CrimeFest 2022: All in the Past: The Enduring Fascination With Historical Crime Fiction

Thursday 12 May 2022
14:40 -15:30

The Panel are: Kate Ellis, Mark Ellis Carolyn Kirby,
Leigh Russell
and the participating Moderator is Linda Stratmann

Kate Ellis was born in Liverpool and she studied drama in Manchester. She worked in teaching, marketing and accountancy before first enjoying writing success as a winner of the North-West Playwrights competition. Crime and mystery stories have always fascinated her, as have medieval history and archaeology which she likes to incorporate in her books. She is married with two grown up sons and she lives in North Cheshire, England, with her husband. Kate's novels feature archaeology graduate Detective Sergeant Wesley Peterson who fights crime in South Devon.  Each story combines an intriguing contemporary murder mystery with a parallel historical case.Kate was elected a member of The Detection Club in 2014. She is a member of the Crime Writers Association, Murder Squad, and Mystery People Group. Her latest book The Stone Chamber was published in August 2021.

www.kateellis.co.uk

Mark Ellis is a thriller writer from Swansea and a former
barrister and entrepreneur. He is the creator of DCI Frank Merlin, an Anglo-Spanish police detective operating in World War 2 London. His books treat the reader to a vivid portrait of London during the war skilfully blended with gripping plots, political intrigue and a charismatic protagonist. Mark grew up under the shadow of his parents' experience of the Second World War. In consequence Mark has always been fascinated by WW2 and in particular the Home Front and the fact that while the nation was engaged in a heroic endeavour, crime flourished. Murder, robbery, theft and rape were rife and the Blitz provided scope for widespread looting. This is the world of DCI Frank Merlin. Mark Ellis is a member of the Crime Writers Association. His latest book is Dead in the Water is Published 19 May 2022.

 www.markellisauthor.com

Carolyn Kirby – originally from Sunderland – studied history at St Hilda’s College, Oxford before working in social housing and then as a teacher. Her debut novel The Conviction of Cora Burns is a dark journey through Victorian Birmingham that questions whether the roots violence lie in our hearts or in our scars. Her latest novel When we Fall was published 7 May 2020. For more information about the historical background to the novel, as well as details of Carolyn’s other speaking events, please go to her website   

   www.carolynkirby.com

Leigh Russell studied at the University of Kent

 gaining a Masters degree in English and American literature. Formerly a secondary school English teacher, with the success of her Geraldine Steel series, Leigh now writes full-time. Her debut novel, Cut Short, was published in 2009 by No Exit Press in the UK, featuring detective Geraldine Steel. There are now 18 books in the series. Leigh also writes a spinoff series for Geraldine's sergeant, Ian Peterson. Of which there are three in the series. Her latest series published by Thomas and Mercer feature Lucy Hall. Leigh Russell is married with two daughters and lives in Middlesex. Her most recent book is Guilt Edged, published 20 January 2022.

leighrussell.co.uk/

 Linda Stratmann was born in Leicester in
in 1948 and first started scribbling stories and poems at the age of six. She became interested in true crime when watching Edgar Lustgarten on TV in the 1950s. Linda attended Wyggeston Girls Grammar School, trained to be a chemist’s dispenser, and later studied at Newcastle University where she obtained a first in Psychology. She then spent 27 years in the civil service before leaving to devote her time to writing. Linda loves spending time in libraries and archives and really enjoys giving talks on her subject.Her most recent book is Sherlock Holmes and the Explorers' Club, published 11 January 2022.

www.lindastratmann.com
http://www.crimefest.com/