‘The Body at the Vine Yard’ by Kate Hardy

Published by Storm Publishing,
20 May 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-80508757-1 (PB)

This is the sixth book in the series featuring Georgina Drake. Following the death of her husband Stephen Georgina moved to Little Wenborough in rural Norfolk.  She has now made many friends in the village particularly the aristocratic Sybbie, collector of China dogs. Also, DI Colin Bradshaw who she met when she first moved to the village and found the body of her first ever guest dead in the converted barn at the end of her garden that she rents out to holiday makers to supplement her income.   

There is however one friend that she met as soon as she moved to Little Wenborugh, and that is Doris, It took some time for Georgina to establish just who Doris was, but they have now become great friends.   

Engaged to do a photoshoot of a family’s vineyard, Georgina, meets the winemaker Gaby Edwards. But things do not run smoothly. There are two vineyards side by side, the one Georgina is photographing which is making organic wine and the one that is run by Gaby’s father, who does not believe in the organic process and is trying to sabotage it.  With the parents divorced, the family is divided.  The eldest son backing his father and Gaby her mother. A younger son is an artist and is constantly bullied by his elder brother. 

Then a body is discovered drowned in a fermentation tank in the father’s vineyard. 

Meanwhile Georgina’s spaniel Bert uncovers a skeleton hidden in a pond. He’s good at that by the way, he seems to make a habit of it.  With help from Doris, Georgina soon uncovers a tragic history of family rivalries and secrets buried deeper than the vines’ roots a century back. 

And then another family member goes missing. Will Georgina uncover the truth before another body turns up. 

An interesting tale of two families, nearly a century apart. Absolutely fascinating.

Most highly recommended.
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Reviewer: Lizzie Sirett

Kate Hardy started writing stories about ponies and dogs, moved onto ghosts and history, and then into local history and romance, and is now thoroughly enjoying her new life of crime!  She loves learning new things, which is why you'll always discover something different in a Kate Hardy book. She lives in Norwich with her husband

 

Burgh Island

 

Having had my photograph taken recently in Torquay
with Agatha Christie  and her dog,
John and I thought that we would pop across to Burgh Island.

The hotel is absolutely stunning.
 All Art Deco. Very 1920s.
The food is good and the staff are lovely.

Two dining areas. The Ballroom is black tie.

A marvellous opportunity for me to wear a long dress

 

Depending on the tides you may travel to the hotel by car.
Or if the tide is in by tractor.

The Burgh Island hotel, built in 1927 by Archibald Nettlefold, is a Grade 11 listed building and one of the foremost examples of Art Deco style in Europe.
It was originally a prefabricated wooden house used by
George H, Chirgwin for weekend parties.
The Hotel became a popular destination in the 1930’s and was used as a recovery centre for personnel during World War 11.
Despite a period of post-war decline the hotel was restored in the early 1990’s  by Tony and Beatrice Porter.
 The hotel is linked to Agatha Christie, who used it as setting for her novels,
and it has hosted notable guests such as
  Edward V111 and Wallis Simpson.
The hotel’s Art Deco architecture and history make it a unique and

significant Landmark in Devon, England.

Written in Blood: Trials and tribulations of a crime writer - Writing, Selling and Theft!.

 

Since my last article for Mystery People, I have found my ‘book time’ split between writing my next book and trying to encourage people to buy the books I have already written.

I have been very fortunate with my latest book

Death in the Sea Pool.

After talking about it at the Bude Festival (see my previous article for Mystery People), the local bookshop Spencer Thorn took a box of 16 off me, sold all of them, requested another 16, and sold all of them too. I have now dispatched a third box. All very encouraging.

Meanwhile back home in Oxfordshire, I have taken part in two book fairs, spoken in two libraries, and given talks to various women’s institutes and a care home.

 Of course, there are no guarantees re sales. Sometimes you have a really successful time, other times you don’t. In one Oxfordshire market town, I sold only one book at the end of my 45 minute talk. I did admittedly receive a fee, but I also had a book stolen! I left my box of books on the pavement while I walked round the corner to get my car. When I got back, the box had disappeared. Aagh!

A quick scout round revealed that it had been moved to a bench under cover. Phew!
How kind of someone. It was only when I got home that I realised that that ‘kind’ person had decided that they deserved a free book and took it home! There is obviously an irony in someone stealing a crime novel, so I have banked that as an experience to be tucked away until I need an anecdote to be wheeled out at a future event.
In the meantime, I am trying to finish the draft MS of my latest crime novel It involves a new set of characters, and I am really happy with the way those individuals have developed. V S Pritchett said: ‘There is no such thing as plot. There are only characters.’ I find those words wise and helpful.  So right now, with 90 per cent of the MS written, I am waiting for the characters to lead my story to a satisfactory and exciting conclusion.

Wish me – and my characters –
the best of luck.

Peter Tickler 

All of my crime novels can be purchased as e-books or in many cases as paperbacks. If you are ever visiting Bude, do call into the Spencer Thorn bookshop for a paperback copy of Death in the Sea Pool.
Or if you can’t wait, click
https://tinyurl.com/2rr86dv8   now!  

Twitter: @ptickler
Email: petertickler@btinternet.com
Website:  www.petertickler.co.uk 

Twitter: @ptickler 

Interview: Judith Cranswick in Conversation Victoria Dowd

 

Victoria was born and raised in Yorkshire and after studying at
Cambridge, was a successful criminal law barrister for many years. 
Victoria’s debut crime novel, The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder is the first part of a dark, humorous crime series that is a modern take on the Golden Age of crime fiction and authors such Agatha Christie,
Ngaio Marsh and Josephine Tey.
She is an award-winning short story writer, winning the Gothic Fiction prize for short fiction 2019 by Go Gothic. Victoria has had short stories published in BTS Literary and Arts Annual, Gold Dust magazine and also by Stairwell books in their literary and arts journal Dream Catcher.
Her work has also been selected for publication in an anthology entitled
A Ghostly Challenge.
She speaks at various literary festivals, most recently in Bath, and at
various schools and book groups. 

https://victoriadowd.com/

Judith:         The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder was the book that brought you a vast number of fans, including me. What inspired you to write the series?
 Victoria:    Thank you so much! That’s very kind of you. I’m a huge fan of Golden AgeDetective fiction and I draw a lot of inspiration from that. I really wanted to write a modern take on those books with all the tropes of the genre but updated with characters and themes today’s readers can relate to. I loved the idea of a strong female family dynamic with all its tensions and complicated relationships. I wanted to test those bonds and see how they would react under the greatest pressure – being locked in a house with a dead body and a murderer amongst them. 

Judith:        The Smart family women are delightfully quirky. Are any of them inspired by people you have met or are they entirely from your imagination?
Victoria:     They are individually fictional, but I do come from a family of very strong, forceful Yorkshire women. How they respond and react to one another is wonderful and awe-inspiring!

Judith:         You have written several books in the Smart Woman Mystery series, do you have a particular favourite, and why?
Victoria:     I think probably The Supper Club Murders. The Smart women had really come into their own at that point. It was great to take the characters to the next level. I really loved the setting for this one, as well – an isolated village on Dartmoor. 

Judith:         Death in the Aviary, the first of the Charlotte Blood Chronicles, is something of a departure from the Smart  Woman Mysteries. What prompted you to begin a new series?
Victoria:        I read a lot of historical fiction and a lot of detective fiction based in the 1920s and ‘30s. I thought it might be interesting to actually set a novel in that time but I didn’t just want my protagonist to seem like she’d turned up in 1920’s fancy dress. I wanted to show how she would have lived and the frustrations she would have felt with all the issues and barriers she had to overcome. It was surprising how many are still relevant today! It was also fascinating to explore the difficulties they would have faced in detecting. There were none of the modern methods available, particularly out on the moors at the time. The idea of being so isolated and cut off from most modes of  communication was very attractive! 

Judith:         I see from your bio that you were a criminal law barrister for many years. Has that influenced your writing?
Victoria:      Very much so. With each book, I use the same process and approach I did for constructing a case. I’m very methodical and visual. I like to plan the structure in quite a lot of detail before I begin. For A Book of Murder, I set some of the action in a courtroom that I’ve appeared in as a barrister. It was great fun and also quite surreal to reimagine it from the point of view of witnesses and, of course, the defendant. It does help to bring the scene to life and place the characters in that world. 

Judith:           Who are your favourite authors, and do you think they have influenced your writing style?
Victoria:     Agatha Christie is an enormous influence on me. Her meticulous construction and plotting is an absolute masterclass in how to write detective fiction. Her ability to hide the clues in plain sight and her facility with misdirection is second to none. John Dickson Carr is another influence, especially his mechanics of a locked room mystery. I also read a lot of ghost stories. I always like to inject the possibility of a supernatural element. M.R. James is one of my favourites. 

Judith:       Do you plot your novels before you start writing or do you begin with a scene and see what happens? Tell us a little about your routine.
Victoria:     I start with the trick of the book right at the centre. I then work out from that, weaving in the various plot points and clues. So, for instance, in Threefold Death, the latest Charlotte Blood book, I began with the idea of a locked tomb mystery. How could a fresh dead body be locked in a tomb that hasn’t been opened in nearly two thousand years? I then begin working out each strand of the plot that resolves into the denouement. I plan every section on my murder boards and those mirror the structure of my notebooks exactly. I often build models as well, primarily out of LEGO and each character has a mini-figure so I can see exactly where every person is as I write each section of the book. It’s a painstaking procedure but it’s very thorough!

Judith:     The setting for ‘Murder Most Cold’ was a remote set of cabins in Finland and ‘Death in the Aviary’ is set in 1928, both of which I presume involved research. What did that involve, and how much research do you need to do for your books?  
Victoria:     I do a lot of research in advance. For Murder Most Cold, I did visit the setting, which was both incredibly beautiful and eerie. I don’t think I would have been able to envisage the way light works there without seeing it. It really is extraordinary and, at times, disorientating – always useful in a murder mystery! 

I love the research part of a book. It’s a lot easier reading about Boudica and the Iron Age than starting on the very daunting prospect of a new book. There comes a point though where I have to make myself stop and actually get down to the real writing. I do need to know which shoes Charlotte Blood would wear but, sadly, I don’t need to know all the makes of shoe available then and how they were made. It is tempting to head off down some very lovely rabbit holes! 

Judith:         You are the winner of several awards. How did it feel to be short listed for the prestigious CWA Dagger, and which award gave you the most satisfaction?  
Victoria:     I’m always very surprised to win anything. There are so many amazing books out there these days. It was a wonderful experience to be shortlisted for a Dagger, primarily because that particular piece of work was written with my daughter. She attended the Daggers gala dinner with me. To share that with her was a very
special moment. Aside from that, every award is incredible for an author. After all the work and months of being locked away with the book on your own, it’s nice to know someone likes it.  

Judith:     I’m looking forward to reading Threefold Death. What are your plans for the next book? Will there be any more Smart Woman books or will you continue with a third Charlotte Blood Chronicle?Victoria: My next book is a standalone. I love writing series. It’s great to step back into their world and immediately know the character inside out. But I wanted to challenge myself and explore very different ideas. The New Rules of Murder comes out next year in June (with Sphere/Little Brown). It focuses on Knox’s rules of detective fiction – the Decalogue. On the eve of the millennium, ten crime writers are sent to a remote castle to rewrite those rules. All of them are killed and the murderer is never caught. I poured all my passion for detective fiction into that book. It really was a labour of love.  

Thank you for talking with us Victoria. Roll on next year and
The New Rules of Murder.

‘In Flames’ by Dave Sivers

Independently Published,
6 June 2026.
ISBN: 978-1-99973976-8 (PB)

Anthea Swallow, one time top of the pile model and darling of the popular press, has retired to a Hertfordshire mansion with her rock star husband Jimmy Steele. 

Here we have a couple living the dream that world-wide success and vast amounts of money generate. Until a series of events begin to expose past lives of massive indulgence in the great cliché “sex drugs and rock ’n roll”. 

Andrea has recently endured a torrent of abuse following the posting of fake online sex videos. Jimmy has employed experts in forensic technology to dig out the video maker. 

But all of this is only a prelude to the main event. 

A body bag containing the charred remains of a man is dumped outside the gates to the estate. A police team headed by DI Nathan Quarrel begins to investigate. The victim is identified as Ryan Pooley, a man from far away Leeds, and not on the list of potential fake video makers. It soon becomes clear that Pooley’s death is just the beginning of a new onslaught of online terrorism. So... no more plot spoilers from this point in the review. 

“It doesn’t matter if it’s not true, if somebody believes it.” – DI Nate’s rationalisation to his team and the real issue the novel deals with. And a good story base it is. 

Dave Sivers has a dark, gritty, intricate, twist filled story to offer, along with a fascinating detailed police investigation. 

The last half dozen chapters produce a nail-biting ending.
-------
Reviewer: Jeff Dowson. 

Dave Sivers grew up in West London, England and left school at 16 to embark on a successful civil service career. Along the way he gained a first-class honours degree from the Open University and moonlighted as, among other things, a nightclub bouncer and a bookmaker's clerk. He is now a freelance writer and author. His books include the Archer and Baines contemporary crime novels, the DI Nathan Quarrel series and the Lowmar Dashiel crime fantasy novels. He lives in Buckinghamshire, England, with his wife Chris.

Crime Fiction Author | Dave Sivers 

Jeff Dowson began his career working in the theatre as an actor and a director. He moved into television as a writer/producer/director. Screen credits include arts series, entertainment features, documentaries, drama series and TV films. Turning crime novelist in 2014, he introduced Bristol private eye Jack Shepherd in Closing the Distance. The series developed with Changing the Odds, Cloning the Hate and Bending the Rules. The Ed Grover series, featuring an American GI in Bristol during the years following World War 2, opened with One Fight At A Time. The second book New Friends Old Enemies was published in May 2021. Jeff is a member of BAFTA, Mystery People and the Crime Writers Association. 

www.jeffdowson.co.uk 

‘Mystery at the Wedding’ by Clare Chase

Published by Bookouture,
27 May 2026.
ISBN: 978-1-80550636-2 (PB)

Eve Mallow is a journalist who specialises in writing obituaries. Previously, several of the people that Eve has written about were the victims of foul play. This has resulted in Eve interviewing lots of people involved with the dead person, which in turn has meant that she has been instrumental in solving many crimes. She has lived in the village of Saxford St. Peter for some years and there are several local people who are happy to help her with her investigations. Chief amongst these helpers are her dependable, intelligent husband, Robin, who is an ex police officer, now working as a police consultant, and Eve’s best friend, Viv, a local café owner and inspired baker, whose impetuosity and lack of self-control can often cause problems for herself and her friends. 

Both Eve and Viv are invited to the pre-wedding celebrations before the marriage of Adrian Denning and Ginny Rushton, which is going to take place at Gorrington House, the country manor belonging to the Denning family. Eve had been looking forward to the wedding celebration until she receives an anonymous letter that warns her of a possibility that there is danger attached to the wedding, and it asks for Eve’s help to prevent this. This letter worries Eve, especially when she arrives at the pre-wedding celebrations and realises the high level of tension that surrounds the family and guests. 

Adrian’s parents, Marcus and Bianca Denning, own a high-level design business that has been very successful but now it is financially struggling. The Dennings had been in partnership with a flamboyant and egotistical designer called Russell Cady and the dissolution of their partnership had been extremely acrimonious. Ginny is Russell’s illegitimate daughter, but she now works for Marcus and Bianca, which Russell regards as betrayal, even though he had been a neglectful and cruel father. To add to the tension, Russell’s legitimate children, Adele and Felix, are also present at Gorrington House in order to attend the wedding. Adele is similar to her father in temperament and arrogance, although he is dismissive of her talent; Russell is consistently nasty and insulting to Felix, who clearly hates his father as much as Russell despises his son. Eve thoroughly dislikes the way that Russell behaves but she still feels it is her duty to try to warn him that his unpleasant behaviour may be placing him in danger. Russell laughs off her warning and soon afterwards he is discovered murdered in his bed at Gorrington House. 

Eve receives the commission to write Russell’s obituary, and she and her friends start to investigate his death. Russell was an unpleasant and dishonest man, which means that he had a multitude of enemies. This in turn means that Eve has a large number of suspects. Another violent death occurs and Eve realises that the killer’s violence is escalating.

Soon she, Robin and Viv find themselves in a desperate race to save other prospective victims, and Eve is forced to place herself in danger to save innocent lives. 

Mystery at the Wedding is the sixteenth book in the series featuring Eve Mallow and her friends in the village of Saxford St. Peter. Eve is an engaging protagonist, and the plot is complex and interesting, with several credible suspects and an unexpected but convincing conclusion. This is an enjoyable cosy crime novel, which I recommend.
---------
Reviewer: Carol Westron

Clare Chase writes classic mysteries. Her aim is to take readers away from it all via some armchair sleuthing in atmospheric locations. Like her heroines, Clare is fascinated by people and what makes them tick. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked in settings as diverse as Littlehey Prison and the University of Cambridge, in her home city. She’s lived everywhere from the house of a lord to a slug-infested flat and finds the mid-terrace she currently occupies a good happy medium. As well as writing, Clare loves family time, art and architecture, cooking, and of course, reading other people’s books.

www.clarechase.com  

Carol Westron is a Golden Age expert who has written many articles on the subject and given papers at several conferences. She is the author of several series: contemporary detective stories and police procedurals, comedy crime and Victorian Murder Mysteries. Her most recent publications are Paddling in the Dead Sea and Delivering Lazarus, books 2 and 3 of the Galmouth Mysteries, the series which began with
The Fragility of Poppies. Her most recent books is The Apples of Sodom. 

www.carolwestron.com 

‘The Hiding Season’ by Ava Glass

Published by Penguin,
26 March 2026.
ISBN: 978-1-529-97200-9 (HB)

I had to ration myself when I was reading this book, because I didn’t want it to end.  I entered the world of Maya Landry who is wounded from a broken marriage and putting her life back together. She stumbles into the deadly world of organised crime when she makes a spontaneous change in her work routine. 

The remote mansion in the exclusive million dollar development that should have been empty for cleaning, contains a freshly murdered corpse.  She drives to a spot where she has phone reception and summons the police, but by the time they arrive, the body has vanished.  She is dismissed as a troublemaker, wasting police time, but the crime syndicate behind the murder do not like loose ends. She has seen too much, and they are hunting for her. 

She is extracted by undercover FBI agent Riley Maguire and his enigmatic colleague Amber, and her life on the run begins. She creates a new life for herself, finding work, friends and a fragile sense of security, but the relentless machinery of death and revenge does not rest. Her secrets are endangering the people she loves and she has no choice but to leave everything behind again. A frantic journey begins once more, but can she even trust her rescuers? 

This is a high tension, high-stakes story of deception, corruption and death, and also a love letter to America. The action travels from Montana to small town Texas, to Chicago, taking the reader on a classic road trip. 

 Without losing the tension of the plot, the author deftly conveys the atmosphere of endless roads, dusty pit stops, small town diners and soaring cities. The story winds itself to a shattering conclusion. 

We are not just readers, we are witnesses. Now read on.
--------

Reviewer: Jane Andreoli

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. Join Ava’s bookclub and win free books on her website:

www.AvaGlass.co.uk

 

Jane Andreoli. I have been in love with words ever since my mother read me bedtime stories before I could read for myself. As a writer, I enjoy creating mysteries with twists in their tails, and I love a well-crafted plot. My literary heroes are Jane Austen for her superb social observations, Shakespeare for the amazing way he crunched the English language into new shapes to express his emotions, Margery Allingham for her satisfyingly convoluted plots and Phil Rickman for his masterful command of supernatural atmosphere.  I also love Douglas Adams and Sir Terry Pratchett for their humour, satire, and social commentary. I have an honours degree in English, but fortunately that was so long ago that I have forgotten all those pretensions and rediscovered the joy of creative writing.  I am now a published author, currently working on my next book. I have just reached that delicious stage where the characters become autonomous and start making their own decisions.  Anything could happen and probably will.

‘Not a Word’ by Linwood Barclay

Published by HQ
10 September 2026,
SBN: 978-0-00855680-1 

Reece Chartwell calls in to see his parents one afternoon and finds them dead in bed – a clear case of murder and suicide. Except the dead woman is not his mother, and his father may not have shot her – or even himself.

Little by little, constant shifts in narrator, plus the occasional flashback, reveal the secrets not just of the family but of Big Pharma – think the OxyContin scandal and the Sackler family. 

Not a Word is a masterclass in plotting, in herrings which may or not be red, in characterisation and pace. It’s outstanding and totally absorbing. A must read.
……….
Reviewer Judith Cutler

Linwood Barclay was born 1955 in Darien, Connecticut.  After graduating high school Barclay studied literature at Trent University in Peterborough. After graduation, he could not sell any of his novels so he found work on a number of local newspapers, starting his journalism career in 1977 at the Peterborough Examiner, moved on to a small Oakville paper in 1979, and then to the Toronto Star in 1981 where he was, successively, assistant city editor, news editor, chief copy editor and Life section editor. He lives in Toronto with his wife, Neetha and two children. 

www.linwoodbarclay.com

Judith Cutler was born in the Black Country, just outside Birmingham, later moving to the Birmingham suburb of Harborne. Judith started writing while she was at the then Oldbury Grammar School, winning the Critical Quarterly Short Story prize with the second story she wrote. She subsequently read English at university. She has written eight series. In all 43 books. Her most recent series is set in Victoria times featuring Matthew Rowsley and housekeeper Mrs Faulkner as an engaging detective duo 

http://www.judithcutler.com

Crime writer starts new chapter as Coastal Crime announces 2027 date

Crime author Alex Stone publishes
her latest thriller,

The Jealous Girl,
and launches a major new festival in the South:
Coastal Crime.

Crime writer Alex Stone is preparing for a major new chapter this autumn - the publication of her latest psychological thriller, The Jealous Girl, and the launch of a new crime fiction festival.

Coastal Crime – The South's Crime Writing Festival takes place on Saturday 6 March 2027 at the Leonardo Royal Hotel Southampton Grand Harbour, bringing some of the biggest names in crime fiction together with emerging authors, aspiring writers, and readers for a day dedicated to the genre by the sea.

Festival founder Alex Stone was awarded a Katie Fforde Bursary in 2019 and published her debut thriller The Perfect Daughter with Boldwood Books in 2021.
Her new Dorset-set psychological thriller, The Jealous Girl,
is published by Boldwood Books on 10 September.

Alex Stone said: “It feels particularly appropriate that, just as The Jealous Girl is about to reach readers, Coastal Crime is beginning its first chapter.

“Writing can often be a solitary profession, which is one of the reasons I'm so passionate about bringing writers and readers together. Coastal Crime is about celebrating the authors people already love, helping readers discover brilliant new voices, and creating a community where anyone with a passion for crime fiction feels welcome.”

The inaugural Coastal Crime programme is packed with panels exploring topics from reinventing the whodunnit, coastal noir, and adapting novels for screen.

Featured authors whose books have been adapted for screen include Sarah Pinborough, with the Netflix smash, Behind Her Eyes, Luke Jenning, whose books inspired the global sensation Killing Eve, TM Logan,
whose The Holiday was adapted by Ch5
starring Jill Halfpenny, and New York Times bestselling screenwriter and novelist
M J Arlidge, whose book was adapted for ITV’s Innocent.

Other bestselling authors include the award-winning Vaseem Khan, who was commissioned by the Ian Fleming Estate as an official author of the
James Bond spin offs, featuring Q.

Journalist turned author Jackie Kabler also stars. Jackie worked as a news correspondent for the BBC, ITV and GMTV before writing bestsellers including 
The Perfect Couple and The Happy Family, selling over a million copies.

Sarah Pearse, Heidi Perks, Antony Johnston and Ava Glass also feature in a programme of talks, panels and opportunities for readers to meet new, emerging authors.

Alex said: “We’re creating a festival that celebrates bestselling names while championing new voices.”

Alex also runs an Author Events Academy, which has informed Coastal Crime’s dedicated Industry Hub, which will also run alongside the main festival.

The hub is aimed at aspiring and established writers, with sessions on breaking into the genre, understanding publishing routes, building visibility, mastering research, and pitching to agents, with expert contributors, including UK NetGalley Director Stuart Evers, on building a sustainable and visible writing career.

The hub also features forensic scientist Jo Millington, whose team has advised on major TV productions including Silent Witness, and Graham Bartlett,
a former senior police officer turned bestselling author.

Writers will gain direct industry perspective from Curtis Brown Creative, sharing what agents are really looking for and how to approach submissions with confidence, alongside additional publishing professionals and specialists offering guidance across craft, research and career development.

A limited number of one-to-one appointments with agents and editors are now available to book.

Alex said: “Developing new, aspiring and emerging writers is something of a passion of mine. I’ve been through the process of dreaming of being a writer to published author. My Author Events Academy provides online workshops and development opportunities for writers, so that expertise and learning have really helped shape what we feel is an inspirational and practical day at Coastal Crime.”

The day concludes with a relaxed drinks reception, to meet authors and fellow crime fans.

Alex’s latest book The Jealous Girl explores toxic relationships, obsession and revenge. The novel follows Kirsty, whose obsession with the woman who has replaced her in her former boyfriend's life draws her into a web of family secrets, lies and ultimately something much darker.

Dorset's dramatic coastline has long provided inspiration and settings for Alex's psychological thrillers, making the creation of a major crime writing festival on the South Coast a natural progression for the author.

Coastal Crime takes place on Saturday 6 March 2027
at the Leonardo Royal Hotel Southampton Grand Harbour.
Early Bird tickets with 25% off are available until 31 October.

For tickets and further information visit 
Coastal Crime – The South's Crime Writing Festival.