‘She Wants You Gone’ by Joanna Dodd

Published by Hera Books,
20 March 2025. 
ISBN: 978-1-80436845-9 (PB)

In her second novel, Joanna Dodd simultaneously paints a convincing portrait of a modern-day, middle-class, comfortable British family while hinting at the horror that can linger behind the charming façade of a well-maintained, expensive family home.

The novel is related primarily through the perspective of young Beth Montgomery, a woman fond of baking who, through social media such as Instagram, has managed to turn her hobby into a profitable business enterprise. She posts recipes and videos of her bakes online. Beth is beginning a new life, moving from London to Fortune’s Yard, a tiny ancient hamlet in Suffolk, with her new husband Noah, a photographer, and his daughter from a previous marriage, thirteen-year-old Dolly. They are to occupy a large comfortable house owned by Noah’s parents, who have recently moved to America, and Beth is pleased by the luxurious spaciousness of her new home.

It all sounds idyllic, but it so quickly goes all wrong, and almost from the moment they arrive at Fortune’s Yard. Beth is dismayed by the remoteness and tininess of the hamlet, which consists of only two other households clustered around a millpond. A pub in the vicinity is a derelict wreck. Beth senses a disturbing atmosphere in the place, however picturesque. She’s alarmed by scarecrows in the garden, the discovery of voodoo dolls, conversations about the power of evil, and Dolly’s fondness for a nearby clearing in the woods called Hannah’s Grove, sacred to the memory of Hannah Fortune, put to death there in the late seventeenth century, accused of witchcraft. Beth’s attempts to befriend her stepdaughter are abruptly rebuffed. She’s given conflicting reports about the circumstances surrounding the death of Noah’s first wife. The neighbours are less than friendly, apparently harbouring unpleasant secrets. Beth feels isolated and increasingly frightened.

Dodd keeps her readers thoroughly engaged with a rollicking rollercoaster of a plot replete with twists and turns, thrills and spills. Her plotting is immaculate and her prose deft and engaging. She Wants You Gone is invested with a sense of unease. We are constantly reminded that stranger danger is nothing compared to the potential threat posed by those we consider our nearest and dearest. Highly recommended.    
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Reviewer: Wendy Jones Nakanishi/aka Lea O’Harra

Joanna Dodd is fascinated by toxic friendship and family groups and the long shadows cast by old secrets. She lives in London and enjoys acting in plays, running very slowly, and spending time with her (lovely and not at all toxic) family and friends. She’s wanted to be a crime writer since she became addicted to Murder She Wrote as a teenager (although her real-life sleuthing skills are probably not quite as honed as Jessica Fletcher’s). When she’s not writing crime fiction, she also loves reading it!  

Lea O’Harra.  An American by birth, did her postgraduate work in Britain – an MA in Lancaster and a doctorate at Edinburgh – and worked full-time for 36 years at a Japanese university. Since retiring in March 2020, she has spent part of each year in Lancaster and part in Takamatsu on Shikoku Island, her second home, with occasional visits to the States to see family and friends. An avid reader of crime fiction since childhood, as a university professor she wrote academic articles on it as a literary genre and then decided to try her hand at composing such stories herself, publishing the so-called ‘Inspector Inoue mystery series’ comprising three murder mysteries set in rural, contemporary Japan. She has also published two standalone crime fiction novels.

‘The Wedding Party’ by Rebecca Heath

Published by Head of Zeus,
30 January 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-035913121-1 (PB)

The Wedding Party begins with a short, dry newspaper account of the search for an unnamed wedding guest who has disappeared from the deck of a luxury yacht, presumed to have fallen overboard and drowned. Was it suicide or was he pushed? With this single flourish, Heath draws in her readers from the first sentence, grabs us by the scruff of our necks, and doesn’t relinquish her grip until we reach the novel’s end, with its curious but gripping twist.

Set on the south Australian coast, the novel focuses on the wedding of Adele and Jason, friends since childhood. The ceremony, scheduled for January 2025, will be witnessed by friends and family at ‘Refuge Bay,’ a magically beautiful oceanside site in the vicinity of Adelaide where most of them once spent happy summers in simple holiday shacks, an idyll irrevocably spoilt twelve years earlier when a boy called Ollie died after a jump from a jetty. It’s another problematic death. Ollie’s doting mother is convinced it was murder and is determined to wreak revenge while other characters describe it (but perhaps self-servingly) as an accident. Complicating the situation is the fact Ollie and Adele once had been a couple.

The story is told from the perspective of half a dozen people and frequently switches from the present – the week before and counting down until the wedding – to twelve years earlier, when we are provided the context of how and why Ollie died. Heath keeps up the suspense, springing one unexpected revelation after another accompanied by suitably dramatic, emotional responses from her cast. The characters are mostly unlikeable, but it doesn’t matter. They each possess secrets and tell lies to conceal them. We root for some of these vividly drawn individuals and feel repelled by others.  The Wedding Party is the proverbial page-turner, and we can’t help compulsively reading it to discover the answers to questions posed on nearly every page. 

It is somehow satisfying while predictable that the wedding itself is a string of disasters. We are rewarded by a denouement that, if not completely believable, is enjoyably thrilling. Rebecca Heath has reconfigured the traditional murder mystery as soap opera in The Wedding Party. Recommended as a fun beach read.
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Reviewed by Wendy Jones Nakanishi/aka Lea O’Harra

Rebecca Heath studied science at university, worked in hospitality and teaching, but she always carved out time to write. She lives in Adelaide, Australia, halfway between the city and the sea with her husband, three children and a much-loved border collie. She spent her childhood summers at a remote beach not unlike where the novel is set. This is her debut adult novel. 

Lea O’Harra.  An American by birth, did her postgraduate work in Britain – an MA in Lancaster and a doctorate at Edinburgh – and worked full-time for 36 years at a Japanese university. Since retiring in March 2020, she has spent part of each year in Lancaster and part in Takamatsu on Shikoku Island, her second home, with occasional visits to the States to see family and friends. An avid reader of crime fiction since childhood, as a university professor she wrote academic articles on it as a literary genre and then decided to try her hand at composing such stories herself, publishing the so-called ‘Inspector Inoue mystery series’ comprising three murder mysteries set in rural, contemporary Japan. She has also published two standalone crime fiction novels.

‘A Spy At War’ by Charles Beaumont

Published by Canelo,
27 March 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-80436480-2 (PB)

I’ve always enjoyed a well-written contemporary spy novel as they so often give an interesting perspective on modern politics as well as plausibly raising the stakes for protagonists. I used to love Evelyn Anthony’s novels when I was a girl; now I enjoy the wonderful Mick Herron. With Charles Beaumont, I’ve discovered a new spymaster, as it were, whose work is characterised by realism and a strong sense of authenticity; if the cover didn’t sub-title the author ‘Former MI6 Operative’, the reader would soon guess.

There’s something especially engrossing about a novel that deals with a war that’s still very much in the news; Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent conflict. Our protagonist, Simon Sharman, a former British Intelligence officer has, we learn, vanished from the UK and is alone in Kyiv. Whether he’s still a spy after the debacle hinted at as taking place in the previous novel in the series, we’re not sure, and nor is he, but we soon find out. I loved the way the novel was constructed so we discover sufficient information about earlier goings-on but in a way that felt natural. There were illuminating flashbacks, but mainly characters in the now discussing and referring to earlier events back in London. We meet some fantastic, strong females at the Foreign Office; Kemi Williams, Sarah du Cane and Olivia Mitchell, who run rings around the extremely dislikeable Kamran Patel. Who might be a Russian spy.

The action starts to heat up in Kyiv as we learn Simon is on a private vengeance mission, and the current needs of the British government seem to be coinciding with his aims. Simon is persuaded by force of nature Sarah to sign up for a mission beyond the front line, into Russian-held territory, and the thrills really begin.

I enjoyed the thoughtful yet accessible style of the novel. Beaumont has already drawn positive comparison with Charles Cummings and especially John le Carre with his intricate portrayals of personalities and politics, and it’s easy to see why. I liked the depth of the novel and took pleasure in the insider knowledge, its various layers and of course the twists and revelations. Eminently readable, A Spy at War is a contemporary spy novel to savour.
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Reviewer: Dea Parkin

Charles Beaumont worked undercover as an MI6 operative in war zones, on diplomatic missions and in international business. His work spanned two decades and four continents. A Spy At War is his second novel. 

Dea Parkin is an editor with her consultancy Fiction Feedback and is also Coordinator of the Crime Writers’ Association. She writes poetry and occasionally re-engages with The Novel. When she isn't engaged in literary pursuits, she is usually to be found on the tennis court – or following the international tour on TV. Usually with several books on the go, she entertains a penchant for crime fiction, history, and novels with a mystical edge. She is engaged in a continual struggle to find more space for bookshelves and more time to have fun with her friends.

‘The Mystery at Orchard House’ by Joan Coggin

Published by Galileo Publishers,
6 May 2025. ISBN: 978-1-91553092-9 (PB)
Originally Published in 1946.

The second novel in Coggin’s ‘Lady Lupin Quartet’, The Mystery at Orchard House takes place in a Kent country hotel on the eve of World War II. Lady Lupin Hastings, young, attractive, chaotic, dim and the wife of a clergyman as well as being the daughter of an earl, is staying at the establishment, run by her friend Diana Turner, for a rest cure after a bout of flu. As soon as Lady Lupin arrives there is a series of petty thefts and later a possible attempted murder. She finds herself in the midst of the investigation.

The other residents at the hotel form a singular group. Amongst others there is a writer of racy novels, the manuscript of whose current work goes missing and whose erratic driving is responsible for injuries to a small child; a teacher who wants to be an engineer and whose weak chin comes up for comment; an artist who trained as an engineer; a selfish valetudinarian who keeps her daughter emotionally downtrodden; and a married couple who appear to be incompatible and whose individual ponderings on their situations at one point seem to take up a disproportionate part of the story. Some period colour comes in the form of the local garage owner, father of the injured child, an avowed socialist but one who reconciles himself to Lady Lupin’s aristocratic forebears.

The drawing of these characters does sufficient to balance, in the mind of this reader at least, the rather irritating Lady Lupin. Much of the narrative centres on her scatterbrained nature, and her constant babblings about who she thinks is responsible for the thefts and who is likely - or ought - to marry who become more than a little wearisome, as does her ability to get the wrong end of the stick and thereby confuse other people. Her mind, such as it is, rarely settles. As one character observes: ‘She is a lovely little fool and would fulfil a useful place in the world if she would be content to look beautiful and to talk agreeable nonsense, but she must run about trying to do things. She doesn’t do them well and she upsets the general balance.’

Towards the end of the story there is a small conflagration at the hotel, and it transpires that there were two calls to the fire brigade. There is also the discovery of an artist’s retreat in the grounds. The police become involved, as do a private investigator and an employee of an insurance company. The denouement is convincing if not a great surprise. The Mystery at Orchard House is a period piece which can be enjoyed for what it is, as long as you can cope with Lady Lupin.
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Reviewer: David Whittle

Joan Coggin (1898 - 1980) aka Joanna Lloyd, was born in 1898 in Lemsford, Hertfordshire, the daughter of the Rev. Frederick Ernest Coggin. Her mother, who was the daughter of Edward Lloyd, founder of Lloyd's Weekly London Newspaper, died when she was eight, and the family moved to Eastbourne, where Coggin lived until her own death in 1980. She was educated, together with her sister Enid, at Wycombe Abbey, a setting she would later use for her girls' school stories, written under the pseudonym Joanna Lloyd. Leaving Wymcombe in 1916, Coggin became involved in the war effort, working as a nurse at Eastbourne. After the war she worked with the blind, and returned to her schoolgirl interest in Guiding. She suffered from a mild form of epilepsy, but aside from the inability to drive, it did not greatly impact her life. Her first novel, And Why Not Knowing, was published in 1929, and was followed by a series of mysteries featuring the amusingly inadvertent detective, Lady Lupin Lorrimer.  

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 Woman Who Laughed’ by Simon Mason

Published by Riverrun London,
5 June 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-52943- 972-4 (PB)

If, like me, you first encountered Simon Mason’s work through his quirky DI Ryan Wilkins series, this one may prove something of a surprise. The Finder Mysteries, of which this is the third, are quite different. The protagonist, an uprooted lone wolf Iraqi named Talib, is far more shadowy than the in-your-face Wilkins; we learn only a few shreds about his background, enough to explain why he is alone but very little more. He makes very little attempt to impress his personality on the people he meets; part of his technique is to allow them to fill the space he leaves.

A Finder, it appears, is an individual with keen instincts and a talent for listening and piecing together a puzzle, called in by a police force when their investigation has stalled but they are keen to solve the mystery. In Talib’s case, he arrives, finds the solution, takes his fee and departs, leaving behind nothing but a vague impression, and perhaps a book under the bed.

This time, Ella Bailey, a young female sex worker, was believed murdered several years ago, but her body was never found. Now she has been seen, alive and well, by a witness who is not a hundred per cent reliable; and her distinctive handbag, which disappeared along with her body, has also turned up, hanging on the door handle of a café she used to frequent.

Talib works methodically and painstakingly. He retraces Ella’s footsteps, and interviews everyone he can think of who had knowledge of or an interest in her. He begins with her foster parents; her mother is tense and nervous, and her father is still angry, and cannot understand why a bright young woman who was a dedicated and promising athlete gave up a brilliant future to become a sex worker.

He moves on to various men in Ella’s life. Her pimp and boyfriend Caine is suspicious and combative. Dean Burton, the main witness to her supposed murder, is garrulous and keen to tell all he knows. Talib also talks to Flynn, the affable but erratic vagrant who claims to have seen Ella a few days ago, and looks for Platt, her drug dealer. As he visits various places aiming to build a rounded picture of Ella, he also encounters her chaotic friend Loz, who is clearly hiding something, and learns about a mysterious man who carries a red kitbag.

All these characters, and some peripheral ones including DS Nunkoo, his police contact, and Puck, his eccentric neighbour at the Airbnb he stays at, emerge as real people, even though Talib himself remains less distinct. The story takes place in Sheffield, which is largely rendered in terms of place names, but certain locations stand out: the impersonal Airbnb apartment; middle-class Eccleshall and leafy Whirlowdale, where Ella spent her childhood and went to school; a creepy house in run-down Jordanthorpe where Talib encounters trouble; the malodorous alley where Ella was presumed murdered.

The concept of the Finder is an interesting addition to the wide range of crime fiction protagonists. Perhaps as the series develops, Talib will become less of a mystery man. But perhaps not. Either way, I look forward to finding out. Simon Mason is clearly an author with tricks up his sleeve.
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Reviewer Lynne Patrick

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 was his first story starring Garvie Smith. Simon lives in Oxford with his wife and their two children.  

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. 

 

‘An Enemy in the Village’ by Martin Walker

Published by Quercus,
5 June 20245.
ISBN: 978-1-52942-833-9 (HB)

The glorious landscape of the Dordogne; descriptions of sumptuous meals; characters who leap off the page; a village policeman who’s as happy teaching kids to play rugby as tracking down the bad guys, and equally proficient at both. What’s not to love? Martin Walker’s Dordogne Mysteries have all this and a lot more besides. Chief of Police Bruno Courrèges is one of the most likeable protagonists in modern crime fiction; every French village should have one.

Bruno’s creator, an eminent journalist with an encyclopaedic knowledge of world affairs, has placed him in some complex situations; in recent books in the series, he has dealt with Russian spies, Arab terrorists and cryptocurrency fraud. But Bruno remains rooted in his beloved St Denis, where his everyday life includes helping the children across the road to school, patrolling the market, and donning his Père Noel costume at the annual retirement home party. And in this outing, it’s in those very roots that the danger lurks. His popularity and reputation in St Denis are at risk when more than one adversary thinks there is reason to badmouth him.

When the rumours first begin to circulate, he is already investigating a suspicious death, though there is considerable doubt whether it is suspicious. The body of Monique Duhamel, a successful businesswoman, has been found in an abandoned car; she has apparently committed suicide. But when Bruno talks to her friends and a mystery deepens regarding her will, his suspicions are raised, and he is soon in danger of making an enemy of the woman’s husband.

Meanwhile, he has crossed swords with Xavier, the philandering deputy mayor, and also with a new member of the local gendarmes, who seems to think an uncle in high places is sufficient excuse for all kinds of bad behaviour. 

The usual non-suspects are all on Bruno’s side, of course: the deceptively genial Mayor, whose keen political brain has proved an asset to Bruno on more than one occasion; Scottish Pamela, owner of the local stables and his on-off lover, who even gives her blessing when his eyes start to stray elsewhere; Colette Cartagnan, his formidable admin assistant who isn’t dubbed Dragon of the Mairie for nothing; Fabiola the keen-eyed doctor; J-J the chief of detectives for the region; and not forgetting Balzac, his faithful basset hound, who kindles a little romance of his own. Equally supportive are experienced lawyer Becca Weil and Laura Segret, the dead woman’s business partner, both of whom were her close friends. 

Will Bruno’s spidery-sense about Monique prove justified? Can his reputation remain unsullied? Will he successfully circumnavigate all the hurdles placed in his path? All I’m saying is this: it would appear that village politics in rural France can be as complicated, and as mischievous, as the wider-ranging kind. Read the book to find out how – or even if – everything is resolved, and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
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Reviewer: Lynne Patrick

Martin Walker was educated at Balliol College, Oxford and Harvard. In twenty-five years with the Guardian, he served as Bureau Chief in Moscow and, in the US, as European Editor. In addition to his prize-winning journalism, he wrote and presented the BBC series Martin Walker’s Russia and Clintonomics.  Martin has written several acclaimed works of non-fiction, including The Cold War: A History. He lives in Washington and spends his summers in his house in the Dordogne. Many of his novels feature the old-school chief of police, Captain Bruno. The most recent being The Coldest Case. You can visit Bruno’s website at 

brunochiefofpolice.com  

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.

‘The Sulphur Springs Cure’ by Jeffrey Round

Published by Cormorant Books,
16 June 2024.
ISBN: 978-1-77086-728-4

Violet Adams awakes feeling confused and muddled, the edges of a dream now beginning to recede.  She steadies herself; she is in her bedroom in her home on the outskirts of British Columbia. The year is 2009. Only a few minutes earlier she had been at the Sulphur Springs Hotel in 1939. She has had this dream three times this week. In the dream she is a teenager lifting a stone from a crevice in a wall. How long will the memories of that time continue to haunt her.

With the arrival of her niece Claire the youngest of her five nieces and nephews the dream fades. Claire is the only one to offer up her time to assist Violet in her decision to sell her home and move into senior accommodation. As Violet’s mind now wanders back to the years, she is brought back to the present when Claire refers to a portrait of Violet’s mother and asks when it was taken?  ‘At a spa before the war’ says Violet, at The Sulphur Springs Hotel in Ontario.  But it no longer exists. It was lovely place’. Violet is shaking. ‘I think I killed someone there’.

As Claire sits there Violet tells her account of her stay at the Sulphur Springs Hotel, which was prompted by her mother’s misdiagnosis of a sprained ankle, and the recommendation to take the waters at the Sulphur Springs Hotel. Violet relates to Claire her unexpected friendship with Julia the daughter of the hotel owner, Enid. and the many people she met during her long stay there.  In particular, Ned the gardener for whom, at 14 years old Violet had what in those day was known as a ‘crush’.

And so, at 84 years old Violet accompanied by Claire decides to travel back to the hotel, now in ruins, to make peace with her ghosts.

A nostalgic and fascinating mystery, as Violet seeks to uncover a mystery that has never been solved. Can she achieve this 70 years after the event?
Highly recommended.
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Reviewer: Lizzie Sirett

Jeffrey Round is an award-winning writer, director and playwright. His first novel, A Cage of Bones, was published in 1997 by the Gay Men's Press (UK). It garnered acclaim and topped bestseller lists in Canada, the US, Iceland.

 

 

‘The Putney Bridge Killer’ by Biba Pearce

Published by Joffe Books,
16 May 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-80573-107-8 (PB)

When the body of a young woman is discovered on the wharf under Putney Bridge, the first officer belonging to the MIT (Major Investigation Team) is PC Trent, a junior officer who was spotted as having potential by DCI Rob Miller, the head of the MIT team. Trent is eager to prove himself and earn a permanent place on the team, but he is horrified to realise that the tide is coming in and the first crime scene he is in sole charge of may be underwater before any of his more experienced colleagues arrive. However, Trent rises to the occasion and preserves the integrity of the crime scene evidence in a way that wins the approval of Rob Miller, as well as providing for numerous photographs.

There was no identity found on the victim, but pictures of the way her body was laid out startle Rob and the more established members of his team, because it bears a strong resemblance to a previous case. The end of the earlier case had been very traumatic for Rob and had significantly personal connotations. As soon as the victim is identified, the link with the earlier case becomes even more alarming, and brings more tragedy to the victim’s fiancée and her a family, after they have already been subjected to almost unbearable grief. Rob knows better than anybody that the serial killer, known as the Surrey Strangler, is dead, killed as he attempted to commit another murder. Now it seems a copycat killer is mimicking the Surrey Strangler’s crimes, and this copycat seems to know far too much about the original murders, including things the police had kept back from the media and the public. As the murders mount up, the links to the original Surrey Strangler increase, and Rob struggles to retain his conviction that he was correct in his original identification of the serial killer. Tensions in the team are running high, especially when they realise there must be an informer in the police force leaking information to the press, however Rob’s fiancée, Jo, and his MIT team remain stalwart in their trust and support for him. His superior officer, Superintendent Felicity Mayhew, also has his back, even though their relationship has always been strained. They are both aware that if there is just one more scandal surrounding Rob and his team, it will destroy both his career and Mayhew’s. The violence grows more intense, and the killer grows even more ruthless. As Rob and his officers fight desperately to identify and capture him, it becomes evident that both Rob and Jo are in imminent and acute danger of becoming the murderer’s next victims.

The Putney Bridge Killer is the eighth book in the series featuring Rob Miller and his MIT team, but it works beautifully as a stand-alone, because of the skill with which the author introduces the central characters and backstory, weaving them seamlessly into the narrative. This is a superb book, with an interesting, fast-paced, tense plot. All the characters are fully rounded personalities, which are engaging and believable, and the dynamics within the MIT team work well. The Putney Bridge Killer is a compelling read, which I wholeheartedly recommend.
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Reviewer: Carol Westron

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. Her latest release, The Marlow Murders, was published in October 2023.  Look out for The Frost Killer, published 9 January 2024.

 her mid-forties.  She completed a M.A. in Special and Inclusive Education at the Institute of Education, London and now teaches part-time and writes mainly about educational issues.  Dot sings jazz and country music and plays guitar, banjo and piano as well as being addicted to reading mystery and crime fiction.   

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 

Lee Child to Headline Inaugural Whitby Literature Festival

Lee Child, the author behind the global phenomenon,

Jack Reacher, headlines the inaugural Whitby Lit Fest.

Child’s books have been translated in multiple languages, had two Hollywood adaptations starring Tom Cruise, and a hit Amazon Prime series featuring Alan Ritchson, with millions of copies sold worldwide. 

The blockbuster author will be in conversation
with the TV personality, Rob Rinder.

Lee will be discussing the new Reacher book – 
Exit Strategy - co-written with his brother, Andrew Child.
The 30th title in the Jack Reacher series
is published on 4 November.

 Child will also discuss his first ever autobiographical collection, 
The Stories Behind the Stories, 
which is published this September.

 Rinder is a Sunday Times No.1 bestselling author, with a series of novels inspired by his experiences as a barrister: The Trial, The Suspect and The Protest.

Over 40 authors are expected to descend on the coastal town for the inaugural festival, which runs
from Thursday 6 to Sunday 9 November.

Alongside bestselling authors, Whitby Lit Fest will champion writers, past and present, who have been inspired by Whitby, and celebrate the coast’s literary heritage.

Whitby is home to one of the world’s most enduring literary legacies: Dracula.

The name Dracula and some of the novel’s most dramatic scenes were inspired by Bram Stoker’s holiday in Whitby in 1890.

The picturesque harbour, abbey ruins, windswept churchyard, and the salty tales he heard from Whitby seafarers all became ingredients in the novel.

Festival Patron, Kate Fenton - the author and former BBC Radio 4 producer - said: “Whitby is a book lover’s playground. I’ve been known to march protesting family members up the 199 steps at midnight to sit, as Bram Stoker’s silly Lucy does, on a lonely bench in the gale-blasted churchyard, daring a bat to sweep down.

“Strolling along West Cliff, I like to imagine I might bump into Jackson Brodie because I’ve noticed brilliant
Kate Atkinson is fond of sending her detective to our town – and I kid myself I’m personally acquainted with the characters in Ben Myers’ The Offing, set just down the coast in Robin Hood’s Bay. I could go on. The place’s clearly an enduring inspiration for writers, and it’s marvellous so many will be gathering here in November, along with us inky-fingered bookworms, young and old. I can hardly wait.”

The anniversary of Bram Stoker’s birthday is on November 8, and the festival has plans to mark the occasion, alongside its links to another literary legend:
 Charles Dickens, who stayed at the White Horse
and Griffin whilst visiting Whitby.

Lois Kirtlan, Committee Chair of the Whitby Lit Fest, said:
“We’re thrilled to welcome a literary giant, like Lee Child,
to launch a landmark event for readers and writers alike.”

A major theme of the first festival will celebrate Whitby’s dramatic coastline and landscapes, with authors focussing on nature, travel, and the outdoors, as well as a wider look at wellbeing.

Lois said: “The landscape, sea, and dramatic skies offer the perfect setting to discuss the big questions books throw up about life. It’s a chance for readers to go on a literary adventure, to discover new authors alongside established and acclaimed writers, with the remarkable backdrop of Whitby in November, with its quieter coastal paths and dramatic sunsets. Throw in our famous fish and chips, and we think it’s every bookworm’s paradise.”

Other themes include crime fiction, gothic horror, and working-class writing.

The festival will also feature a poetry strand to celebrate established and emerging local poets. A bespoke children’s strand is centred on a writing competition for local schoolchildren delivered in partnership with the National Literacy Trust, to ignite a love of writing and reading in young audiences.

The full programme and ticket sales
will be announced later in the year.

The event is an initiative by the Whitby community, with a steering committee of local businesses The Whitby Bookshop and Hetty & Betty, alongside North Yorkshire Council Libraries, Visit North Yorkshire, and English Heritage, who look after Whitby Abbey, with support from Cause UK Public Relations and Hello Technology.

Lois added: “This is a festival rooted in place and community. We want to create something that’s not only world-class in literary programming, but also deeply connected to the people and stories of Whitby. It’s about celebrating creativity and heritage, and bringing people together through the joy of books.”

Whitby Lit Fest is being established as a charity. Ticket prices will be affordable and accessible. The committee welcomes sponsorship and volunteer support. If interested, and to receive other festival updates please contact the festival team via the

website: www.whitbylitfest.org.uk 

‘A Deceit Of Lapwings’ by Steve Burrows

Published by Point Blank,
26 June 2025.
ISBN: 978-0-86154-179-9 (PBO)

Detective Chief Inspector Domenic Jejeune’s heart sinks when he walks into his superior Detective Chief Superintendent Colleen Shepherd’s office to hear her say she is off for four weeks leave. That wouldn’t be so bad, but her temporary replacement is Detective Chief Superintendent Marvin Laraby. They have history and never got on well together.

The next day a man’s body is found snagged on a half-submerged tree trunk in the river. Strangely it seems the corpse has been deliberately placed there. He is identified as Sampson Lee a mathematician, designing new software for avian research programmes.

On inspection of his house, it is obvious he was actually killed there. Why did the murderer remove the body and place it in the river? Then to everyone’s surprise evidence is found that Lee was also hit on the back of the head by a concrete block at a completely different site, causing massive injuries – why kill him twice?

Further investigations lead Jejeune and his team to discover that parts of the Norfolk coast are rich in “blue carbon ecosystems” which remove huge amounts of greenhouse gases. Many of the valuable sites are on private land. Needless to say, the government wants them – at any cost. Did Lee find something out about this and get silenced?

Enquiries next reveal a connection between Lee and a well-known villain and land owner. Then there is another murder. Never has Jejeune had such a baffling case, seemingly thwarted at every turn, especially by MI5. Matters are also not helped by the continued friction between himself and Laraby. To add to Jejeune’s problems, his partner Lindy’s former boyfriend makes an appearance. Is it all as innocent as she would have him believe?

As strange as it may seem, its Jejeune’s love of birds and their behaviour that helps lead him to the unmasking of the perpetrators.

Another great “Birder Murder” from Steve Burrows. I really do enjoy his books. Thoroughly recommended.
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Reviewer:  Tricia Chappell

Steve Burrows has pursued his birdwatching hobby on five continents. He is a former editor of the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society Magazine and a contributing field editor for Asian Geographic. He was winner of BBC Wildlife magazine’s ‘Nature Writer of the Year’. Author of the Birder Murder series set in Britain’s prime birding county of Norfolk and featuring Canadian DCI Dominic Jejeune. Steve now lives with his wife in Oshawa, Ontario.  

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.

 

 

CrimeFest 2025: Report by Jared Cade

The seventeenth CrimeFest conference, opened on the 15 May 2025. 
At the Grand Mercure Hotel in Bristol.

The conference was spread over 4 days and there were 60 panels
included several interviews.

 For those of you who were unable to attend this year, several 
Mystery People members have contributed short write-ups on one or two of the events and panels that they particularly enjoyed.

Jared Cade writes...

"Just back from CrimeFest in Bristol. The weather was so nice I was tempted on the outward bound journey to get off at Bath Spa where scenes from the 1979 movie Agatha were shot, starring Vanessa Redgrave and Dustin Hoffman. The festival took place at the Bristol Grand Mecure Hotel - scene of many a CrimeFest conferences over the years. It was great to catch up with old friends and make some new ones as well as attend some terrific panels.

The Ghost of Honour was John Le Carre.

Among the panellists were Agatha Christie's publisher David Brawn of HarperCollins (who confided he had found my recently published book Secrets From The Agatha Christie Archives very useful for referencing facts which was very flattering), Lee and Andrew Child of Reacher fame, Tom Harper, Felix Francis (son of Dick, who amused everyone by wearing a yellow tie emblazed with the words: Police Line Do Not Cross), Lindsay Davis (who once got stuck in a deep bath and survived to tell the story), Tom Mead (who is riding a wave of popularity with his locked room mysteries), Victoria Dowd, author of the brilliant Smart Woman Mysteries, and Free at Last TV's Barry Ryan who produces Agatha Raisin for TV. Donna Moore, Zoe Sharp, Louise Mangos and Antony Johnston were among the terrific moderators.

A great festival was capped off for me by having the delightful Barbara Nadel as my travelling companion on the way home. Her Inspector Ikmen novels are terrific reads and have been turned into a television series.

Adrian Muller and Donna Moore and their team have done a great job of organising CrimeFest for the last 16 years and it was supposed to be the last as they are stepping down - however, a last minute reprieve during the
Gala dinner appears to be in the offering with Barry Ryan of Free at Last TV expressing an interest in keeping the festival going. Fingers crossed. Watch this space.

Jared Cade’s most recent book is The Elusive Dietrich.
Click on the title to read the review.