Mick Herron Awarded CWA Diamond Dagger

 

Slow Horses author receives highest accolade in crime writing

Mick Herron is the 2025 recipient of the
Crime Writers’ Association (CWA)
 Diamond Dagger - the highest accolade in the genre.

The award recognises authors whose crime writing careers have been marked by sustained excellence, and who have made a significant contribution to the genre.

One of the UK’s most prominent societies, the CWA was founded in 1953 by John Creasey; the awards started in 1955 with its first award going to Winston Graham, best known for Poldark.

 Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Herron studied English Literature at Oxford, where he continues to live. He began writing fiction while working as a sub editor in London.

His first novel, Down Cemetery Road, was published in 2003.
This was the start of Herron’s Zoë Boehm series.

 In 2008, inspired by world events, he began writing the Slough House series, featuring MI5 agents who have been exiled from the mainstream for various offences. The first novel, Slow Horses, was published in 2010. Some years later, it was hailed by the Daily Telegraph as one of “the twenty greatest spy novels of all time.”

A #1 Sunday Times bestselling author, the Slough House thrillers were adapted into an Apple TV series, starring Oscar-winning actor Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, and have been published in twenty-five languages.

Herron has a long association with the CWA, becoming a member in 2004. Two of his books in the Slough House series have received a Dagger: Dead Lions won the CWA Gold Dagger in 2013, and Spook Street the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger in 2017.

Herron’s Zoë Boehm series is to be adapted into a major TV series starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson. Herron is also the author of the highly acclaimed standalone novels Nobody Walks and The Secret Hours.

Mick Herron said: “I’ve spent the best part of my life – not the majority of it; just the best part – in the crime writers’ community, and to receive this accolade from these friends and colleagues is both a career highlight and a personal joy. I’m touched and thrilled beyond measure, and will try to live up to the honour.”

 Vaseem Khan, Chair of the CWA, said: “I am delighted that the Diamond Dagger judges have picked Mick as their recipient this year. Few could be more deserving. Mick is the quintessential writers' writer and his Slough House novels have, by general consensus, reinvented the spy thriller, going on to delight millions on the page and onscreen. The Diamond Dagger is a fitting tribute to a writer whose work has become both cultural marker and record of our time.”

Nominations for the CWA Diamond Dagger are recommended by CWA members. Industry experts then narrow these down to a shortlist. The winner is then voted for by a panel of past Diamond Dagger winners.

Recent recipients of the Diamond Dagger include:
 Lynda La Plante, James Lee Burke, Peter James, Walter Mosley, Lee Child, Lawrence Block, Ian Rankin, Michael Connelly, Lindsey Davis, Andrew Taylor, Martina Cole, Ann Cleeves, Val McDermid, Robert Goddard, Martin Edwards, Catherine Aird and Simon Brett.

Past icons of the genre acknowledged with a Diamond Dagger include Ruth Rendell, PD James, Colin Dexter, Reginald Hill, and John le Carré.

The CWA Daggers are now regarded by the publishing world as the foremost British awards for crime-writing. As the oldest awards in the genre, they have been synonymous with quality crime writing for over half a century.

The Diamond Dagger is presented at the annual CWA Dagger Awards, dubbed the ‘Oscars of the crime genre,’ which take place this year on Thursday, July 3.

SIR IAN RANKIN REVEALED TO BE GUEST PROGRAMMER FOR BLOODY SCOTLAND INTERNATIONAL CRIME WRITING FESTIVAL 2025

For the first time ever, Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival has invited a guest programmer to join the festival team. 

International bestselling novelist, Sir Ian Rankin, is working alongside the programming team - which includes fellow authors, Abir Mukherjee, Lin Anderson, Craig Robertson and Gordon J. Brown - to bring another world class line-up of authors and special guests to the prestigious Festival, which will return to the historic city of Stirling 12-14 September 2025

 Ian Rankin, who has sold over 35 million books and was awarded a Knighthood in 2023 for services to literature and charity, is working closely with Festival Director, Bob McDevitt to share his personal passions and put his unique spin on one of the UK’s largest crime fiction festivals.

All will be revealed when the programme launches in June 2025.

Festival director Bob McDeviit said:
"Ian has been one of the foremost supporters of Bloody Scotland since the beginning and he has brought imagination and enthusiasm to the programming process. He is a much loved and respected writer around the world and has friends and contacts in all sorts of places which have delivered some unique events for us this year."

Sir Ian Rankin said: “Bloody Scotland manages to remain the world’s friendliest and most inclusive crime fiction festival while also attracting the biggest and brightest names in the business to the city of Stirling. It’s epic!”

Ian Rankin has been involved in Bloody Scotland since its inception. He has captained the Scotland football team, led the torchlit procession through the streets of Stirling and in 2021 his warmup act ‘Crime in the Spotlight’ was Graeme Macrae Burnet who went on to be shortlisted for the Booker. It is a pleasure to welcome him back at the helm of the festival and we are excited to see what 2025 will bring.

Bloody Scotland | International Crime Writing Festival 

‘Spring Offensive’ by Edward Marston

Published by Allison & Busby,
23 January 2025.
ISBN: 978-0-7490-315-6 (PB)

It is spring 1918 and things are going badly for Britain and its allies as the Germans launch their Spring Offensive. Battalions of stormtroopers are forcing their way through the allied lines, while a million shells explode over them. Thousands of British soldiers have been killed or seriously wounded.

In London a fire breaks out and the Fire Brigade struggle to try to save the neighbouring houses and shops. Under the cover of the chaos caused by the fire, a nearby bank is robbed. Two police constables, who are on patrol, come upon the robbers leaving the bank and are viciously attacked; one is knocked unconscious and the other is stabbed to death.

Summoned in the middle of the night, Detective Inspector Harvey Marmion hurries to the scene of the crime. He is particularly distressed by the murder because the dead constable is an old friend who had joined the police force at the same time as Marmion. For once Marmion’s superior officer is fully supportive and allows him all the manpower available. This is a notable concession because there are a limited number of policemen at his disposal, as many former police officers are now serving in the army. Unfortunately, the officer that Marmion most wants to support him is not available. His trusted second-in-command, Detective Sergeant Joe Keedy, is still on the sick list after he was seriously wounded. Keedy was shot while breaking up a siege some weeks before and has just come out of hospital. He is still convalescent, although he is determined to be fully fit as soon as possible, both because he is eager to return to work and, even more important, he intends to walk down the aisle unaided when he marries Marmion’s daughter, Alice.

In Keedy’s place, Marmion is assigned Acting Detective Sergeant Clifford Burge, a dedicated and intelligent young detective who is eager to learn but does not possess Keedy’s experience or the instinct that comes with it. Marmion deduces that there must had been three active and ruthless men to carry out the actual robbery, two to invade the bank and a driver of the stolen getaway car. However, Marmion is also certain that there must have been another player who had provided the robbers with information about the security alarms in place in the bank and the way to circumvent them. He identifies three suspects amongst people previously employed by the bank. Keedy, who insists that his body might need further rest but his brain needs stimulation, suggests a fourth person who may be of interest. Marmion and Burge work their way through the suspects, attempting to identify the person who has betrayed the bank’s trust and facilitated the robbery. This entails travelling not just within London but right across the country. At the same time they work on tracking down the three men who physically committed the robbery, whom Marmion thinks have gone to ground somewhere outside the capital. They are handicapped by the shortage of manpower within the police force throughout the country, but they are helped by the willingness of everybody to do all they can to capture the killers of the policeman.

Marmion tries not to allow personal problems to interfere with his concentration on the investigation, but this is far from easy, and it is even harder when he knows that his wife, Ellen, is afraid. The Marmions’ son, Paul, was wounded fighting in the war and although he recovered physically, his mental health deteriorated. When Paul was discharged from the army, he disappeared from the lives of his parents and sister and fell into bad company. Now Ellen is terrified when she realises that somebody is sneaking into their house and stealing money and clothes, and she is also convinced that she is being followed. Despite having had the locks changed, Ellen feels unsafe in her own home, but is the culprit her son or one of Paul’s unpleasant new friends?

Marmion and his subordinates are well aware that, even if the investigation is successful and they trace the robbers to their hiding place, these are dangerous, desperate men who have already killed once and will have nothing to lose if they are cornered. Marmion is determined to ensure that the final confrontation with the killers does not prove fatal to any more of the policemen serving under his command.

Spring Offensive is the eleventh book in the Home Front Detective series and it is a fascinating addition to an excellent series. The characters are engaging and the historical background is cleverly portrayed as it captures the horrors, tragedies and challenges of life on the Home Front in Britain during the First World War. This is a very enjoyable book which I thoroughly recommend.
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Reviewer: Carol Westron

Edward Marston was born and brought up in South Wales. He read Modern History at Oxford then lectured on the subject for three years before becoming a full-time freelance writer. His first historical mystery, The Queen's Head, was published in 1988, launching the Nicholas Bracewell series. A former chairman of the Crime Writers Association Edward has written over forty original plays for radio, film, television and the theatre. Edward lives in Gloucestershire with his wife and author Judith Cutler.  Murder in Transit, is the 22^nd book in the Railway Detective series. 

http://www.edwardmarston.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.  

www.carolwestron.com

‘Liars Island’ by T. Orr Munro

Published by HQ,
21 November 2024.
ISBN: 978-0-00864470-3 (HB)

Liars Island is the third novel in the CSI Ally Dymond series. Dymond appears a fairly complex character with a considerable back story (I haven’t read the first two books in the series so have pieced it together as perhaps you will have to), including adoptive parents, an abusive drunk ex-husband and a daughter (the result of a teenage pregnancy) who was almost the third female victim of a murdering paramedic. Dymond killed the paramedic (no spoiler here as she tells us early on), but this is known only to two other people and not to the police. As the novel starts she is waiting to hear if her application to rejoin the Major Investigations Unit has been successful whilst having suspicions that someone is trying to block it. Dymond’s career has suffered because she exposed corruption in the police force.

Kieran Deveney, a partner in a water sports centre on Liars Island off the Devon coast, is found dead in a remote cove. Before long two islanders both confess separately to the murder. They each claim they acted alone, and neither can be convicted as long as the other stands by their story. Dymond has her own reasons for not wanting to go to an island which she knew well in her childhood (these concern her adoptive father’s death – more back story), but she cannot avoid doing so for the demands of her professional life. When she arrives with a young and inexperienced colleague, Dymond finds a very close community of a handful of people, all of whom seem to have something in their lives that they wish to conceal (her junior colleague says at one point ‘It’s like everyone on the island is hiding a dirty little secret’). Dymond’s exposure to this group becomes intense as storms hit and she and her colleague cannot get off the island as planned. What was supposed to be a day trip stretches into considerably more than that.

Gradually we discover that the few people left on the island all have their reasons for killing Deveney as well as their reasons for not wanting to leave the island. This is skilfully done by the periodic appearance of crime scene examination reports and Facebook Messenger posts. There are also flashbacks in the voices of those remaining on the island, all of which end along the lines of ‘But he belonged here now. This is his home. He couldn’t leave Liars Island. Not now . . . Not ever.’

A closed community, then, made up of people who have every reason to avoid the scrutiny of those on the mainland in general and the police in particular. Another death muddies the waters, and during Dymond’s enforced sojourn she discovers more and realises the potential danger she and her colleague are in. The climax is dramatic, with the dreadful conditions and the sea playing their part. Dymond is helped by what she learned from her sailor father.

This is a very readable and atmospheric novel, with fully-drawn characters and a tight plot as well as more than passing nods to contemporary issues. Munro makes the most of the island and marine setting. The story works its way inexorably to a conclusion, and although by that time there are a limited number of suspects left, the ending is thoroughly convincing. The postscript is heart-warming, with some tensions released in Dymond’s relationships with her teenage daughter, her adoptive mother and a potential lover. I am very happy to recommend it.
------
Reviewer: David Whittle

T. Orr Munro was born in Hampshire. After university she trained as a Crime Scene Investigator, then became a secondary School teacher. She changed career at 33 to become a police and rime journalist. She has since returned with her family to live in North Devon, the setting for the Ally Dymond series. Her time as a CSI provided much of the inspiration for the novels, shining a light on what happens behind the crime scene tape. 

David Whittle is firstly a musician (he is an organist and was Director of Music at Leicester Grammar School for over 30 years) but has always enjoyed crime fiction. This led him to write a biography of the composer Bruce Montgomery who is better known to lovers of crime fiction as Edmund Crispin, about whom he gives talks now and then. He is currently convenor of the East Midlands Chapter of the Crime Writers’ Association.

‘The Silent Quarry’ by Cheryl Rees-Price

Published by The book Folks,
22 July 2020.
ISBN: 978-1-91351655-5

The story opens when teenager Gwen Collier awakens after being unconscious for several weeks.  Did I have an accident? she asks her mother. Despite physiotherapy and counselling Gwen has no memory of what happened to her.

Move forward twenty years. Gwen is now married to Matt Thomas, and they have two children. But it becomes clear that their marriage is not a happy one.

After a rather drunken party, to clear her head Gwen takes her Siberian husky, Blue, for a walk and ends up on Quarry Road a place that she has avoided since she had been found there unconscious as a teenager, and where her school friend Beth was found dead. She decides to go further but as she does, so her unease grows and as she reaches the shack, where she and Beth used to meet and she misses her step and finds herself falling,

When Gwen is reported missing DI Winter Meadows and DC Edris, the new trainee respond to the call.  The village of Bryn Melyn is not a big place, and Winter Meadows recognises Gwen’s husband Matt Thomas, as the same unpleasant bully he was at school.

Then Winter receives the news that Gwen has been found and taken to hospital. She is confused and has a nasty bump on the back on her head and according to the doctor, has regressed to a fifteen-year-old girl.  But it is possible that she may now regain all of her previous memories.

Soon Gwen begins to have flashbacks, but they are random and disjointed.

DI Winter Meadows reopens what has for some time been a cold case. However, it is to be remembered that Beth’s killer was never caught, and Gwen with her returning memory now faces a greater danger, at the hand of whoever killed Beth.

As Winter Meadows investigation progresses it becomes clear that many people have secrets that they don’t wish to be revealed. It also becomes clear that Winter Meadows is a little in love with Gwen. Will they have a happy ending?

And many people have lied, as to where they were at the time of the incident, two being Giles Epworth, the head teacher, and Gwen’s husband Matt. Will DI Meadows find the killer before he strikes to protect the truth emerging.

This is a fascinating story, with many twists and turns. But the most spectacular is the twist at the end. Now that is what I call a twist. Highly recommended.
------
Reviewer: Lizzie Sirett

Cheryl Rees-Price was born in Cardiff and moved as a young child to a small village on the edge of The Black Mountain, South Wales, where she still lives with her husband and three cats. After leaving school she worked as a legal clerk for several years before leaving to raise her two daughters. Cheryl returned to education, studying philosophy, sociology, and accountancy whilst working as a part time bookkeeper. She now works as a finance director for a company that delivers project management and accounting services. In her spare time Cheryl indulges in her passion for writing. Her other hobbies include walking and gardening which free her mind to develop plots and create colourful characters.

‘The Last Days of Kira Mullan’ by Nicci French

Published by Simon & Schuster,
16 January 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-3985-2413-2 (HB)

What do you do if you suspect someone has been murdered but everyone around you, even the police, assumes it was suicide? That’s the situation Nancy finds herself in when Kira, the young woman in the flat downstairs, is discovered hanging from a beam.

For Nancy it’s worse than simply not being believed. She’s recovering from a breakdown caused by overwork, and everything she says is put down to a relapse. Nobody takes her seriously, even – or especially – her solicitous partner Felix and their over-maternal neighbour Michelle. Nancy is convinced she is right and sets out to prove it. Her methods get her into trouble; Felix, Michelle and another neighbour, junior doctor Harry, call in a psychiatrist, and she is hauled off to the worst kind of mental health facility.

Meanwhile Maud, a sharp-eyed detective inspector has taken an interest in the case and starts to look more closely at the evidence.  By the time Nancy is finally released from the facility Maud has serious doubts about the original verdict, and Nancy’s reasons for her unshaken belief give her more food for thought. She has a battle to fight to convince her senior officer that the case merits further investigation, but Maud is made of stern stuff and wins out.

Like all Nicci French’s novels, this one is primarily about the people affected by the crime – for there’s little doubt there has been a crime. Nancy remains at the centre throughout, determined against the odds to prove that her breakdown was a temporary lapse, and hasn’t affected her judgement. Felix is ubiquitously at her shoulder, apparently caring and protective but with a well-hidden darker side. Michelle’s nosiness is thinly disguised as neighbourly concern. The various neighbours, friends, medical professionals and police all have distinct personalities, and so does the community they all inhabit. Even more vividly portrayed is the mental health facility, where Nancy’s struggles against even worse odds are the stuff of nightmares.

There’s a strong whodunnit thread, with several potential killers, but mainly the novel is about Nancy’s fight to be believed, and to believe in herself again. On another level it’s about relationships, their complexities and duplicities, what we show to others and what we hide. It’s more than crime novel – but so are all the best crime novels. 
------
Reviewer: Lynne Patrick

Nicci French is a pseudonym used by Sean French and Nicci Gerrard, two London journalists who conceive and write together psychological thrillers.

Lynne Patrick has been a writer ever since she could pick up a pen, and has enjoyed success with short stories, reviews and feature journalism, but never, alas, with a novel. She crossed to the dark side to become a publisher for a few years and is proud to have launched several careers which are now burgeoning. She lives in Oxfordshire in a house groaning with books, about half of them crime fiction.

‘Straw Man’ by Lindsey Mellon

Published by Northside House Ltd,
5 October 2024.
SBN: 978-1-91739307-2 (PB)

In Rome, Haydon Talbot MI6 Station Chief is woken by a phone call in the early hours of 12^th October 1984, by a panicky voice telling him of a bomb explosion in the Grand Hotel Brighton where the Prime Minister and her Cabinet are staying. He is recalled at once to London and arrives at the Head Quarters of SIS in Lambeth. He is met by his friend Mark Glasson, Director of Operations.

The I. R. A. has just claimed responsibility and Glasson tells him the bomb was in Margaret Thatcher’s bathroom and made of gelignite. She had a lucky escape.

The big concern is that the Provisional I. R. A. has linked up with Arab and Palestinian groups and Haydon had been sent to Rome where Libyan terrorists were known to be based in their Embassy. The worry is that the I. R. A. are suspected of planning to obtain Semtex from Libya.

Glasson instructs Haydon to send Lomax to Libya. Haydon is worried and tries to tell the Director, that Lomax is not ready, but he is adamant.

Meanwhile in Trieste I. R. A. member Sean Docherty meets with his friend Libyan, Nasirel-Maghrebi, and they discuss the supply of Semtex and heavy machine guns. Everything will be delivered by two fishing vessels to Ireland.

Plans are made to put Charlie Lomax (code name DAEDAUS), to work in top levels of the Libyan security establishment. Arrangements are also made for round the clock surveillance of Nasir and his people of the “Peoples Bureau” to identify and intercept the I. R. A. team linking with them.

So, begins a cat and mouse game between Libyan and British agents. Things do not go too well for Charlie, and Haydon rues the day he put him to work there.

Eventually the overriding concern becomes, how can the ships carrying Semtex to Ireland be stopped. Haydon is now put under even greater pressure. Can he prevent the inevitable carnage?

A really well written, knowledgeable account of opposing sides all convinced that theirs is the right path to follow leading to death and destruction on all sides. Who can trust whom?  No one is who they seem.

Highly recommended for readers fascinated by the intricate plots and counter plots that go on all over the world even today. 
------
Reviewer: Tricia Chappell

Lindsey Mellon was born in London in 1949 and largely uneducated. He is passionate about history, travel and current affairs and has harboured an ambition for several decades to write fiction, but never quite got off the blocks. He completed a Faber ‘Work in Progress’ course, as part of which he developed the first draft of ‘Straw Man’, published by Northside House in February 2024. His second novel, a sequel - ‘The Sheikh’ - is set in Khartoum during the sinister infancy of Al-Qaeda during the early nineties and due for publication in March 2025. He is now at work on the third in the series ‘The Black Swamp’. Widely travelled, he has lived in the UK, Ireland, USA, Kenya, Sudan, Somalia, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. He has worked, among other things, as a pilot, an artist, an entrepreneur, an oil explorer and as a Producer in Film & TV. He lives and works in Oxfordshire.

Tricia Chappell. I have a great love of books and reading, especially crime and thrillers. I play the occasional game of golf (when I am not reading). My great love is cruising especially to far flung places, when there are long days at sea for plenty more reading! I am really enjoying reviewing books and have found lots of great new authors.

‘The Alaska Sanders Affair’ by Joel Dicker

Published by Quercus Books,
12 September 2024.
ISBN: 978-1-5294-3381-4 (HB)
Translated from the French by Robert Bonnono

Alaska Sanders was a beautiful young woman, having some success in local beauty contests and hoping for a career in acting.  She was murdered by a lake near Mount Pleasant, the small town in which she lived.  There were two suspects, one (Walter Carrey) died in custody and the other, Eric Donovan, pleaded guilty to murder and has so far been in jail for 11 years.  Then another woman is murdered, and Eric’s sister, Lauren, thinks that this may support her belief that he is innocent.

The author Marcus Goldman, whose book ‘The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair’ has brought him much success, is struggling with the idea of its being made into a film and sets out to find the person in the title, Harry.  Marcus visits his friend Sergeant Perry Gaholowood, whom he had met while researching for the book and who had been involved in the Alaska Sanders case.  He is very fond of Perry and his family and is deeply shocked when Perry’s wife, Helen, dies suddenly.  In trying to understand what Helen was doing in the time before her death he finds some snippets of evidence which seems to relate to Alaska’s death. Gradually Marcus and Perry unpick the various strands of this cold case.

The book has the feel of an autobiography and is structured to lead the reader back and forth through the years.  The characters (of which there are a number) are introduced without overloading the story line.  They are well drawn with definite roles to play, even when not actually involved in the investigation.  As Marcus journeys back and forth through the years and drives back and forth through the various landscapes, small, disconnected memories are unearthed and fitted together, existing evidence is re-evaluated, other crimes are revealed and, gradually but inexorably, the hunt for the truth moves forward.

The story is intertwined with Marcus’s own search for Harry Quebert and also, now that he has achieved such success, for his own way forward.  The time travel is deftly handled and the overall plot leads the reader on.  It is a long book but presented in a way that makes it easy to keep track of the investigation, with shortish dated sections which encourage the reader to read just a bit more.  The book about Harry Quebert is referred to, but it is not necessary to have read it to follow this story, though readers of this book may well be encouraged to do so. 
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Reviewer: Jo Hesslewood
Other books by this author: Marcus Goldman series:  The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair, The Baltimore Boys, The Alaska Sanders Affair.  Standalone Novels: The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer, The Enigma of Room 622, Un Animal Sauvage. 

Joël Dicker was born in Geneva in 1985, where he studied Law. His first Book The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair was nominated for the Prix Goncourt and won the Grand Prix du Roman de l'Académie Française and the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens. It soon became a worldwide success publishing in 42 countries and selling more than 3.5 million copies. In the UK it was a Times number one bestseller, and was chosen for the Richard and Judy Book Club as well as Simon Mayo's Radio 2 Book Club. His latest book is The Disapperance of Stephanie Mailer. 

Jo Hesslewood.  Crime fiction has been my favourite reading material since as a teenager I first spotted Agatha Christie on the library bookshelves.  For twenty-five years the commute to and from London provided plenty of reading time.  I am fortunate to live in Cambridge, where my local crime fiction book club, Crimecrackers, meets at Heffers Bookshop .  I enjoy attending crime fiction events and currently organise events for the Margery Allingham Society.

‘A Voice in the Night’ by Simon Mason

Published by Quercus,
16 January 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-52942-590-1 (HB)

It must be a source of continual wonder to colleagues in St Aldates police station in central Oxford that, despite having a chaotic and seemingly dysfunctional approach to his work, and being suspended on more than one occasion, the inarticulate, scruffy and totally politically incorrect DI Ryan Wilkins still has a job. His ambitious, articulate and clever partner, DI Ray Wilkins, could hardly be more different. Tension bubbling between the two Wilkins is heightened by the arrival of Chief Superintendent Rebecca Wainwright who intends to raise standards. She warns the Wilkins duo that she regards them as a problem and then sends them to investigate the death of an elderly man found in wet pajamas on the lawn of a local hotel.

The dead man is identified as Joe Emmett, an expert in ancient languages. Joe uses his skills both to authenticate old documents and to expose forgeries that can be sold for vast sums of money. He had not been a guest at the hotel, but Sebastian Franks, a friendly rival with whom Joe had been debating earlier that evening was staying there.  Ray and Ryan conclude that Joe’s death was suspicious. It looked as though he had drowned in the nearby river. But who had got him out of the river and deposited him on the hotel’s lawn?

The highest profile crime under investigation in Oxford is the murder of a security guard at the Pelzer Institute of Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies. It was linked to a robbery at the Institute, but the thieves had been disturbed and were thought to have left empty-handed. DI Hare’s remarkably quick progress with reporting results from this investigation contrasts sharply with the lack of the Wilkins’s progress in finding Joe’s killer. Numerous twists and turns later, investigations into Joe’s death and the security guard’s murder begin to overlap.

In the meantime, other crimes, particularly shoplifting and threatening behaviour, impinge on DI Ryan Wilkins’ life. His younger sister, Jade, works in the Co-op in Kennington and looks after her daughter Mylee and DI Ryan’s son, also called Ryan.  After Jade reports Michael McNulty for shoplifting, his thuggish brothers threaten the safety of her two young charges. When DI Ryan tries to protect his family, the McNultys reciprocate maliciously by revealing details about Ryan’s personal life that threaten to destroy him.

This book is peopled with a range of characters who do not necessarily behave as one might expect. It keeps you guessing to the end.  DI Ray Wilkins’ ambitions and his desire to please Superintendent Wainwright raise the tension between the two Wilkins. However, when the chips are down, much to Ray’s surprise, loyalty and care for his colleague finally make an appearance. The relationship between DI Ryan and his little son Ryan - one of the most lovable characters in the series - is a joy to read. DI Ryan’s incredibly awkward interviews with Joe’s widow Greta also make for memorable reading. Overall, A Voice in The Night makes another excellent and entertaining addition to the three previous books in the series.
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Reviewer: Angela Crowther 

Simon Mason is an author of children's and adult books. His first adult novel, a black comedy entitled The Great English Nude, won the Betty Trask first novel award and Moon Pie was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction prize. Running Girl is his first story starring Garvie Smith. Simon lives in Oxford with his wife and their two children. His most recent series’ are the Finder mysteries and the DI Wilkins Mysteries.  

Angela Crowther is a retired scientist.  She has published many scientific papers but, as yet, no crime fiction.  In her spare time Angela belongs to a Handbell Ringing group, goes country dancing and enjoys listening to music, particularly the operas of Verdi and Wagner.

Icon of Genre Announced for Final CrimeFest

 

CrimeFest has announced an icon of the genre,

Lee Child,
will take part in its final convention in May 2025.

One of the UK’s leading crime fiction conventions, which is hosted in Bristol supported by title sponsor Specsavers, CrimeFest announced 2025 will be its final event after 16 years.

Organisers have said they are putting all their energy into making the final event one to remember.

The celebratory finale features a record number of Diamond Dagger recipients in attendance.

Alongside Lee, fellow Diamond Dagger recipients confirmed are Peter Lovesey, Simon Brett, Lindsey Davis, Martin Edwards, and John Harvey, as well as in spirit, John le Carré (with his two sons) and Dick Francis( as represented by his son, the crime writer Felix Francis).

Le Carré’s sons are the film producer Simon Cornwell, who is behind adaptations of his father’s work, including The Night Manager for the BBC starring Tom Hiddleston and Olivia Colman; and Nick Harkaway who, to much acclaim, recently brought back his father’s famous literary creation, George Smiley, with his novel, Karla’s Choice.

John Harvey has written over 100 books, including his series of jazz-influenced Charlie Resnick novels. Harvey has a number of short stories due for publication this year, including his story Criss-Cross in Playing Dead, a new collection of stories written by members of the Detection Club, edited by Martin Edwards, and published in March. Also out in March is his new poetry collection, Blue in Green, published by Shoestring Press.

Also confirmed is the Icelandic author known as the Queen of Nordic thrillers, Yrsa Sigurdardottir, who is also a regular face at CrimeFest and will return to help celebrate CrimeFest’s sixteen years.

Also attending is the award-winning author Barbara Nadel, author of the much-loved Inspector Cetin Ikmen series, adapted for TV as The Turkish Detective starring Haluk Bilginer, which aired on BBC2 in June 2024. Trained as an actress, Barbara Nadel used to work in mental health services. She now writes full time and has been a visitor to Turkey for over twenty years. The latest in her Cetin Ikmen series, The Wooden Library, is out in May. She also has a new title in her Hakim and Arnold series, The East Ham Golem, out this February.

Adrian Muller, co-host of CrimeFest, said: “Lee Child, alongside American author Jeffery Deaver, has played a very special role in our history. Both were special guests at our very first CrimeFest, they were there for our fifth anniversary, and for our tenth anniversary. Jeffery has prior commitments; however, we’re working on him participating in CrimeFest remotely, and we're thrilled Lee will be there in person to help celebrate our final year.”

The Jack Reacher creator, whose books have been adapted to the big and small screen by Tom Cruise and for Amazon Prime, will attend with his brother and co-writer, Andrew, who has taken over writing the series.

Lee Child said: "Sadly all good things come to an end - and Adrian Muller's Bristol CrimeFest is one of the very best things ever. It is a warm, friendly, relaxed, and inclusive festival, hugely enjoyable for authors and readers alike. Myles, Liz, Donna and Adrian, their team of volunteers - and Dame Mary from Specsavers - have my sincere thanks for many delightful weekends over the years."

Already announced for the long-weekend [15 – 18 May] at Bristol’s Mercure Grand Hotel is the author and CWA chair, Vaseem Khan, who will be Toastmaster at the CrimeFest Awards night. Vaseem is author of the Malabar House historical crime series set in Bombay. Upcoming is his continuation of the James Bond franchise with Quantum of Menace, the first in a series featuring Q.

2025 also welcomes the return of author Cathy Ace, who will close the Gala Dinner event. Cathy's Cait Morgan Mysteries have been optioned for TV by the production company, Free@Last TV, which is behind the hit series, Agatha Raisin.

CrimeFest was created following the hugely successful one-off visit to Bristol in 2006 of the American Left Coast Crime convention, and CrimeFest runs on the US model. The first CrimeFest was organised in June 2008.

Unlike other major crime fiction events in the UK, any commercially published author who signs up can feature on a panel. In this way, CrimeFest has provided many authors with a platform they would not have been offered elsewhere in the UK.

Donna Moore, author and co-host of CrimeFest, said: “We’re proud to be a unique and perhaps the most democratic crime fiction event in the UK. Readers have discovered and met writers they otherwise may never have heard of. All delegates – be they authors, readers, from the book trade, or aspiring writers – come together as equals to celebrate the genre they love. We very much appreciate the talent and ongoing support of much-loved regulars, along with first-time attendees.”

The convention also continues its Community Outreach Programme. 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.

With thanks to Specsavers, librarians, students, and those on benefits are offered significantly discounted tickets.

To find out more, or to book your spot as a delegate, go to:
 https://www.crimefest.com/

‘Dead Man’s Shoes’ by Marion Todd

Published by Canelo London,
9 January 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-80436217-4 (PB)

Dead Man’s Shoes starts with a request for DI Clare Mackay to help capture the Chainlink Choker who has already killed five gay men over a wide area in northern England. Intelligence indicates that the Choker will target Clare’s patch in St Andrews, Scotland over the coming weekend. Clare and her team combine with officers from Dundee to try to trap the killer who is thought to be a painter/decorator. They adopt a two-pronged approach: checking the numbers of all vans crossing the border from England, and surveilling secluded areas around St Andrews where the Choker might take his next victim to kill him.

Sure enough, a man is found dead at the side of a country road.  The dead man is Theo, a member of the Glancy family, some of whom, including his brother Danny, are already known to the police.  When Clare and one of her sergeants visit Theo’s mother, Ruby, they find Val Docherty has got there first. Clare has been trying to bring Val to justice for all manner of crimes for several years, but so far Val has always wriggled out of any charges brought against her. Now it seems that Val is involved in Retro’s, a local club managed by Ruby Glancy with her son Danny running the bar.

Clare is not convinced that Theo was killed by the Choker. Theo had last been seen alive walking away from Retro’s wearing his brother’s jacket.  Had he been killed by mistake instead of Danny, maybe as part of a drugs turf war? The search for the Choker quickly becomes entangled with a complicated investigation involving members of the Glancy family. The pace intensifies when Danny disappears, and another young man is abducted and badly beaten.

Reading Dead Man’s Shoes is like doing a cat’s cradle.  It starts with a couple of simple moves but rapidly develops into an intricate pattern of threads. Fortunately, the interrelated plots are clearly outlined and easy to follow. Clare Mackay is a very humane detective who gets on well with her subordinates.  On the personal side, she is having to reconcile herself to the fact that her beloved father is ageing and will in future need supportg instead of being the constant support he has always provided for her. Neither time nor energy allow for proper discussion of her future with her now live-in partner, DCI Alastair Gibson. This is a pity because he has been offered a new job which will almost certainly impinge on their current lifestyle.  I fear we will have to wait for the next book to discover how this issue gets resolved.  Overall, a very readable story written with good local knowledge and a wide variety of characters who interact well together even when arguing about really important issues like the correct order to add custard, jelly and fruit to a trifle.

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Reviewer: Angela Crowther.

Marion Todd studied music and worked for many years as a piano teacher and jobbing accompanist. A spell as a hotel lounge pianist provided rich fodder for her writing and she began experimenting with a variety of genres. Early success saw her winning first prize in the Family Circle Magazine Short Story for Children national competition and she followed this up by writing short stories and articles for her local newspaper. Marion has also worked as a college lecturer, plantswoman and candle-maker and now is a full-time writer, penning the DI Clare Mackay series of crime fiction novels set in St Andrews. Marion lives now in North East Fife, overlooking the magnificent River Tay. 

Angela Crowther is a retired scientist.  She has published many scientific papers but, as yet, no crime fiction.  In her spare time Angela belongs to a Handbell Ringing group, goes country dancing and enjoys listening to music, particularly the operas of Verdi and Wagner.