CrimeFest: Hard Boiled or Soft Boiled: How Do You Write Your PI's?

   Thursday, 15 May 2025
13:30 - 14.20

The Panel are Lee Child, Christina Koning,
Linda Mather, Fiona Veitch Smith, 
and the participating Moderator is Sherryl Clark.

Lee Child is one of the world’s leading thriller writers. It is said one of his novels featuring his hero Jack Reacher is sold somewhere in the world every nine seconds. His books consistently achieve the number-one slot on bestseller lists around the world and have sold over one hundred million copies. Lee is the recipient of many. He was appointed CBE in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Home - JackReacher.com 

Christina Koning has worked as a journalist, reviewing fiction for The Times, and taught Creative Writing at the University of Oxford and Birkbeck, University of London. From 2013 to 2015, she was Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Newnham College, Cambridge. She won the Encore Prize in 1999 and was longlisted for the Orange Prize in the same year. Murder at Bletchley Park is the eighth novel in the Blind Detective series.

Linda Mather is the author of the Jo and Macy Mysteries: Forecast Murder, A Sign for Murder, Murder as Predicted, The Hanged Man, A Future Murder and Perfect House for Murder, all published by Joffe Books and available on Amazon. Linda has recently landed a contract with Joffe for 3 books in a police thriller series set in the New Forest. She is also writing the next Jo & Macy Mystery. 

Follow her on X @ILindaMather, Instagram @lindamather.writer 

Fiona Veitch Smith writes Golden Age mysteries and historical fiction. Her debut crime novel in the Poppy Denby Investigates series, The Jazz Files (re-released as A Front-Page Murder), was shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger 2016. Her latest book, The Penford Manor Murders, (fourth in the Miss Clara Vale Mysteries) was released in March. Fiona is formerly a journalist and university lecturer and lives in Newcastle upon Tyne with her partner and two border collies. Website: fiona.veitchsmith.com

Fiona Veitch Smith – Author 

Sherryl Clark has three novels in the Judi Westerholme series published by Verve Books: Trust Me, I'm Dead, Dead and Gone and Mad, Bad and Dead. The first of these was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger. Many of her plot ideas start with real crimes, including Melbourne's gangland wars, and grow from there. Her most recent novel, Woman, Missing, is also set in Melbourne and features PI Lou Alcott.

Sherryl Clark - Crime Writer of the Judi Westerholme Series and More Books

Coming Soon: 'The Putney Bridge Killer' by Biba Pearce

Published by Joffe Books
22 May 2025

The 8th book in the Detective Rob Miller series.

DCI Rob Miller is called to a murder scene in the early hours of the morning. A young woman’s body has been discovered under
Putney Bridge.

There are clear signs this was a brutal attack. The crime scene is especially unnerving for DCI Miller. It mirrors the victims of the Surrey Stalker — a sadistic predator Miller took down five years ago.

But the Surrey Stalker is dead.

This killer isn’t just copying the past — They know things only the original murderer could have known. They know police secrets and crime scene details that were withheld from the press.

With the media circling and a mole inside the force leaking information, Miller must untangle a deadly web of deception before the killer strikes again.

But as the body count rises and the noose tightens, one question haunts him:

Did he catch the wrong man all those years ago?

 

Biba Pearce grew up on the wild eastern coast of Southern Africa. She now lives in Surrey, and when she isn’t writing, can be found rambling through the countryside or kayaking on the River Thames. She writes gritty police procedurals and is the author of the bestselling DCI Rob Miller series published by Joffe Books. There are seven books in the series. The most recent being The Marlowe Murders. 

www.bibapearce.com 

Capital Crime: Launch.

 

13-14 June 2025

On 27th March a large crowd gathered to hear 
David Headley
announce the programme for the

Capital Crime conference

For full Details of the Programme click on the link below

Promoting Crime Fiction : CAPITAL CRIME ANNOUNCES FULL PROGRAMME

‘A Fatal Feast at Honeychurch Hall’ by Hannah Dennison

Published by Constable,
10 April 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-4087-2066-0 (PB)

Returning home from a three-week trip to the USA, to attend the United Federation of Dolls Clubs annual convention in Los Angels, Kat Stanford, is pleased to be home in Little Dipperton. She owns that being the keynote speaker has boosted her ego, whereas she would have thought she would have been forgotten by now. Nonsense her mother Iris declared. ‘You’re still famous as the former TV host of Fakes and Treasures.’  

So, what’s been happening, says Kat? Well, I don’t want to alarm you, says Iris, but the dowager countess Edith of Honeychurch Hall is currently unwell.  Being a robust octogenarian this is rather alarming.  Before she can elaborate more a call comes through from ‘Just call me Danny’ the local vicar. Unable to raise his mother Ruby or his wife Caroline he asks Iris to drive over and check she is OK. Flying down the narrow country lanes Iris stops for a birdwatcher, who Iris introduces to her as Crispin Fellowes, and from the silly grin on her face, Kat realises that Crispin is her latest squeeze.

Suddenly they are surrounded by goats, hemmed in, unable to move. Then Lord Rupert Honeychurch, the fifteenth Earl of Grenville arrives complete with dog and whistle and soon order is restored. Eventually they reach Ruby’s current abode, End Cottage, but are unable to get any answer to their knocking. They finally locate Ruby, lying dead in the rose garden in a white nightdress covered in brown stains.

Having made the necessary calls, they eventually reach Kat’s home Jane’s Cottage built in red brick in 1800s. Kat has missed her lovely policeman Mallory and her home. When they arrive, they are immediately ambushed by Delia Evans, head of house at the Hall, who dresses like Mrs Hughes, the housekeeper in Downton Abbey. Delia likes to be the first with news and tells them that Eric Pugsley, is getting married on Saturday. 

For those new to this wonderful series Eric Pugsley, runs the unsightly scrapyard on the Honeychurch Hall estate. He has brought home his Turkish fiancée, Yasmine and her outrageously feisty mother. This came as a shock to me, a long-time reader of this series. Eric Pugsley has huge beetle brows and does more grunting that actually speaking.  Not what I would call a handsome man. However, when Iris goes to inform him that there has been time change for the village Safari Supper tomorrow evening, held in their honour, she sees a different Eric. Sleek perfectly groomed eyebrows, no stubble and clean clothes.  Next to him, his new fiancé is utterly stunning but doesn’t speak much English.

The good news is that Mallory is delighted to see her and says how much he has missed her. So, all good until Kat decides to open the post that has accumulated in her absence. A hand delivered letter states The Earl of Granville has given her three weeks to vacate Jane’s Cottage and both the east and west gatehouses. She is being evicted.

There is clearly something going on and Kat needs to find out what? Then at the Safari Supper at the Hall, one of the villagers goes missing and is later found drowned in the estate's ornamental lake. But things take an even more sinister turn when Eric asks, Kat Stanford, to value the bride-to-be's 19th century Etruscan engagement ring, but to leave the valuation area blank. She also learns that historically it was used to carry poison - hardly an appropriate choice for love, but Eric is adamant it's what his fiancée wants. And eventually Kat learns who Crispin Fellowes actually is.

But most disturbing is that suddenly Mallory is cancelling dates and is strangely unavailable. Is Kat’s new relationship going to crash and burn.

A most compelling read, with many twists and turns. And one I highly recommend.
------
Reviewer: Lizzie Sirett

Hannah Dennison was born and raised in Hampshire, but on leaving school landed a job as an obituary writer/amateur dramatic reviewer for a Devon newspaper. Hannah is the author of the Honeychurch Hall Mysteries and the Vicky Hill Mysteries, both set in Devon, England. She has been an obituary reporter, antique dealer, private jet flight attendant and Hollywood story analyst. Hannah originally moved to Los Angeles from England to pursue screenwriting.  She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, The Crime Writers Association, Mystery People, The Historic Houses Association, the National Trust and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. She enjoys hiking, horseback riding, skiing, theatre and seriously good chocolate. 

www.hannahdennison.com

‘Murder the Tey Way’ by Marilyn Levinson

Independently Published
16 July 2024.
ISBN: 979-832701635-4 (HB)

I was attracted to this book by the title, Josephine Tey being high in my top ten of favourite authors.  

Professor Lexie Driscoll runs a regular mystery book club discussing books from the Golden Age of Mystery. Tonight’s discussion is on The Daughter of Time.

Lexie is currently living in a three-bedroom ranch house in Ryesdale, Long Island, paying a low rent as the house is owned by her boyfriend Allistair West who is currently away. Al is keen to move their relationship to the next level but Lexie is not too sure about this particularly as she is already two husbands down, and is not keen to commit herself to trying a third one, but her forty-ninth birthday is looming, and she needs to make a decision.

Her book club chums are in the main drawn from her neighbours. Next door to her are two sisters Felicity and Corinne Roberts, across the way Mike and his wife Joy, a former FBI agent, Marge and Evan, and Sadie and Tim, who are ‘just good friends’.

An unexpected call from her younger sister Gayle who currently lives in Utah, says she is telephoning from Ohio to ask if she can come and stay. Her words are spilling out in a torrent and there is clearly something wrong. When she arrives, she says she witnessed her boyfriend's murder and fears the killer is coming after her.  And that the person she fears the most is a police officer Shawn Estes who she knows will kill her if he finds her.

When Gayle arrives the book club session is in full flow, and she is even more distraught when she sees so many people and having driven for so long goes opts to go straight to bed. The following morning, she is jittery and frightened and decided to leave immediately.  Which she does.

While Lexie is having some breakfast, she sees a body lying in her back yard. A very dead body.

Lexie decides to do a little sleuthing herself, and discovers that all her book club members have secrets but is one of them a murderer?  Of course the local police, particularly one Detective Brian Donovan are none to keen on Lexie's interreference, but she notes his blue sexy eyes. I have a feeling she is going to keep investigating, which could get her into trouble.

This is a real page turner. Not only a cleverly plotted baffling mystery, but interspersed with discussions on four of Josephine Tey’s books. What treat this is.  Highly recommended.
……
Reviewer: Lizzie Sirett.

Marilyn Levinson is a former Spanish teacher She writes mysteries, romantic suspense, and books for children. Her first book in the Golden Age of Mystery Book Club Mysteries was Murder a La Christie which was selected to be on Book Town's 2014 Mystery List and on King Rivers Life Magazine's Best of 2014. All of Marilyn's mysteries take place on Long Island, where she lives.

‘Death at the Village Chess Club’ by Debbie Young

Published by Boldwood Books,
3 March 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-83518-562-9 (PB)

Alice Carroll has now settled into her new cottage in the picturesque Cotswold village of Little Pride after splitting with her long-time partner Steven. Their split was amicable. Steven wanted to travel to India on a motorbike, living a minimalist life style.  They sold their house and split the proceeds. Unfortunately, Steven’s conveyancing skills were not too good. Nell Little the previous owner of the cottage  who had retired to a care home, had run a Curiosity Shop there for many years, and Alice discovered that she was not allowed to turn the cottage to purely residential. Missed that did you Steven?

However, Alice has made the best of it and come to enjoy running a curiosity shop, buying in goods from the locals and selling them on.

Then Alice receives a call from Steven, who it appears has not quite made it to India but is in France and he has run out of money.  It appears that when in France it would be wrong not to play a bit of roulette!  Oh, dear!  The reason for the call is that Steven wants Alice to go to the storage place where all his belongings are and locate 20 Chess Sets and sell them and send him the money. He doesn’t want much does he?

Despite Alice clearly stating as he knows that she knows nothing about chess, he just says ‘wire me the money as soon as you can’.  So along with her lodger Danny who she used to work with at the museum and not without some difficulty they locate the chess sets.  Some of them are really beautiful and exotic and others quite plain. 

Realising the space they will take up; Alice comes up with the idea of a village chess club to showcase them. And after talking with Nell Little who used to compile the Little Pride Parish News, decides to take that on giving her access to more advertising of the chess sets.  Having reached agreement with the school headmaster world-weary Mr Montgomery Wright to hold a chess afternoon to show them to potential buyers and agreeing to pay him a commission of 10% on the sales, it’s all systems go.

And it goes off really well. And good to see children learning to play chess instead of computer games, until leaving the school grounds, teacher, Jack Dauntless, Alice and Danny find a dead body, and it doesn’t look like natural causes.

Regardless of their successful afternoon, they are all upset. Even more so when they start to sort the remaining chess sets and find pieces missing.  Reeling from these shocks a further one is delivered when Alice’s mother arrives.

So, there we have it, a dead body, missing chess pieces and Alice’s mother.  And Alice’s neighbour Robert who reading between the line’s I suspect Alice may have taken a fancy to. But does Robert have a fancy for her?

Alice muses on why anyone would be interested in stealing random chess pieces, let alone willing to kill for them, but she’s determined to find out. Can she solve the case before someone else gets hurt?

A terrific read with a tantalising mystery, and lots of interesting characters. I so enjoyed this book and look forward to the next one. Soon please. Most highly recommended.
------
Reviewer: Lizzie Sirett

Debbie Young was born and raised in Sidcup, Kent. When she was 14, her family relocated to Germany for her father’s job. Debbie spent four years at Frankfurt International School, broadening her outlook as well as gaining the then brand new IB (International Baccalaureate). She returned to the UK to earn her BA (Hons) in English and Related Literature at the University of York, then lived and worked for a while in London and the West of England as a journalist and PR consultant.  In 1991 she moved to the Cotswolds. In 2002, she married a Scot named Gordon whom she met in Swindon – and not, as village rumour once had it, a Swede named Scottie.  In 2003, her daughter Laura was born.  Best Murder in Show was the first in her series featuring Sophie Sayers. There are now nine books in this series. And four books in the Gemma Lamb series. The most recent series is The Cotswold Curiosity Shop Mysteries. There are two books in this series.

https://authordebbieyoung.com

Coming Soon: 'The Girl in Cell A' by Vaseem Khan

Published by Hodder & Stoughton,

1st May 2025 

Convicted of murder at seventeen, infamous killer and true crime celebrity Orianna Negi has always maintained her innocence.

But if she didn't kill Gideon Wyclerc...

Orianna has a blind spot over that fateful day: she can't remember what happened.

Forensic psychologist Annie Ledet is tasked with unlocking the truth.

....Then who did?

Orianna grew up in Eden Falls, ruled by the insular Wyclerc dynasty and its ruthless patriarch , Amos. As their sessions progress, Annie reaches into Orianna's past to a shattering realisation....
Scandal. Sex. Power. Race. And murder.
Between guilt and innocence lies a fallen Eden.

 Vaseem Khan was born in London in 1973. He studied finance at the London School of Economics. He first saw an elephant lumbering down the middle of the road in 1997 when he arrived in the city of Mumbai, India to work as a management consultant. This surreal sight inspired his Baby Ganesh Agency series of 'gritty cosy crime' novels. His aim with the series is to take readers on a journey to the heart of modern India. He returned to the UK in 2006 and has since worked at University College London for the Department of Security and Crime Science. Elephants are third on his list of passions, first and second being great literature and cricket, not always in that order. His first book The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra was a Times Bestseller and an Amazon Best Debut. The are five books in the series. His most recent series is Malabar House. There are five books in the series. The most recent being City of Destruction published in December 2024.  

http://vaseemkhan.com

Coming Soon: 'Cold Justice' by Leigh Russell

Published by No Exit Press
8 May 2025

Book 23 in the Geraldine Steel series

The stakes have never been higher for Geraldine Steel.

When Alice Lewis is found murdered, the case becomes personal for DI Steel, as Alice was the niece of her childminder, Lisa. Despite Lisa’s earlier pleas for help, Geraldine hadn’t acted in time to save Alice.

Now, driven by guilt and a thirst for justice, Geraldine dives headfirst into the case. But the deeper she digs, the more layers of secrets and lies she uncovers about Alice's life, forcing her to question everything she thought she knew. With an elusive killer watching her every move, Geraldine finds herself caught in a dangerous game of cat and mouse.

Leigh Russell delivers a masterful tale of suspense, keeping readers on edge until the final shocking twist.

 

Leigh Russell has written twenty three books in her Geraldine Steel series. Leigh launched a new cosy series in March 2023 with Barking up the Right Tree. This was followed by Barking Mad in July 2023. There are now four books in the series with a fifth being published in June 2025. Leigh has twice been a Finalist for The People's Book Prize. She is Chair of the CWA Debut Dagger judges, and a Royal Literary Fellow.

 http://leighrussell.co.uk

Coming Soon: 'A Fatal Necessity' by Marjorie Eccles

Published by Severn House,

6 May 2025.

The 6th book in the Herbert Readon series

DI Herbert Reardon investigates the murder of an enigmatic woman who was about to leave her comfortable life behind and mysteriously disappear in this page-turning 1930s historical mystery with gasp-worthy revelations.

1935, Temple Wood, Worcestershire. Judge Waring's glamorous wife Emilie is mysteriously missing and no one knows where she is - until she's found the morning after a party at neighbouring Falconry Park, in a clearing in Temple Woods grounds, strangled yet neatly laid out next to two pieces of matching luggage.

What could possibly have brought Emilie to the site where the family's new home, The Spinney, was about to be built, equipped for travelling? Was she planning to leave with someone she knew? Who was determined that she should meet such a terrible end? As Detective Chief Inspector Herbert 'Bert' Reardon and Sergeant Jago discover more about the enigmatic Emilie, they unravel terrible lies and devastating secrets stretching back years . . .

This compelling historical mystery sharply conveys British society and politics of the interwar period of the 1930s. 

  

Marjorie Eccles was born in Yorkshire and spent much of her childhood there and on the Northumbrian coast. The author of thirty-three books and short stories, she is the recipient of the Agatha Christie Short Story Styles Award. Her earlier books featuring police detective Gil Mayo were adapted for the BBC. Her most recent series is set after the Great War and features DI Herbert Reardon. There are six books in the series. She has also written a number of standalone books. She lives in Hertfordshire.