Saturday, July 15 at 8pm at Readercon 32, Conference on Imaginative Literature, in Quincy, Massachusetts.