Leonardo St Paul's, London
Friday 13 June 2025
19:25 - 20:15
Linwood Barclay, and Andrew Child
Interviewed by Nadine Matheson
Friday, 23 May 2025
Capital Crime: Thrillers that Go Bump in the Night
Capital Crime: Criminal Minds Throughout History
Leonardo St Paul's, London
Friday 13 June 2025
18:20 - 19:10
Conn Iggulden, Kate Williams & Hallie Rubenhold.
Capital Crime: Goldsboro Books' Class of 2025.
Leonardo St Paul's, London
Friday 13 June 2025
17:15 - 18:05
Sarah Pinborough, Beth Lewis, Steph McGovern,
and A A Dhand in conversation with MD David Headley.
A A Dhand was raised in Bradford and spent his youth observing the
city from behind the counter of a small convenience store. After qualifying as
a pharmacist,he worked in London and travelled extensively before returning to
Bradford to start his own business and begin writing.The history, diversity and
darkness of the city have inspired his Harry Virdee novels.
Capital Crime: Espionage for the Modern Reader.
Leonardo St Paul's, London
Friday 13 June 2025
16:10 - 17:00
Ava Glass, Charles Cummings, Nick Harkaway
and the participating moderator Vaseem Khan.
Ava Glass is the author of
the espionage series Alias Emma. A former civil servant and journalist, she
once worked closely with spies, and that experience fuels her writing. Ava is
the pseudonym for an international bestselling author who has written more than
ten crime novels under another name. Her books have been bestsellers in
multiple countries and have been published in more than twenty languages. Alias
Emma is currently being developed for television by The Ink Factory.
http://www.charlescumming.co.uk
Thursday, 22 May 2025
The Dark Edge by Nick Louth
24 April 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-80436889-3 (PB)
Did she fall or was she
pushed? This becomes the burning question for Detective Inspector Jan Talantire
and her team when the body of Joanne Dexter was found lying part of the way
down a really high cliff in Devon. A man on the clifftop found Joanne’s frail
old mother Margaret Omerod, wandering around confused, it was really cold and
the rain was torrential. He guided her to his car and she wanted to know where
her daughter was. She told him Joanne had gone to look for her mother’s hat, it
had blown off in the wind. He then took her back to the local nursing home
where she was a patient suffering from dementia.
Events then take a rather sinister turn when it is found Joanne worked for Special Branch at a listening station in Bude and was an intelligence officer employed by GCHQ. On investigation suspicions arise, could she have been a Russian spy?
Digging deeper into Margaret’s and Joanne’s
personal lives, events take a very complicated turn involving a Marquess many
years ago. Jan is thoroughly baffled, can this really have anything to do with
Joanne’s death? It seems more and more likely it may well have.
Then there is another body found; this time it is definitely a murder. To add to the mystery, DNA is found at the crime scene, which is seemingly impossible, what is going on? Jan and her team are really confused; it seems they have never had two such complicated deaths to solve. Are they even connected?
While all the investigations are going on, Jan also has to deal with a complaint she has made about a senior officer she once had an affair with. Things turn quite nasty for her.
Can she discover the truth behind the two deaths, solve the problems in her personal life, and emerge unscathed?
Another absorbing crime for Detective Inspector Jan
Talantire to tackle from her clever creator Nick Louth. Really highly recommended.
------
Reviewer: Tricia Chappell
Winners of the Final 2025 CrimeFest Awards Announced
one of Europe’s leading crime
writing conventions, has announced the winners of the final CrimeFest Awards.
It’s a historic year for the
annual awards as the convention ends after 17 years; the first convention was
hosted in 2008.
The awards honour the best crime
fiction and non-fiction books released in the UK in the last year, and feature
the hotly-contended Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award, which offers a £1,000
cash prize.
This year the Specsavers Debut
Crime Novel Award goes to the Japanese author and journalist, Akira Otani
(and
translator Sam Bett) for
The Night of Baba Yaga (Faber), a
no-holds-barred queer gangland thriller.
Award judge Dame Mary Perkins,
co-founder of Specsavers, which sponsors the award, said: “I read many crime
thrillers mainly at night before going to sleep. However, I could not do that
with
The Night of Baba Yaga.
Totally gripping and, quite frankly, violent,
but a book which I had to read in one go - not in bits. So - quite
different to the usual scenarios I read. It's set in Japan and certainly
paints a different picture to "cherry blossom" ones. Congratulations
to Akira Otani for introducing her writing to us here in the UK.”
Akira Otani said: “I'm immensely
grateful to have been chosen for this prestigious award. For someone writing in
a minor language like Japanese, there's no greater joy than seeing your work
translated and shared with a wider audience of readers. I also offer my
sincerest thanks to the translator, Sam Bett, for bringing this novel into
English. This prize is for both of us.”
The winner of the CrimeFest
H.R.F. Keating Award for the best biographical or critical book features goes
to Mark Aldridge with
Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness (HarperCollins).
CrimeFest’s Last Laugh Award for
best humorous crime novel is awarded to
Mike Ripley for Mr Campion’s Christmas
(Severn House).
The CrimeFest E-Dunnit Award for
the best crime fiction e-book goes to the American novelist and playwright,
Jean Hanff Korelitz with The Sequel (Faber).
The CrimeFest Best Crime Novel
for Children (aged 8 - 12)
goes to Sufiya Ahmed for her World War Two
adventure
set in Cairo,
Rosie Raja: Undercover Codebreaker (Bloomsbury).
The Best Crime Fiction for Young
Adults (aged 12-16)
goes to Heist Royale by Kayvion Lewis,
the sequel
to the Waterstone’s prize winning Thieves’ Gambit.
Adrian Muller said: “We are proud
of the role our awards has played championing categories that were previously
not recognised on the awards circuit. However, it’s our work championing
children’s and Young Adult crime fiction that we’re most proud of.
“Crime fiction is recognised as a
gateway into reading, and has the important ability to hook young readers,
helping forge a life-long reading habit. There’s countless research on the
benefits of reading, from improved mental and physical health, enhanced
cognitive abilities, and personal growth. It improves focus, empathy and
understanding, as well as reduces stress. It’s a gift to any young person on
their journey through life.
“As CrimeFest closes, we would
like to take this opportunity to challenge the Crime Writers’ Association to
incorporate children’s and Young Adult categories into their famed Dagger
awards going forward. It is vital the future generations of readers, and the
authors that serve them, get the recognition and platform they deserve.”
Leading British crime fiction
reviewers and reviewers of fiction for children and young adults, alongside the
members of the School Library Association (SLA), form the CrimeFest
judging panels.
In partnership with the
independent Max Minerva’s Bookshop and participating publishers, CrimeFest
gifts thousands of pounds of crime fiction books for children and young adults
to school libraries.
This year also featured the
Thalia Proctor Memorial Award for Best Adapted TV Crime Drama, which celebrates
dramas based on a book screened in 2024. The award is named in honour of
Thalia, a CrimeFest team member and a much-loved figure in the world of crime
fiction.
The winner show is Slow Horses
(series 4) based on the Slough House books by Mick Herron on Apple TV+. It’s
the third year in a row Herron has won the award, beating hit shows including
Apple TV’s Bad Monkey, based on the book by Carl Hiaasen,
the BBC’s Moonflower
Murders based on the books by
Anthony Horowitz, and the BBC’s
The
Turkish Detective based on the Inspector Ikmen books by Barbara Nadel.
Mick Herron said: “Thalia would
be delighted to know of this award being given in her name. She was a great
friend to crime-writers, a great boon to the community, and is often remembered
when groups of us gather. I'm proud to have known her, and I'll be proud to
have this on my shelf.
Thank you, Thalia, thank you, CrimeFest, and thank you
all.”
CrimeFest readers established the
shortlist and the winning TV show.
The 2025 CrimeFest Awards were
announced at a gala dinner hosted during CrimeFest on Saturday 17 May at the
Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel,
compered by the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA)
chair
and author, Vaseem Khan.
Hosted in Bristol, CrimeFest was
one of the most popular dates in the international crime fiction calendar, with
circa 60 panel events and 150 authors attending over four days.
The final celebratory event saw
long-standing friends attend, led by blockbuster author Lee Child, who attended
with his brother
and co-Reacher author, Andrew Child.
The final CrimeFest also saw
exclusive talks from the actor and screenwriter
Mark Gatiss on his upcoming TV
series for UKTV's U&alibi channel Bookish, the TV writer Chris
Chibnall with his debut novel, Death at the White Hart, and a tribute to
John le Carré, featuring his two sons,
the film producer Simon Cornwell and
novelist, Nick Harkaway.
CrimeFest was created following
the hugely successful one-off visit to Bristol in 2006 of the American Left
Coast Crime convention.
Established in 2008, it follows the egalitarian format
of most US conventions, making it open to all commercially published authors
and readers alike.
All category winners received a
Bristol Blue Glass commemorative award.
Eligible titles were submitted by
publishers, and a team of British crime fiction reviewers voted to establish
the shortlist and the winning title.
The 2025 CrimeFest Award in full:
SPECSAVERS DEBUT CRIME NOVEL
AWARD
- Akira Otani (and translator Sam
Bett) for
The Night of Baba Yaga (Faber & Faber)
eDUNNIT AWARD
- Jean Hanff Korelitz for The
Sequel (Faber & Faber)
H.R.F. KEATING AWARD
- Mark Aldridge for Agatha
Christie's Marple:
Expert on Wickedness (HarperCollins)
LAST LAUGH AWARD
- Mike Ripley for Mr
Campion's Christmas (Severn House)
BEST CRIME FICTION AWARD FOR
CHILDREN (aged 8-12)
- Sufiya Ahmed for Rosie
Raja:
Undercover Codebreaker (Bloomsbury Education)
BEST CRIME FICTION AWARD FOR
YOUNG ADULTS (aged 12-16)
- Kayvion Lewis for Heist
Royale
(Simon & Schuster Children's Books)
THALIA PROCTOR MEMORIAL AWARD FOR
BEST ADAPTED TV CRIME DRAMA
- Slow Horses (series
4), based on the Slough House books
by Mick Herron (Apple TV+)
The 2025 CrimeFest Award Shortlist in full:
SPECSAVERS DEBUT CRIME NOVEL AWARD
- Tom Baragwanath for Paper
Cage (Baskerville)
- Tasha Coryell for Love
Letters to a Serial Killer (Orion Fiction)
- C. L. Miller for The
Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder (Pan Macmillan)
- Akira Otani (and translator Sam
Bett) for The Night of Baba Yaga
(Faber & Faber)
- Tracy Sierra for Nightwatching (Viking)
- Claire Wilson for Five by
Five (Michael Joseph)
eDUNNIT AWARD
- Martin Edwards for Hemlock
Bay (Head of Zeus)
- Laurie R. King for The
Lantern's Dance (Allison & Busby)
- Jean Hanff Korelitz for The
Sequel (Faber & Faber)
- Bella Mackie for What A
Way To Go (The Borough Press)
- Liz Moore for The God of
the Woods (The Borough Press)
- Peter Swanson for A Talent
for Murder (Faber)
H.R.F. KEATING AWARD
- Mark Aldridge for Agatha
Christie's Marple: Expert on Wickedness
(HarperCollins)
- Jem Bloomfield for Allusion
in Detective Fiction
(Palgrave Macmillan)
- Ashley Bowden for Female
Detectives in Early Crime Fiction 1841-1920
(Fabula Mysterium Press)
- Dan Coxon & Richard V.
Hirst for Writing the Murder: Essays on Crafting Crime Fiction (Dead
Ink)
- Sara Lodge for The
Mysterious Case of the Victorian Detective
(Yale University Press)
- Lynda La Plante for Getting
Away With Murder: My Unexpected Life on Page, Stage and Screen (Zaffre)
LAST LAUGH AWARD
- Cathy Ace for The Case of
the Secretive Secretary
(Four Tails Publishing Ltd.)
- DG Coutinho for The Light
and Shade of Ellen Swithin
(Harvill Secker)
- Bella Mackie for What A
Way To Go (The Borough Press)
- Orlando Murrin for Knife
Skills for Beginners (Transworld)
- Mike Ripley for Mr
Campion's Christmas (Severn House)
- Antti Tuomainen (and translator
David Hackston) for
The Burning Stones (Orenda Books)
BEST CRIME FICTION AWARD FOR
CHILDREN (aged 8-12)
- Sufiya Ahmed for Rosie
Raja: Undercover Codebreaker
(Bloomsbury Education)
- Natasha Farrant for The
Secret of Golden Island
(Faber & Faber)
- A.M. Howell for Mysteries
at Sea: The Hollywood Kidnap Case
(Usborne Publishing)
- M. G. Leonard for The
Twitchers: Feather (Walker Books)
- Beth Lincoln for The
Swifts: A Gallery of Rogues
(Penguin Random House Children's UK)
- Nicki Thornton for The
Floating Witch Mystery (Faber & Faber)
BEST CRIME FICTION AWARD FOR
YOUNG ADULTS (aged 12-16)
- H.F. Askwith for A
Cruel Twist of Fate
(Penguin Random House Children's UK)
- Denise Brown for It All
Started With a Lie (Hashtag Press)
- A.J. Clack for Lie or Die (Firefly
Press)
- Amie Jordan
for All the Hidden Monsters (Chicken House)
- Kayvion Lewis for Heist
Royale
(Simon & Schuster Children's Books)
- Karen M. McManus for Such
Charming Liars
(Penguin Random House Children's UK)
THALIA PROCTOR MEMORIAL AWARD FOR
BEST ADAPTED TV CRIME DRAMA
- Bad Monkey, based on the
book by Carl Hiaasen (Apple TV+)
- Dalgliesh (series 3),
based on the Inspector Dalgliesh books
by P.D. James (Channel 5)
- Lady in the Lake based
on the book
by Laura Lippman (Apple TV+)
- Moonflower Murders based
on the book by Anthony Horowitz (BBC)
- Slow Horses (series
4), based on the Slough House books
by Mick Herron (Apple TV+)
- The Turkish Detective,
based on the Inspector Ikmen books
by Barbara Nadel (BBC)
Tuesday, 20 May 2025
‘The Less Unkind’ by Rosario Giorgi
28 January 2025.
ISBN: 978-1836287261
It is 1994, and Pico della Rosa is twenty-one and enjoying her third year of academic studies at the University of Copenhagen. Pico is an attractive, lively, young woman, and is part of a well-born, affluent, Italian family. She is defined by her natural gift for languages and an intellectual curiosity that means she is fascinated by linguistic puzzles. Above all, she is recklessly courageous, and, at the start of this adventure, she has never known real fear, which means she embraces danger as an exciting challenge.
One of the first new friends Pico made in Copenhagen had been Leo Hansen, and he has remained one of her closest friends. It is Leo who is responsible for the most major development in Pico’s life when he tells Pico that Antonio Bartram, an antique dealer, is looking for a summer assistant to answer the telephone and to mind the warehouse when he is out. He is looking for someone who can speak several languages, but knowledge of antiques is not required. Pico has already heard about Antonio, and she is fascinated by the rumours that in his earlier life he had been a priest. She goes to the warehouse with Leo to meet Antonio and feels an immediate bond with him. She accepts the job that Antonio offers her; she is happy to do the work he sets her, which leaves plenty of time for her own studies, and she is delighted to be working in the warehouse because she has admired the outside of the building whenever she passed it, especially the leering satyrs on the facade.
The more she gets to know Antonio, the deeper the connection with him becomes; she finds him interesting and charismatic, although she senses within him a reserve and deep loneliness. One thing about her new job that disturbs her are the phone calls from a man called Catania, whom Leo had encountered once and feared; in the brief phone calls that Pico receives from Catania she feels the same sense of trepidation, although he does nothing more frightening than ask to speak to Antonio.
Pico is excited when Antonio tells her that she is to accompany him to an auction in Sweden and mentors her about what is involved in attending and bidding at the auction. However, on the journey he spends the time telling her about art theft, specifically about Caravaggio’s Nativity, an extremely valuable painting that had been stolen in 1969 from a badly guarded parish church in Palermo, Sicily, and had never been recovered. As the trip continues, Pico begins to suspect that the auction is not Antonio’s main motive for the journey, and she becomes convinced that it has something to do with his obsession with the missing Caravaggio.
Pico is used to Antonio going off on business trips, but when a journey that he predicted would only last a fortnight stretches on much longer and he neither returns nor contacts her, she becomes worried. Her anxiety increases in proportion to the length of his absence, and her only point of contact is Antonio’s unhelpful solicitor, a man that she instinctively dislikes, who claims that he has no idea of Antonio’s plans or his current location. Pico is determined to find Antonio, and she uses her linguistic skills to decode the clues she discovers regarding his life and his possible whereabouts, an exercise that endows her with a growing understanding of the fundamental importance of keys of all kinds. Her research causes her to visit the Italian Riviera, the Vatican, and the mysterious Norden Wine Club in Copenhagen, and culminate in a forbidding castle. During her quest, she loses her youthful recklessness and experiences deep fear, especially when she encounters members of the Mafia, who never forget a grudge, as well as dealing with ruthless collectors of historical artefacts. Despite everything, Pico refuses to abandon her search for her friend, even though she knows that her attempts to find Antonio could well result in her own death.
The Less Unkind is a captivating novel with an engaging, dynamic
protagonist, and an interesting, complex plot, which takes the reader on a tour
of many fascinating places. It is a beautifully written novel, which explores
the themes of obsession and moral dilemmas, and cleverly combines fictional
characters with a real-life art theft that has never been solved. This is a
compelling read, which I thoroughly recommend.
------
Reviewer: by Carol Westron
‘Double Stakes’ by Alison Morton
20 May 2025.
ISBN: 979-1-09731039-4 (PB)
Mélisende des Pittones and her partner Jeff McCracken are enjoying a much-needed break with Mel’s family at their estate in France, following a particularly gruelling mission for their employers the EIRS (the European Investigation and Regulation Service). Their relaxation is interrupted by a desperate call for help from Mel’s mother, Susan, who had been working in her conservatory when a heavy ball of black basalt crashed through the glass roof, narrowly missing her. To add to the horror of this potentially fatal attack, the basalt ball is accompanied by a note, which demands money and threatens to take ‘one of your kids and sell them’ if the cash is not immediately forthcoming. Susan has no idea who could be targeting her and, as her two children are adults, it seems probable that the threat refers to her grandchildren, Mel’s brother’s children.
The local police are summoned, but Mel
wants to investigate the matter herself, aware that she has enough friends in
the EIRS to informally access their facilities, including the use of any state
of the art scientific laboratory in Europe. Mel and McCracken discover a reason
for the threat, which they hope will set the police on the right track, however
they are summoned to return to work as a matter of urgency and are warned that
they will be required to undertake a new mission, which, if they fail, could compromise
the security of Europe.
On the first leg of their journey back to the EIRS headquarters in Brussels, when Mel is briefly alone on Poitiers station, she is attacked by two thugs, who call her by name. Mel, who served in the French army before she joined the EIRS, has no problem dealing with them, and the two men run away. She is uncertain whether this attack is linked to the threat her family are facing or if it is connected with the mission she is about to undertake. When Mel and McCracken meet their EIRS boss, in order to receive their briefing, they are shocked because Patrick Stephenson is not his usual immaculate self, and he confides in them that he has suffered a personal tragedy. Despite this, Stephenson is determined to carry on doing his duty.
The mission he wants Mel and McCracken to undertake could have internationally disastrous consequences if they fail. Achim Nessler is a candidate in the election of a new chancellor for Germany and is expected to lead his party to victory. Nessler is a charismatic and respected centre-left candidate, who would uphold democracy in his country. Nessler’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Emma, has been kidnapped and the abductors have threatened to kill her if Nessler does not withdraw from the election, but if he did withdraw it is almost certain that the extreme right would win and attempt to return the country to a violent extreme-right regime.
While Mel liaises with the German police, McCracken uses the skills he acquired as an undercover police officer and dresses and acts like a right-wing thug, in the hope of infiltrating one of the groups of Neo-Nazis. He swiftly succeeds in doing so, which makes Mel very anxious for his safety, and she is also worried about the difficult situation that her family are suffering at home. To make matters worse, Mel finds working with some of the German police officers very difficult, many of the male officers are misogynistic and she fears that some of them are also corrupt. This means that she is uncertain who amongst her police colleagues she can trust, and all the time the clock moves inexorably nearer to date of the election when Nessler either has to withdraw from the campaign or accept that his daughter will probably be killed.
Double Stakes is the third book in the series featuring Mélisende des
Pittones and Jeff McCracken, and it is an excellent addition to a series that
grows stronger and more gripping all the time. The core central characters are
all engaging and their personalities and relationships develop all the time;
the plot is complex and fast moving; and the political and geographical details
are fascinating. This is a compelling thriller, a page turner, which I
thoroughly recommend.
------
Reviewer: Carol Westron
Capital Crime: What's Going on in OZ?
Leonardo St Paul's, London
GOLDSBORO BOOKS STAGE
Friday 13 June 2025
13:50 - 14:40
Chris Hammer, Hayley Scrivenor, Kate Kemp,
and moderator Craig Sisterson,
discuss the new favourite destination for Crime Fiction.
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