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cathygeha · 4 years

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HARROGATE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS REVEALS FIRST TASTE OF WORLD-CLASS LINE-UP FOR VIRTUAL ARTS WEEKENDER CELEBRATING THE BEST IN BOOKS, MUSIC, SCIENCE & MORE – ‘HIF WEEKENDER’: 23 – 26 JULY 2020

harrogateinternationalfestivals.com | #HIF2020 | #HIFAtHome

PREMIERE OF NEW BRASS COMMISSION ECLIPSE by DAVID LANCASTER featuring soloist MIKE LOVATT

INTERVIEWS with JOHN SUCHET | STELLA DUFFY | ANTHONY HOROWITZ | BEN PALMER

ADAM RUTHERFORD | LEWIS DARTNELL | CLAUDIA HAMMOND

PERFORMANCES from STEVEN ISSERLIS | TASMIN LITTLE | MAHAN ESFAHANI

NAVARRA STRING QUARTET | MISHA MULLOV-ABBADO GROUP

GEORGE HARLIONO | SILAS BASSA | ABIGAIL HAMMETT & IWAN OWEN | RACHAEL GREEN

SEAN PAYNE | NOAH STONEMAN | GRANNY’S ATTIC

GRAEME PARK DJ SET

THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER VIRTUAL CRIME WRITING FESTIVAL

LEE CHILD | JOSEPH FINDER | MARK BILLINGHAM | VAL MCDERMID interviewed by MARK LAWSON

VAL MCDERMID’S NEW BLOOD ft DEEPA ANAPPARA | JESSICA MOOR | TREVOR WOOD | ELIZABETH KAY

STEVE CAVANAGH & LUCA VESTE present TWO CRIME WRITERS & A MICROPHONE

HEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR: WINNER CEREMONY

Harrogate, Thursday 2 July 2020: Harrogate International Festivals is thrilled to announce first names for its new, free virtual festival bringing world-class culture to everyone at home, the HIF Weekender.

From 23 to 26 July, the HIF Weekender will present a celebration of the arts, featuring performances and interviews with internationally acclaimed musicians, best-selling authors and innovative thinkers to coincide with what would have been the legendary long weekend of Harrogate’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.

The HIF Weekender begins with a bang, crowning the winner of the UK’s most prestigious crime fiction prize – Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year – in a virtual ceremony recognising the best of the best. The celebrations continue with crime writing royalty Ian Rankin, who was set to be the 2020 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Programming Chair, interviewed by N. J. Cooper about Rebus, writing and Rankin’s ‘lost’ festival year. Lee Child will reflect on his extraordinary career with fellow author Joseph Finder, and Mark Billingham on the 20th anniversary of his iconic detective Tom Thorne and debut novel Sleepy Head. Steve Mosby will be joined by AA Dhand, Emma Kavanagh and Amanda Jennings to explore what it means to be a crime writer in the age of pandemic and why the genre has dominated reading lockdown reading habits, and Steve Cavanagh and Luca Veste are set to present a virtual version of their popular podcast Two Crime Writers & A Microphone for the weekend.

Queen of crime Val McDermid will be joined by journalist and broadcaster Mark Lawson to unpack the heritage and impact of her infamous New Blood panel, discussing the vital role this showcase has played in shaping bookshelves and literary careers, how trends have changed over the past 17 years, as well as giving a peek behind the scenes into has she selects her chosen four… all before welcoming this year’s formidable debut talent to share the virtual stage: Deepa Anappara, Elizabeth Kay, Jessica Moor and Trevor Wood.

For centuries music has provided refuge in times of crisis and Harrogate International Festivals has taken the bold step of commissioning a new work to premiere during the HIF Weekender, in a statement demonstrating the Festival’s commitment to supporting the arts scene and the artistic community at this precarious time.

Highly respected, Yorkshire based composer David Lancaster was commissioned by the Festival following the cancellation of the Summer Season. Inspired by the pandemic, Lancaster’s piece for brass band Eclipse was scored in just five days and represents the darkness and danger facing the arts at this time, with an invitation to remain hopeful until the light returns. The Festival has brought together musicians from around the world – from young players starting out on their journey to professionals at very top of their careers – to come together digitally as a community on the hallowed Harrogate stage for a collaborative world premiere led by acclaimed virtuoso trumpeter Mike Lovatt.

Jazz maestro Mischa Mullov-Abbado – who has also been commissioned by the Festival for new work premiering this autumn – is welcomed as a Guest Curator for the festival weekend, as well as performing with the Mischa Mullov-Abbado Group. Reflecting the Festival’s dedication to championing new talent, Mullov-Abbado has handpicked some of the most exciting contemporary young musicians to join the line-up: rising stars and former finalists from the BBC Young Jazz Musician of The Year, Sean Payne and Noah Stoneman.

There will be a host of further classical performances from world renowned musicians including distinguished British cellist Steven Isserlis, the Navarra String Quartet, multi-award-winning concerto violinist Tasmin Little, Tehran born harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani – a three time nominee for Gramophone’s Artist of the Year – as well as a raft of emerging artists: pianist George Harliono, who was recently shortlisted for Classical BRIT Award, Argentinian composer and pianist Silas Bassa, violin and piano duo Abigail Hammett and Iwan Owen, and tenor saxophonist Rachael Green.

For folk fans BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award nominees Granny’s Attic are on hand to entertain, or if rave and house music is more your scene, Graeme Park – the DJ responsible legendary Hacienda in Manchester and at the heart of the cultural boom of Cool Britannia – will be joining the line up with a live DJ set and interview, so be sure to have your disco ball ready at home.

Alongside mesmerising music and first-class fiction, the HIF Weekender presents a series of cultural conversations with the best in the business including celebrated conductor Ben Palmer, Deutsche Philharmonie Merck in Darmstadt, and Founder and Artistic Director of Covent Garden Sinfonia; theatre maker and co-director of the Fun Palaces campaign, Stella Duffy, will be discussing the state of the arts in lockdown; newsreader and presenter John Suchet will reveal the man behind the music with his compelling biography of Beethoven; and one of the UKs most prolific and successful writers – Anthony Horowitz – will be sharing anecdotes from his career, celebrating 10 years of Alex Rider and giving an early glimpse at his new novel Moonflower Murders.

As part of the Festival’s Berwins Salon North strand of TED-style talks designed to change your life for the better, the weekender welcomes geneticist, author, and broadcaster Adam Rutherford to advise on How to Argue with a Racist, BBC Radio 4’s All in the Mind Claudia Hammond will explain why we should be talking rest seriously, and astrobiology research scientist Lewis Dartnell will tell the virtual audience the ultimate origin story.

And not forgetting little ones, in addition to the host of activities and resources on the Festival’s HIF Player, the HIF Weekender will be introducing children to brass music with Back Chat Kids, sharing singalongs with Family Singing Sessions and History’s Maid Kate Vigurs will be revealing the horribly entertaining parts of history that children love!

Since 1966, Harrogate International Festivals has proved an artistic force to be reckoned with, presenting inspiring and ambitious cultural experiences in the most interesting spaces across Harrogate and the region, dedicated to its charitable purpose of ensuring as many people as possible have access to the arts. This commitment now takes the Festival to our digital doorstep, but for those unable to connect HIF has created a CD version of the weekender available to the public. The festival is also hosting a colourful window campaign to spread joy on the streets of Harrogate and brighten up the #ViewFromMyWindow, as well as live performances from the Band on a Bus helping residents stay upbeat and merry, and etchings of 10 Word Crime Stories as a nod to Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.

Sharon Canavar, CE of Harrogate International Festivals, said: “Out of crisis comes creativity, and Harrogate International Festivals is delighted to present a world-class line-up for our first virtual HIF Weekender. Bucking the trend, we have opened our digital doors and wallets to fund artists and commission new work, knowing the transformative value that the arts bring in supporting communities – both locally and for our international audience. Whilst there is no denying that this is a hugely challenging time for the arts and for artists, festivals play a vital part in the creative industries ecology and defining our cultural landscape, and so we are extremely proud to be presenting this rich selection to our audiences world-wide for free, ensuring the arts remain accessible to all at a time when we need it the most.”

For further information, please contact:

- Hannah McMillan: [email protected] | 07971 086649

- Gabriella Drinkald: [email protected] | 07894 587828

- Lizzie Brewster: [email protected]

About Harrogate International Festivals

‘Harrogate International Festivals’ is a charitable organisation with a mission to present a diverse year-long programme of live events that bring immersive and moving cultural experiences to as many people as possible. Delivering artistic work of national importance, the Festival curates and produces over 300 unique and surprising performances each year, celebrating world-renowned artists and championing new and up-coming talent across music, literature, science, philosophy and psychology. The HIF+ ongoing education outreach programme engages schools, young people and the local community with workshops, talks, projects and inspiring activities, ensuring everyone can experience the Festival’s world class programme and the transformative power of the arts.

Established in 1966, Harrogate International Festivals are an artistic force to be reckoned with and a key cultural provider for the North of England.

Find out more at:

- Website: www.harrogateinternationalfestivals.com

- Facebook: @HarrogateInternationalFestivals

- Twitter: @HarrogateFest

- Instagram: @harrogatefestivals

- Press images can be found here

#Harrogate Festival 2020 #HIF2020 | HIFAtHome

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marypicken · 7 years

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Well, gentle reader, it is just as well there was a slower start to the first full day of the festival. Following the inspirational Gala evening with its emotional torchlight procession to the Albert Halls for the celebration of 30 years of Rebus, I headed of to the Never Mind the Buzzcops quiz, ably compered by Craig Robertson and with Mark Billingham and Val McDermid respectively captaining the teams.

Great fun was had by all, not least during the playing of the kazoo by Chris Brookmyre and Stuart Neville and then watching A.K.Benedict miming various crime novel titles in a charades does crime round.

This was followed by a terrific set from the Fun Loving Crime Writers which had everyone up dancing at the front. A medley of songs were played including an unaccompanied solo from Val, proving that she can indeed sing like a linty, to country and western and rock. There was a distinctly criminal flavour to the song choices and the sight of Mark Billingham singing Psycho whilst looking psychotic was something to behold.

Val McDermid

Ian Rankin torchlight procession

Today I went to listen to Alex Gray chatting to Police Scotland’s Deputy Chief Constable, Iain Livingston, QPM and DS Duncan Sloan. Their session, The Policing Behind Procedurals was all the more fascinating because of course DCC Livingstone must be in poll position for the top job at the moment. Topics covered included the difficulties faced by younger front line police who are usually the first responders at a crime scene and how difficult it can be to face the fears that violent crimes can induce.

Livingstone talked about how the police had evolved from the days when counselling involved going to the pub, to the present day where Castle Grey in Auchterarder can now provide a range of psychological and psychiatric help. They also talked about the additional scrutiny that now rests on Police Scotland as a result of unifying the force and the challenges that brings, along with a welcome increase in transparency.

Alex challenged them to say whether she was getting the detail right, and they agreed that a lot of what she writes is indeed accurate, but that of course it would be a boring book if there were not imagination and authors invention brought to bear on the storylines.

Pop Up Launch – Orenda Books

I took a little time out to help to launch Michael J. Malone’s book, The House of Spines at a pop up launch outside the Albert Halls. I helped with one of publisher Karen Sullivan’s launches last year and enjoyed it so much that I came back for another round. It always helps when you know you are launching a good book!

Orenda Books publisher, Karen Sullivan with Michael J. Malone

Women Rock Crime!

Sarah Savitt, Publisher at Virago, and Sam Baker, Co-Founder and CEO of The Pool, announced that the winner of the Virago/The Pool New Crime Writer Award is Lara Thompson for her debut novel One Night, New York.

Val McDermid gave Thompson the award on stage immediately before her own sell-out event at Bloody Scotland. Thompson took over the ‘Crime In the Spotlight’ slot at the McDermid event normally reserved for published but not yet famous authors and it is such a great opportunity for writers – I have heard some great readings this year.

Val McDermid with Lara Thompson

Lara Thompson read a page from her manuscript in front of the crowd of more than 600 crime fans. She has won a publishing contract with Virago as well as two hours of mentoring from acclaimed novelist Jill Dawson courtesy of Gold Dust mentoring. One Night, New York is Lara Thompson’s first novel.

The Virago/The Pool New Crime Writer Award was launched in February this year to discover an exciting new author for the Virago list who was writing a suspenseful, intelligent, original crime or thriller novel. To enter the competition, writers had to submit a 5,000-word sample plus a 500-word synopsis.

With Denise Mina becoming the first woman to win The McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year and tonight the Slice Girls taking to the stage at the sold-out cabaret ‘Crime at the Coo’ with a burlesque-esque act they created to ‘counter the testosterone prevalent at crime festivals, it’s a great time to be a woman in crime fiction.

Other events I attended today included a panel with M.J. Arlidge, Chris Dolan and Robert Thorogood. All are well established television writers and novelists, and indeed Matt started his career on EastEnders scripts. I took the opportunity after the session to ask Matt if he was ever likely to be a bit kinder on poor beleaguered Helen Grace, but he wasn’t feeling overly sympathetic, so I fear Helen will be in for a rough ride in the next book!

Then it was on to Dark Lands with Ragnar Johnasson, creator of the wonderful Dark Iceland series, Lin Anderson and Thomas Enger to discuss Dark Lands. Thomas Enger is also an accomplished composer and musician and he played us a lullaby that he composed for the as yet unborn son of his protagonist, Henning Juul.

Ragnar, Thomas and Lin discussed the settings for their books; the inspirations for their characters and the impact of the countries they live in on their writing.

Thomas was feeling somewhat triumphant as he displayed the Bloody Scotland trophy which was won by Scotland at the annual grudge match of football. Mr Enger was, of course, playing for Scotland who won the game 6-3.

I have heard and met some great new authors today, as well as having a fantastic time at the Festival. Tonight it’s Crime at the Coo with the irrepressible and deliciously sadistic Splice Girls. I can’t wait!

Bloody Scotland Sat 9th September Well, gentle reader, it is just as well there was a slower start to the first full day of the festival.

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blogparadiseisland · 6 years

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Nature Man Booker Prize Shortlist Reflects Dark Times

Nature Man Booker Prize Shortlist Reflects Dark Times Nature Man Booker Prize Shortlist Reflects Dark Times http://www.nature-business.com/nature-man-booker-prize-shortlist-reflects-dark-times/

Nature

Books News

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Clockwise from top left: Rachel Kushner, Richard Powers, Esi Edugyan, Anna Burns, Daisy Johnson and Robin Robertson.CreditCreditClockwise from top left: Chloe Aftel, Joan Maloof, no credit, no credit, Polly-Anna Johnson, Niall McDiarmid

LONDON — The shortlist for this year’s Man Booker Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious literary awards, includes for the first time a novel told in verse.

The book, “The Long Take,” by the poet Robin Robertson, mixes verse, prose and photographs to follow the story of a World War II veteran across the United States in the golden era of Hollywood. One of the judges, the feminist critic and writer Jacqueline Rose, described it as “a genre-defying novel” that “offers a wholly unique literary voice and form.”

The judges said they realized that its inclusion on the shortlist was likely to set off a debate, but they said its style had not come up in their discussions. Val McDermid, a crime writer, praised its characters, language and the insight it gave into the world. “I’m not sure what else a novel is meant to do,” she said.

Kwame Anthony Appiah, the chairman of the judges, said the six-book shortlist was most notable for the bleakness of its subjects, among them ecological destruction, prison life, institutional racism and slavery.

“People reading our books 100 years from now would know that we live in dark times,” Mr. Appiah said. “The dominant theme of the novel in English today is of our species, and sometimes the other species with which we share this small planet, challenged by anxiety, suffering from pain, and of our institutions and environment under threat.”

Hope comes in the quality of the writing and the fearlessness of the authors in tackling such subjects, he said.

“Reading these has not left me in a state of depression,” Ms. McDermid said, adding that some of the books also offered “moments of toe-curling hilarity.”

“It’s that human capability to find humor in the darkest moments,” she said. “That’s why paramedics have the best jokes.”

In addition to Mr. Robertson, the shortlist — two-thirds of which were written by women — includes:

• Anna Burns for “Milkman,” an experimental novel that looks at Ireland in the time of the Troubles through the eyes of a young girl.

Image

The six books on the shortlist for the 2018 Man Booker Prize.

• Esi Edugyan for the novel “Washington Black,” in which an enslaved boy and his master’s brother flee a plantation in Barbados and forge an unlikely bond. Ms. Edugyan, who is from Calgary, Alberta, appeared on the shortlist in 2011 for “Half Blood Blues.”

• Daisy Johnson for her debut novel, “Everything Under,” in which a reunited mother and daughter delve into their eerie past. Ms. Johnson, 27, is the youngest author to make the shortlist.

• Rachel Kushner for “The Mars Room,” a darkly comic novel set in a women’s correctional facility in California

• Richard Powers for the ecological epic “The Overstory,” about nine strangers trying to save one of the world’s last areas of virgin forest. This is Mr. Powers’s first appearance on the Man Booker shortlist; he made the 2014 longlist with “Orfeo.”

All were chosen over longlisted novels from Michael Ondaatje, who won the Booker in 1992, and the acclaimed Irish novelist Sally Rooney. Also failing to make the cut was Nick Drnaso’s “Sabrina,” the first graphic novel to be longlisted for the prize.

Originally called the Booker-McConnell Prize, the Booker was first awarded in 1969. It was renamed in 2002, when an investment firm, Man Group, became the primary sponsor.

The prize has been stuck in a debate for years about whether American authors should be eligible. In 2013, the rules were changed to allow any author writing in English to win. It was previously limited to writers from Britain, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Commonwealth countries.

Since then, two Americans have won the prize: George Saunders in 2017, for “Lincoln in the Bardo,” and Paul Beatty in 2016, for “The Sellout.” This spring, a literary society that counts Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan and Zadie Smith among its members demanded that the rule change be reversed.

That debate could gain new strength if either Mr. Powers and Ms. Kushner win. But Mr. Appiah dismissed the attacks. “I think it’s sort of weird to look at people’s passports to see whether you should read them,” he said.

The winner — who receives 50,000 pounds, or about $65,000 — will be announced on Oct. 16.

Read More | https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/20/books/man-booker-prize-2018-shortlist.html |

Nature Man Booker Prize Shortlist Reflects Dark Times, in 2018-09-20 13:43:55

#Nature of Business in the Current Market

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internetbasic9 · 6 years

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Nature Man Booker Prize Shortlist Reflects Dark Times

Nature Man Booker Prize Shortlist Reflects Dark Times Nature Man Booker Prize Shortlist Reflects Dark Times https://ift.tt/2NWJvWu

Nature

Books News

Image

LONDON — The shortlist for this year’s Man Booker Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious literary awards, includes for the first time a novel told in verse.

Hope comes in the quality of the writing and the fearlessness of the authors in tackling such subjects, he said.

“Reading these has not left me in a state of depression,” Ms. McDermid said, adding that some of the books also offered “moments of toe-curling hilarity.”

“It’s that human capability to find humor in the darkest moments,” she said. “That’s why paramedics have the best jokes.”

In addition to Mr. Robertson, the shortlist — two-thirds of which were written by women — includes:

• Anna Burns for “Milkman,” an experimental novel that looks at Ireland in the time of the Troubles through the eyes of a young girl.

Image

The six books on the shortlist for the 2018 Man Booker Prize.

• Daisy Johnson for her debut novel, “Everything Under,” in which a reunited mother and daughter delve into their eerie past. Ms. Johnson, 27, is the youngest author to make the shortlist.

• Rachel Kushner for “The Mars Room,” a darkly comic novel set in a women’s correctional facility in California

Originally called the Booker-McConnell Prize, the Booker was first awarded in 1969. It was renamed in 2002, when an investment firm, Man Group, became the primary sponsor.

The winner — who receives 50,000 pounds, or about $65,000 — will be announced on Oct. 16.

Read More | https://ift.tt/2PLoVpa |

Nature Man Booker Prize Shortlist Reflects Dark Times, in 2018-09-20 13:43:55

#Nature of Business in the Current Market

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blogwonderwebsites · 6 years

Text

Nature Man Booker Prize Shortlist Reflects Dark Times

Nature Man Booker Prize Shortlist Reflects Dark Times Nature Man Booker Prize Shortlist Reflects Dark Times http://www.nature-business.com/nature-man-booker-prize-shortlist-reflects-dark-times/

Nature

Books News

Image

LONDON — The shortlist for this year’s Man Booker Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious literary awards, includes for the first time a novel told in verse.

Hope comes in the quality of the writing and the fearlessness of the authors in tackling such subjects, he said.

“Reading these has not left me in a state of depression,” Ms. McDermid said, adding that some of the books also offered “moments of toe-curling hilarity.”

“It’s that human capability to find humor in the darkest moments,” she said. “That’s why paramedics have the best jokes.”

In addition to Mr. Robertson, the shortlist — two-thirds of which were written by women — includes:

• Anna Burns for “Milkman,” an experimental novel that looks at Ireland in the time of the Troubles through the eyes of a young girl.

Image

The six books on the shortlist for the 2018 Man Booker Prize.

• Daisy Johnson for her debut novel, “Everything Under,” in which a reunited mother and daughter delve into their eerie past. Ms. Johnson, 27, is the youngest author to make the shortlist.

• Rachel Kushner for “The Mars Room,” a darkly comic novel set in a women’s correctional facility in California

Originally called the Booker-McConnell Prize, the Booker was first awarded in 1969. It was renamed in 2002, when an investment firm, Man Group, became the primary sponsor.

The winner — who receives 50,000 pounds, or about $65,000 — will be announced on Oct. 16.

Read More | https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/20/books/man-booker-prize-2018-shortlist.html |

Nature Man Booker Prize Shortlist Reflects Dark Times, in 2018-09-20 13:43:55

#Nature of Business in the Current Market

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cathygeha · 4 years

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LONGLIST REVEALED FOR UK’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS CRIME WRITING PRIZE

THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2020

Harrogate, 7 May 2020: Today, the longlist of the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious crime novel award is unveiled with literary legends and dynamic debuts in contention for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year…

Now in its 16th year, the most coveted prize in crime fiction, presented by Harrogate International Festivals, received a record number of submissions and this highly anticipated longlist of 18 titles – 10 of which by women – represents crime writing at its best: celebrating four former winners, a Booker Prize contender, and the fresh new voices taking the genre by storm.

The line-up of returning champions is led by Scottish supernova Denise Mina, vying to become the first author to complete a hat trick with the deeply unsettling thriller Conviction. Mina is joined by fellow Glaswegian bestseller Chris Brookmyre and his psychological suspense Fallen Angel, ‘Queen of Crime’ Val McDermid’s latest masterful Tony Hill and Carol Jordan investigation, How the Dead Speak, and Lee Child CBE, with the final Jack Reacher, Blue Moon, before sharing authorship with his brother Andrew.

The longlist also features several previously nominated authors hoping to go one step further and claim the trophy with Mick Herron securing a fifth pick for his much-lauded Slough House series with Joe Country and a nod for Abir Mukherjee’s new Wyndham & Banerjee instalment, Smoke and Ashes, and fan favourite Vera and Shetland author Ann Cleeves returns with The Long Call, marking the launch of a new North Devon series. Further Theakston alumni in the running include Adrian McKinty with his electrifying thriller The Chain, Helen Fitzgerald and the darkly comic Worst Case Scenario, and outback noir from Jane Harper in The Lost Man.

Rising stars of the genre are celebrated with three debuts on the list. Oyinkan Braithwaite, who was spotlighted in the Festival’s highly respected ‘New Blood’ panel in 2019, has been recognised for her Booker longlisted My Sister the Serial Killer. Harriet Tyce is in contention for her electrifying domestic noir Blood Orange that draws on her own experience as a criminal barrister, and Laura Shepherd-Robinson for the deeply atmospheric Blood & Sugar, bringing the 1780s Deptford Docks to life.

Established voices joining the Theakston ranks for the first time include Jane Casey and her latest Maeve Kerrigan instalment Cruel Acts, Alex North with his chilling police procedural The Whisper Man, Louise Doughty, who is longlisted for the eerily unnerving Platform Seven, Will Carver with the mesmerising thriller Nothing Important Happened Today; and Val McDermid’s 2018 New Blood selection: Will Dean and his eagerly awaited follow-up to Dark Pines, the stunning Scandi noir Red Snow.

The full longlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2020 is:

- My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Atlantic Books)

- Fallen Angel by Chris Brookmyre (Little, Brown Book Group, Abacus)

- Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver (Orenda Books)

- Cruel Acts by Jane Casey (HarperCollins, Harper Fiction)

- Blue Moon by Lee Child (Transworld, Bantam)

- The Long Call by Ann Cleeves (Pan Macmillan, Macmillan/Pan)

- Red Snow by Will Dean (Oneworld, Point Blank)

- Platform Seven by Louise Doughty (Faber & Faber)

- Worst Case Scenario by Helen Fitzgerald (Orenda Books)

- The Lost Man by Jane Harper (Little, Brown Book Group, Little, Brown)

- Joe Country by Mick Herron (John Murray Press)

- How the Dead Speak by Val McDermid (Little, Brown Book Group, Little, Brown)

- The Chain by Adrian McKinty (Orion Publishing Group, Orion Fiction)

- Conviction by Denise Mina (VINTAGE, Harvill Secker)

- Smoke and Ashes by Abir Mukherjee (VINTAGE, Harvill Secker)

- The Whisper Man by Alex North (Penguin Random House, Michael Joseph)

- Blood & Sugar by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Headline Publishing Group, Wildfire)

- Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce (Pan Macmillan, Mantle/Pan)

Executive director of T&R Theakston, Simon Theakston, said: “Year on year, I’m astounded and delighted by how this exceptional genre continues to excel – we were deluged with record submissions and these 18 impressive titles demonstrate the quality and power of contemporary crime fiction. From the familiar faces to the new voices, we are immensely proud of this year's longlist and raise a virtual glass of Old Peculier to all the authors, and what will be another fierce contest for this much-wanted award.”

The award is run by Harrogate International Festivals in partnership with T&R Theakston Ltd, WHSmith and the Express, and is open to full length crime novels published in paperback from 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2019 by UK and Irish authors.

The longlist was selected by an academy of crime writing authors, agents, editors, reviewers, members of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Programming Committee, and representatives from T&R Theakston Ltd, the Express, and WHSmith.

The 18 titles will be promoted in a dedicated online campaign from WHSmith, digital promotional materials will be made available for independent bookstores, and the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival’s online community – You’re Booked – will raise a virtual glass to the titles and authors through interviews, features and a variety of further interactive content, as well as giving the opportunity to see a selection of events from the Festival’s extensive archive. This forms part of the Harrogate International Festival virtual season of events, which presents a raft of live music, specially commissioned performances, literary events and interviews to bring a free festival experience to your own digital doorstep.

The public are now invited to vote for a shortlist of six titles on www.harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com, which will be announced on 8 June.

The winner of this pre-eminent prize has historically been awarded on the opening evening of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival as part of Harrogate International Festival Summer Season, which this year was cancelled, with much sadness, due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This year, the winner will be revealed at a virtual awards ceremony on 31 July, and will receive £3,000, and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakston Old Peculier.

About Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year

Launched in 2005, the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award is the most prestigious crime novel prize in the country and is a much-coveted accolade recognising the very best crime writing of the year.

Previous winners include Mark Billingham, Val McDermid, Belinda Bauer, Denise Mina, Lee Child, Clare Mackintosh and last year’s champion Steve Cavanagh, who was awarded the trophy for the fifth book in his Eddie Flynn crime thriller series, Thirteen.

The 2020 award is run by Harrogate International Festivals in partnership with T&R Theakston Ltd, WHSmith and the Express. It is open to full length crime novels published in paperback from 1 May 2019 to 30 April 2020 by UK and Irish authors.

The longlist of 18 titles is selected by an academy of crime writing authors, agents, editors, reviewers, members of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Programming Committee, and representatives from T&R Theakston Ltd, the Express, and WHSmith. The shortlist and winner are selected the academy, alongside a public vote, with the winner receiving £3,000, and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakston Old Peculier.

The award forms part of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, staged by Harrogate International Festivals in the Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate, and is traditionally awarded on the opening evening of the festival.

TITLE & AUTHOR INFORMATION: Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2020

VOTE NOW: https://harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com/

My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Atlantic Books)

My Sister, the Serial Killer is a blackly comic novel about how blood is thicker - and more difficult to get out of the carpet - than water...

Oyinkan Braithwaite is a graduate of Creative Writing and Law from Kingston University. Following her degree, she worked as an assistant editor at Kachifo and has been freelancing as a writer and editor since. She has had short stories published in anthologies and has also self published work. In 2014, she was shortlisted as a top ten spoken word artist in the Eko Poetry Slam.

Fallen Angel by Chris Brookmyre (Little, Brown Book Group, Abacus)

ONE FAMILY, TWO HOLIDAYS, ONE DEVASTATING SECRET. The new nanny Amanda, the Temple family seem to have it all: the former actress; the famous professor; their three successful grown-up children. But like any family, beneath the smiles and hugs there lurks far darker emotions. Sixteen years earlier, little Niamh Temple died while they were on holiday in Portugal. Now, as Amanda joins the family for a reunion at their seaside villa, she begins to suspect one of them might be hiding something terrible... And suspicion is a dangerous thing.

Chris Brookmyre was a journalist before becoming a full-time novelist with the publication of his award-winning debut Quite Ugly One Morning, which established him as one of Britain's leading crime novelists. His 2016 novel Black Widow won both the McIlvanney Prize and the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award. Brookmyre's novels novels have sold more than two million copies in the UK alone.

Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver (Orenda Books)

Nine suicides. One Cult. No leader. Nine people arrive one night on Chelsea Bridge. They’ve never met. But at the same time, they run, and leap to their deaths. Each of them received a letter in the post that morning, a pre-written suicide note, and a page containing only four words: Nothing important happened today. That is how they knew they had been chosen to become a part of the People Of Choice: A mysterious suicide cult whose members have no knowledge of one another. Thirty-two people on that train witness the event. Two of them will be next. By the morning, People Of Choice are appearing around the globe; it becomes a movement. A social media page that has lain dormant for four years suddenly has thousands of followers. The police are under pressure to find a link between the cult members, to locate a leader that does not seem to exist. How do you stop a cult when nobody knows they are a member?

Will Carver is the international bestselling author of the January David series. He spent his early years in Germany, but returned to the UK at age eleven, when his sporting career took off. He turned down a professional rugby contract to study theatre and television at King Alfred’s, Winchester, where he set up a successful theatre company. He currently runs his own fitness and nutrition company, and lives in Reading with his two children. Good Samaritans was book of the year in The Guardian, The Telegraph and the Daily Express, and hit number one on the ebook charts.

Cruel Acts by Jane Casey (HarperCollins, Harper Fiction)

Guilty? A year ago, Leo Stone was convicted of murdering two women and sentenced to life in prison. Now he’s been freed on a technicality, and he’s protesting his innocence. Not guilty? DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent are determined to put Stone back behind bars where he belongs, but the more Maeve digs, the less convinced she is that he did it. The wrong decision could be deadly… Then another woman disappears in similar circumstances. Is there a copycat killer, or have they been wrong about Stone from the start? From award-winning author Jane Casey comes a powerful Maeve Kerrigan crime thriller, a Sunday Times bestseller and winner of the 2019 Irish Independent crime fiction book of the year.

Jane Casey has written ten crime novels for adults and three for teenagers. A former editor, she is married to a criminal barrister who ensures her writing is realistic and as accurate as possible. This authenticity has made her novels international bestsellers and critical successes. The Maeve Kerrigan series has been nominated for many awards: in 2015 Jane won the Mary Higgins Clark Award for The Stranger You Know and Irish Crime Novel of the Year for After the Fire. In 2019, Cruel Acts was chosen as Irish Crime Novel of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. It was a Sunday Times bestseller. Born in Dublin, Jane now lives in southwest London with her husband and two children.

Blue Moon by Lee Child (Transworld, Bantam)

Jack Reacher is back in a brand new white-knuckle read from Lee Child. It's a random universe, but once in a blue moon things turn out just right. In a nameless city, two rival criminal gangs are competing for control. But they hadn't counted on Jack Reacher arriving on their patch. Reacher is trained to notice things. He's on a Greyhound bus, watching an elderly man sleeping in his seat, with a fat envelope of cash hanging out of his pocket. Another passenger is watching too... hoping to get rich quick. As the mugger makes his move, Reacher steps in. The old man is grateful, yet he turns down Reacher's offer to help him home. He's vulnerable, scared, and clearly in big, big trouble. What hold could the gangs have on the old guy? Will Reacher be in time to stop bad things happening? The odds are better with Reacher involved. That's for damn sure.

Lee Child is one of the world's leading thriller writers. He was born in Coventry, raised in Birmingham, and now lives in New York. 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. Two blockbusting Jack Reacher movies have been made so far. He is the recipient of many awards, most recently Author of the Year at the 2019 British Book Awards. He was appointed CBE in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours.

The Long Call by Ann Cleeves (Pan Macmillan, Macmillan/Pan)

In North Devon, where the rivers Taw and Torridge converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his father's funeral takes place. The day Matthew turned his back on the strict evangelical community in which he grew up, he lost his family too. Now he's back, not just to mourn his father at a distance, but to take charge of his first major case in the Two Rivers region; a complex place not quite as idyllic as tourists suppose. A body has been found on the beach near to Matthew's new home: a man with the tattoo of an albatross on his neck, stabbed to death. Finding the killer is Venn's only focus, and his team's investigation will take him straight back into the community he left behind, and the deadly secrets that lurk there.

Ann Cleeves is the author of over thirty critically acclaimed novels, and she is the creator of popular detectives Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez who can now be found on television in ITV's Vera and BBC One's Shetland. The TV series and the books they are based on have become international sensations, capturing the minds of millions worldwide. Ann worked as a probation officer, bird observatory cook, and auxiliary coastguard before she started writing. She is a member of 'Murder Squad', working with other British northern writers to promote crime fiction. Ann is also a passionate champion for libraries and was a National Libraries Day Ambassador in 2016. Ann lives in North Tyneside near where the Vera books are set.

Red Snow by Will Dean (Oneworld, Point Blank)

Tuva Moodyson returns in a new thriller from the bestselling author of Dark Pines Winner of the Amazon Publishing Readers' Independent Voice Award TWO BODIES One suicide. One cold-blooded murder. Are they connected? TWO COINS Black Grimberg liquorice coins cover the murdered man's eyes. The hashtag #Ferryman starts to trend as local people stock up on ammunition. TWO WEEKS TO CATCH A KILLER Tuva Moodyson, deaf reporter at the local paper, has two weeks to track down the killer before she leaves town for good, but will the Ferryman let her go?

Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands, living in nine different villages before the age of eighteen. After studying law at the LSE, and working in London, he settled in rural Sweden, where he built a wooden house in a boggy clearing at the centre of a vast elk forest, and it's from this base that he compulsively reads and writes. His debut novel, Dark Pines, was selected for Zoe Ball's Book Club, shortlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker Prize and named a Telegraph book of the year. Red Snow is the second in the Tuva Moodyson series.

Platform Seven by Louise Doughty (Faber & Faber)

Platform Seven at 4am: Peterborough Railway Station is deserted. The man crossing the covered walkway on this freezing November morning is confident he's alone. As he sits on the metal bench at the far end of the platform it is clear his choice is strategic - he's as far away from the night staff as he can get. What the man doesn't realise is that he has company. Lisa Evans knows what he has decided. She knows what he is about to do as she tries and fails to stop him walking to the platform edge. Two deaths on Platform Seven. Two fatalities in eighteen months - surely they're connected? No one is more desperate to understand what connects them than Lisa Evans herself. After all, she was the first of the two to die.

Louise Doughty is the bestselling author of nine novels, most recently Platform Seven. Her previous novel was the top 5 bestseller Apple Tree Yard, which was chosen for the Richard & Judy Book Club, shortlisted for the Specsavers National Book Awards Crime & Thriller of the Year and the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, longlisted for the Guardian's Not the Booker Prize, and translated into over twenty languages. Her other novels include Whatever You Love, which was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction. She has won awards for radio drama and short stories, along with publishing one work of non-fiction, A Novel in a Year, based on her hugely popular newspaper column. She is a critic and cultural commentator for UK and international newspapers and broadcasts regularly for the BBC. She lives in London.

Worst Case Scenario by Helen Fitzgerald (Orenda Books)

Mary Shields is a moody, acerbic probation offer, dealing with some of Glasgow’s worst cases, and her job is on the line. Liam Macdowall was imprisoned for murdering his wife, and he’s published a series of letters to the dead woman, in a book that makes him an unlikely hero – and a poster boy for Men’s Rights activists. Liam is released on licence into Mary’s care, but things are far from simple. Mary develops a poisonous obsession with Liam and his world, and when her son and Liam’s daughter form a relationship, Mary will stop at nothing to impose her own brand of justice … with devastating consequences.

Helen FitzGerald is the bestselling author of ten adult and young adult thrillers, including The Donor (2011) and The Cry (2013), which was longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and is now a major drama for BBC1. Ash Mountain is the second title published with Orenda Books, after Worst Case Scenario. Helen worked as a criminal justice social worker for over fifteen years. She grew up in Victoria, Australia. She now lives in Glasgow with her husband.

The Lost Man by Jane Harper (Little, Brown Book Group, Little, Brown)

He had started to remove his clothes as logic had deserted him, and his skin was cracked. Whatever had been going through Cameron's mind when he was alive, he didn't look peaceful in death. Two brothers meet at the remote border of their vast cattle properties under the unrelenting sun of the outback. In an isolated part of Australia, they are each other's nearest neighbour, their homes hours apart. They are at the stockman's grave, a landmark so old that no one can remember who is buried there. But today, the scant shadow it casts was the last hope for their middle brother, Cameron. The Bright family's quiet existence is thrown into grief and anguish. Something had been troubling Cameron. Did he choose to walk to his death? Because if he didn't, the isolation of the outback leaves few suspects...

Jane Harper is the author of the international bestsellers The Dry, Force of Nature and The Lost Man. Her books are published in more than 36 territories worldwide, and The Dry is being made into a major film starring Eric Bana. Jane has won numerous top awards including the CWA Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel, the British Book Awards Crime and Thriller Book of the Year, the Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year and the Australian Indie Awards Book of the Year. Jane worked as a print journalist for thirteen years both in Australia and the UK and now lives in Melbourne.

Joe Country by Mick Herron (John Murray Press)

In Slough House memories are stirring, all of them bad. Catherine Standish is buying booze again, Louisa Guy is raking over the ashes of lost love, and new recruit Lech Wicinski, whose sins make him outcast even among the slow horses, is determined to discover who destroyed his career, even if he tears his life apart in the process. And with winter taking its grip Jackson Lamb would sooner be left brooding in peace, but even he can't ignore the dried blood on his carpets. So when the man responsible breaks cover at last, Lamb sends the slow horses out to even the score. This time, they're heading into joe country. And they're not all coming home.

Mick Herron's six Slough House novels have been shortlisted for eight CWA Daggers, winning twice, and shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year three times. The first, Slow Horses, was picked as one of the best twenty spy novels of all time by the Daily Telegraph, while the most recent, Joe Country, was a Sunday Times top ten bestseller. Mick Herron was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, and now lives in Oxford.

How the Dead Speak by Val McDermid (Little, Brown Book Group, Little, Brown)

We are all creatures of habit. Even murderers...' When human remains are discovered in the grounds of an old convent, it quickly becomes clear that someone has been using the site as their personal burial ground. But with the convent abandoned long ago and bodies dating back many years, could this be the work of more than one obsessive killer? The investigation throws up more questions as the evidence mounts but, after their last disastrous case, Tony Hill and Carol Jordan can only watch from afar. As they deal with the consequences, someone with a terrifying routine is biding their time - and both Tony and Carol find themselves closer to the edge than they have ever been before...

Val McDermid is a number one bestseller whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages, and have sold over sixteen million copies. She has won many awards internationally, including the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year and the LA Times Book of the Year Award. She was inducted into the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame in 2009, was the recipient of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger in 2010 and received the Lambda Literary Foundation Pioneer Award in 2011. In 2016, Val received the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival and in 2017 received the DIVA Literary Prize for Crime, and was elected a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Val has served as a judge for the Women's Prize for Fiction and the Man Booker Prize, and was Chair of the Wellcome Book Prize in 2017. She is the recipient of six honorary doctorates and is an Honorary Fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford. She writes full-time and divides her time between Edinburgh and East Neuk of Fife.

The Chain by Adrian McKinty (Orion Publishing Group, Orion Fiction)

YOUR PHONE RINGS. A STRANGER HAS KIDNAPPED YOUR CHILD. TO FREE THEM YOU MUST ABDUCT SOMEONE ELSE'S CHILD. YOUR CHILD WILL BE RELEASED WHEN YOUR VICTIM'S PARENTS KIDNAP ANOTHER CHILD. IF ANY OF THESE THINGS DON'T HAPPEN: YOUR CHILD WILL BE KILLED. VICTIM. SURVIVOR. ABDUCTOR. CRIMINAL. YOU WILL BECOME EACH ONE. YOU ARE NOW PART OF THE CHAIN.

Adrian McKinty was born and grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland during the Troubles of the 1970s and 1980s. His father was a boilermaker and ship's engineer and his mother a secretary. Adrian went to Oxford University on a full scholarship to study philosophy before emigrating to the United States to become a high school English teacher. His books have won the Edgar Award, the Ned Kelly Award, the Anthony Award, the Barry Award and have been translated into over 20 languages. Adrian is a reviewer and critic for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Irish Times and The Guardian. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.

Conviction by Denise Mina (VINTAGE, Harvill Secker)

It's just a normal morning when Anna's husband announces that he's leaving her for her best friend and taking their two daughters with him. With her safe, comfortable world shattered, Anna distracts herself with someone else's story: a true-crime podcast. That is until she recognises the name of one of the victims and becomes convinced that only she knows what really happened. With nothing left to lose, she throws herself into investigating the case. But little does she know, Anna's past and present lives are about to collide, sending everything she has worked so hard to achieve into freefall.

Denise Mina is the author of the Garnethill trilogy, the Paddy Meehan series and the Alex Morrow series. She has won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award twice and was inducted into the Crime Writers' Association Hall of Fame in 2014. The Long Drop won the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2017 and the Gordon Burn Prize. Conviction is the co-winner of the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2019 and it was selected for Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine Book Club. Denise has also written plays and graphic novels, and presented television and radio programmes. She lives and works in Glasgow.

Smoke and Ashes by Abir Mukherjee (VINTAGE, Harvill Secker)

India, 1921. Captain Sam Wyndham is battling a serious addiction to opium that he must keep secret from his superiors in the Calcutta police force. But Wyndham finds himself in a tight spot when he stumbles across a corpse in an opium den. When he then comes across a second body bearing the same injuries, Wyndham is convinced that there's a deranged killer on the loose. However, revealing his presence in the opium den could cost him his career. As Wyndham and Sergeant 'Surrender-not' Banerjee set out to solve the two murders, Wyndham must tread carefully, keeping his personal demons secret, before someone else turns up dead...

Abir Mukherjee is the bestselling author of the Sam Wyndham series of crime novels set in Raj-era India. His debut, A Rising Man, won the CWA Endeavour Dagger for best historical crime novel of 2017, was a Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month, and Waterstones' Thriller of the Month. His second novel, A Necessary Evil, won the Wilbur Smith Award for Adventure Writing, was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel of 2018, and was featured on ITV as a Zoe Ball Book Club pick. Abir grew up in Scotland and now lives in London with his wife and two sons.

The Whisper Man by Alex North (Penguin Random House, Michael Joseph)

You'll hear the whispers. And then you'll hear the screams... Still devastated after the loss of his wife, Tom Kennedy and his young son Jake move to the sleepy village of Featherbank, looking for a fresh start. But Featherbank has a dark past. Fifteen years ago a twisted serial killer abducted and murdered five young boys. Until he was finally caught, the killer was known as 'The Whisper Man'. Of course, an old crime need not trouble Tom and Jake as they try to settle in to their new home. Except that now another young boy has gone missing, stirring up rumours that the original killer was always known to have an accomplice. And then Jake begins acting strangely. He says he hears a whispering at his window...

Alex North was born in Leeds, where he now lives with his wife and son. He studied Philosophy at Leeds University, and prior to becoming a writer he worked there in their sociology department.

Blood & Sugar by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Headline Publishing Group, Wildfire)

June, 1781. An unidentified body hangs upon a hook at Deptford Dock, horribly tortured and branded with a slaver's mark. Some days later, Captain Harry Corsham, a war hero embarking upon a promising parliamentary career, is visited by the sister of an old friend. Her brother, passionate abolitionist Tad Archer, had been about to expose a secret that he believed could cause irreparable damage to the British slaving industry. He'd said people were trying to kill him, and now he is missing... To discover what happened to Tad, Harry is forced to pick up the threads of his friend's investigation, delving into the heart of the conspiracy Tad had unearthed. His investigation will threaten his political prospects, his family's happiness, and force a reckoning with his past, risking the revelation of secrets that have the power to destroy him. And that is only if he can survive the mortal dangers awaiting him in Deptford .

Laura Shepherd-Robinson was born in Bristol in 1976. She has a BSc in Politics from the University of Bristol and an MSc in Political Theory from the London School of Economics. Laura worked in politics for nearly twenty years before re-entering normal life to complete an MA in Creative Writing at City University. She lives in London with her husband, Adrian. Blood & Sugar is her first novel.

Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce (Pan Macmillan, Mantle/Pan)

Alison has it all. A doting husband, adorable daughter, and a career on the rise - she's just been given her first murder case to defend. But all is never as it seems... "Just one more night. Then I'll end it." Alison drinks too much. She's neglecting her family. And she's having an affair with a colleague whose taste for pushing boundaries may be more than she can handle. "I did it. I killed him. I should be locked up." Alison's client doesn't deny that she stabbed her husband - she wants to plead guilty. And yet something about her story is deeply amiss. Saving this woman may be the first step to Alison saving herself. "I'm watching you. I know what you're doing." But someone knows Alison's secrets. Someone who wants to make her pay for what she's done, and who won't stop until she's lost everything...

Harriet Tyce grew up in Edinburgh and studied English at Oxford University before doing a law conversion course at City University. She practised as a criminal barrister in London for nearly a decade, and subsequently did an MA in Creative Writing - Crime Fiction at the University of East Anglia. She lives in north London. Her first novel, Blood Orange, published in 2019 to huge critical acclaim and was a Sunday Times bestseller.

#Harrogate Theakston Crime Award 2020 #Midas PR #Theakston Award

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cathygeha · 4 years

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REVIEW

Darkness Falls by Margaret Murphy

Clara Pascal #1

Have you ever had a day that looked promising only to have everything start to slip and slide away from you? You are ready and eager for work, not expecting to drop your daughter off at school and definitely not expecting to be kidnapped. And, that is just what happens to Clara Pascal...she is snatched from the street and carried away, put into a dark place and treated abysmally for days. All the time she wonders who took her, why she was taken and how she can get away.

This book has more than one thread to be followed:

* Clara’s time in the dark

* Police Procedural aspects

* Glimpses of how Clara’s husband, daughter and the nanny are doing

* Side story relevant to one of her cases

* And a few others

What I liked:

* The intensity of the part dealing with Clara’s experiences in the dark

* The why of the taking of Clara

* Clara’s insights

* Pippa – Clara’s nine year old daughter

* The twists and turns

* The slow revelations

* The real feel of it all

* The psychological insights some experienced

* The resolution

What I did not like:

* The evil people I was meant to dislike

* That justice wins – sort of

* The slow revelations – sometimes too slow for me

* The police procedural part sometimes lost me

* The sexism, female degradation and such

Did I enjoy the book? Eventually...almost gave up in the beginning

Would I read more in this series? I think so

Why? Because by the end of the story I was invested and wanted to see what would happen in book two of the series

Thank you to NetGalley and Joffe for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars

BOOK DESCRIPTION

‘Darkness Falls is a model of what the modern suspense thriller should be — tense, scary, page-turning and stomach-churning — because we care most of all about what happens to the characters. Set aside a day — you won't be able to put it down once it has you in its grip.’ Val McDermid

‘A piece of absolutely terrifying writing . . . This is crime's most compelling, chilling book ever.’ North Wales Chronicle

CLARA PASCAL HAS IT ALL

She’s beautiful, successful and devoted mother. People want to be her.

THEN IT’S SNATCHED AWAY

Now, robbed of everything that gives her life meaning, she lies chained to the stone wall of a dark cellar – without food, warmth, or sleep, without even the most basic communication.

HER ABDUCTOR WON’T EVEN TELL HER WHY HE’S TAKEN HER

As the police team frantically investigates, knocking on doors, following up wisps of leads, bullying, cajoling, begging witnesses for help, it seems that Clara Pascal has disappeared without trace.

Meanwhile, in her dark prison, Clara begins to suspect why her kidnapper has kept her alive. And the reason is terrifying.

DISCOVER AN ABSOLUTELY COMPELLING PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER BY AN AWARD-WINNING WRITER

This dark, twisting thriller will have you gripped from start to breathtaking finish. Perfect for fans of Carol Wyer, Lisa Jewell, Karin Slaughter, Jess Ryder, Mark Edwards and Charlie Gallagher.

PRAISE FOR MARGARET MURPHY

‘A skillfully plotted story with strongly drawn characters.’ Sunday Telegraph

‘Just what British crime writing is crying out for — a compassionate, grass roots British novel with the pace, energy and impeccable research of an American thriller.’ Mo Hayder

‘Sets new standards in the psychological thriller . . . It's hard to believe something this assured is a first novel. A remarkable debut — threatening, thrilling and thoroughly authentic.’ Val McDermid

‘Debut crime novels that can be praised unreservedly are rare. Murphy creates terrific menace and tension, well-climaxed.’ Marcel Berlins, The Times

‘Exemplary chiller . . . If Murphy's appointed task is to scare the reader she succeeds brilliantly.’ Literary Review

‘Clara will fascinate readers . . . fans will value this dark psychological thriller.’ Midwest Book Review

#Margaret Murphy #Joffe Books #NetGalley #Clara Pascal 1 #Mystery #Thriller #Kidnapping #Crime #Fiction

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cathygeha · 4 years

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REVIEW

Addressed to Kill by Keith Wright

Inspector Stark #3

DI David Stark is a man more capable than his superiors, a great leader of his team and a man who has his priorities straight. His job is demanding, difficult and can be distressing but he handles it well. This is a man I admired and grew to like more and more as I read further in the book. When I finished I realized I want to read more about Stark and his team and believe this is one of the best crime-police procedural stories I have read in a long time. It was stark, gritty, deep, disturbing and un-put-down-able.

What I liked:

* Stark – the man is a wonderful lead character

* Stark’s team – interesting, work and play well together – they get the job done

* Police procedural aspects were informative and in the right proportion to the story

* Feeling like I got to really know the main and supporting characters – many I would like to have as friends.

* Getting to know the victims – those that lived and those that did not

* There was no pussyfooting about the grittier aspects of the story. They were presented factually and made the story even more realized

* The era of the story

* The pace, plotting and writing of the story

* Knowing that there are police out there willing to do the jobs they do to help put bad guys away and keep us a bit safer in the world

* All of it, really, except…

What I did not like:

* The bad guys but that is to be expected

* The creep factor provided on the force by Moles and his sidekick

* That those in high position didn’t always use their power for the greater good

* Knowing that this type of crime takes place more often than we realize

Did I like this book? Definitely

Would I read more by this author? Definitely!

Thank you to the author and BOTBS for the ARC – this is my honest review

5 Stars

BLURB

Christmas is Murder!

It is 1987. A perverted criminal sociopath is on the loose. An innocent young woman is murdered in horrific circumstances.

DI Stark announces, ‘Christmas is cancelled,’ and his team investigate; aware that every second the maniac is on the loose, moves him closer to his next victim.

A second woman is raped and brutalised.

How is the killer discovering intimate secrets about his victims? Why does he insist on terrifying them on the lead up to the attacks? What is driving this depravity? Who will the next victim be?

In his attempts to protect the public, DI Stark makes a huge error of judgement, which will have appalling consequences.

Critically acclaimed author, Keith Wright is a former CID Detective. His professional knowledge of police investigations, coupled with a formidable talent for storytelling, combine to make his third novel a must for all crime fiction enthusiasts and thriller readers alike.

AUTHOR BIO

Keith is re-mastering his murder/mystery novels, first published in the early 1990’s and set in the late 1980’s; introducing new characters and additional scenes and has decided to open them up to a new readership on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited and Paperback available on Amazon. It is remarkable how much life has changed in the last thirty years and the novels are now period pieces and an insight into what life (and death) was really like before mobile phones and the internet!

Keith was brought up on a council estate in a rough area of Nottingham and attended the local comprehensive school. His father was an alcoholic and left when he was ten. His mother; Marie, brought him, and his four siblings up on her own, whilst balancing a full-time job. His mother loved reading and he too became interested. His mother would usually be later home from work than school finishing time, so he would call into the local library on his walk home. Whilst at the time this seemed inconvenient, (although it was a good place to get warm and dry in winter), it was, of course a blessing, as it enabled him to evolve his own love of books.

After being told by his careers officer at school that he had no chance whatsoever of getting into the police force, he decided to try himself, and wandered into the local police station at the age of fifteen to enquire what he must do. By some fluke he managed to pass the entrance exam and interviews and he was accepted into the police force. He worked the area where he had grown up, and this meant that everyone knew him, and so he was trusted, and was able to understand what was going on in the area. He also, occasionally had to arrest some of his old school friends for various crimes. It was always good to catch up with these mini- re-unions!

Keith spent 25 years in the police service retiring in 2005 as a Detective Sergeant. He then began working for a global business, leading investigations and up until recently Headed the Serious and Corporate Investigations Team dealing with bribery and blackmail within the corporate world.

He still lives in Nottingham and is engaged to Jackie. He has four wonderful children, twins, Chris and Andy, and Andy’s. fiancée Katie, who is an operatic singer. Chris and Andy are also writers and have done some amazing bodies of work. His son, Harry is at university, doing a degree in Computer Science but has discovered a love of acting and has performed in various productions. ‘Follow your heart, son’. Then there is the lovely chatterbox, Lily, who is 9 years old and without knowing inspires Keith to keep on going. There is a lot of creativity in the Wright family!

Keith has a great relationship with Jackie’s grown up children, Aron and his partner Ayla, Ashley and his wife, April, and Callum. With all the family interaction it is a wonder any writing gets done at all!

Keith’s novels are set in the 1980’s and involve the investigations of DI Stark and his team of detectives in Nottingham CID. It is no coincidence that the author was a Detective in Nottinghamshire CID in the 1980’s!

Keith ‘For his sins’ (obligatory comment) is a lifelong supporter of Nottingham Forest Football Club and played for the youth team with Steve Hodge, when Brian Clough was manager and League and European Champions.

His books, first published in the early 1990’s as contemporary fiction, achieved critical acclaim and his first novel One Oblique One was shortlisted for the Crime Writers Association John Creasy Award for the best debut crime novel of the year in 1991. This was the first year that the award was opened up to global competition and Keith was pipped to the award by the fabulous Walter Moseley’s ‘Devil in a Blue Dress’.

Keith was asked to contribute to a short story anthology for the Crime Writers Association called Perfectly Criminal published by Seven House, among such luminaries as Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and HRF Keating. He wrote ‘The Missing Link’ for inclusion in the book.He was also asked to contribute to a short story anthology called City of Crime published by Five Leaves Publications, alongside great authors, Alan Sillitoe, John Harvey and David Belbin. Keith’s contribution was ‘From the Cradle’.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keithwrightauthor/

Twitter: @Keithwwright

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19351123.Keith_Wright

Amazon Author Central Page: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/profile

Blog: https://www.keithwrightauthor.co.uk/blog-1

Website: https://www.keithwrightauthor.co.uk/

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/keith-wright

#keith wright #Inspector Stark 3 #Crime #Police Procedural #Serial Killer #Rape #Murder

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jenmedsbookreviews · 7 years

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Press release: Bloody Scotland - Virago New Crime Writer Award

Press release: Bloody Scotland – Virago New Crime Writer Award

Women dominate Bloody Scotland International Crime Festival

Today at Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival, Sarah Savitt, Publisher at Virago, and Sam Baker, Co-Founder and CEO of The Pool, announced that the winner of the Virago/The Pool New Crime Writer Award is Lara Thompson for her debut novel One Night, New York.

Val McDermid gave Thompson the award on stage immediately…

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#Bloody Scotland #Lara Thompson #virago prize

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marypicken · 6 years

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Amidst the glamour of the Poisoned Cocktail Party, the Granite Noir programme was launched this evening.

And what a line up it is! Writers, panel discussions, masterclasses, exhibitions and screenings not to mention the inimitable Noir at the Bar, combine to produce a festival that is bigger and sparkles more brightly than ever before.

Ann Cleeves, writer, on August 19, 2015 in London, United Kingdom. For more information about using this image contact Micha Theiner: T: +44 (0) 7525 627 491 E: [email protected] http:///www.michatheiner.com

Ann Cleeves, Chris Brookmyre, Val McDermid, Hugh Fraser and Robert Daws feature in Most Wanted – a series of headline events.

Ann Cleeves, who is the only living crime writer to have two different adaptations on television at the same time – the hugely successful Shetland and Vera, will be joined by Dr James Grieve, Emeritus Professor of Forensic pathology at The University of Aberdeen. A frequent consultant to crime writers, Dr Grieves also appears as himself in Ann’s Shetland novels. The event will be chaired by BBC Radio Scotland presenter Fiona Stalker.

One of the biggest and best-loved names in crime writing, Val McDermid’s novels have been translated into 30 languages and more than 10 million copies have been sold worldwide. Her work was adapted for the highly popular Wire in the Blood, starring Robson Green. Among her many awards are the Portico Prize for Fiction, the LA Times Book Prize and the Cartier Diamond Dagger. The award-winning writer has appeared at two of APA’s Culture Café events in previous years.

2018 will be Christopher Brookmyre’s second appearance at Granite Noir. One of Scotland’s finest, and funniest writers, his headline gig at the inaugural Granite Noir sold out quickly and tickets are expected to fly for February’s event, which will see him share his gift for storytelling as he talks about two of his recent works, Want You Gone and Places in the Darkness.

Hugh Fraser and Robert Daws complete the headliners lineup. The pair will appear together in an event chaired by Fiona Stalker, where they will share their experiences of acting and writing. Known for playing Poirot’s sidekick, Captain Hastings, as well as the Duke of Wellington in Sharpe, Hugh Fraser’s written work includes the latest in his Rina Walker series, Threat. Robert Daws has appeared in Midsomer Murders, New Tricks, Death in Paradise and Father Brown, to give just a few of his screen credits. He co-created and wrote the long running BBC Radio detective series, Trueman and Riley, and writes the Sullivan and Brock novels, set in Gibraltar.

Jørn Lier Horst Gyldendal http://www.nordsveenfoto.no

Granite Noir will open with an In Conversation event: The Truth is Out There – Or Is It? with authors Matt Wesolowski and Michael J Malone. This will be followed by Breathtaking Thrillers, with Icelandic and Irish writers Lilja Sigurdarottir and Catherine Ryan Howard. May The (Police) Force Be With You welcomes back author, reviewer, blogger and Scandi crime aficionado Sarah Ward, talking about her new DC Connie Childs novel, A Patient Fury. For this event Sarah will be joined by probation officer-turned crime writer Mari Hannah, whose award-winning novels are now in development with Stephen Fry’s production company. Jorn Lier Horst completes the trio and brings insight into his successful William Wisting series, which follows Wisting’s police career.

Saturday’s schedule kicks off with a Granite Noir Workshop – How to Get Ahead in Publishing, delivered by powerhouse publisher Karen Sullivan, founder of Orenda Books. Karen will give a masterclass for aspiring writers about how the publishing industry works, how to pitch, what to expect if a publisher asks to see your work, whether you need an agent, and what happens after a book is accepted for publication.

Karen Sullivan

Publish and Perish brings together three authors whose stories are set in the cut-throat world of books. Louise Hutcheson, Lucy Atkins and Sarah Stovell will speak about their work and inspirations in this event chaired by festival author Sarah Ward.

Three authors will again take to the stage for Here’s Looking at You, Kids. Melanie McGrath, Colette McBeth and Sanjida Kay will talk about their novels, where children at the heart of the crime.

Next up, discover how two authors juggle work as novelists and screenwriters, and how those disciplines compare and contrast. MJ Aldridge, who writes the bestselling DI Helen Grace thrillers, and Sweden’s Stefan Ahnhem are our authors for Page and Screen on Saturday afternoon.

The second Granite Noir Workshop – How To Plan Your Novel, will take place on Saturday afternoon, with author and former BBC TV news correspondent Colette McBeth. This class demystifies the process of novel writing, helping writers break their story down into manageable chunks. Storyboarding techniques, outlining, character arcs and how to weave suspense into the tale will all be covered.

Granite Noir’s Most Wanted for the Saturday afternoon are Hugh Fraser and Robert Daws, followed by Chris Brookmyre’s headline appearance in the evening.

Saturday will be wrapped up with Late Night Noir in the form of Folk – a new musical play which unites multi-disciplined artists Annie Grace, Alan McHugh and Morna Young with director Dougie Irvine. Co-written, composed and performed by the artists, this is a contemporary folktale – a story of faith and love – exploring human existence in our modern world.

The final day of the festival begins bright and early with Petrifying Psychological Noir. Torkil Damhaug, author of the bestselling Oslo Crime Files series, was a psychiatrist and brings specialist knowledge to his taut thrillers. He is joined by Louise Voss, who has been writing psychological thrillers, police procedurals and contemporary fiction for 18 years.

What follows is two Granite Noir Workshops – Crafting Compelling Characters in the city’s Central Library and Crime in Medieval Aberdeen, in the Town House. Learn how to develop convincing characters and how to avoid the most common character pitfalls with bestselling author and cofounder of Killer Women, Melanie McGrath. Meanwhile at the Town House, William Hepburn will lead a workshop on historic crimes in the city, including how crime was tried in Aberdeen’s courts 500 years ago, and what kind of punishment people faced if found guilty.

Sunday’s headline event comes from the creator of Shetland and Vera, Ann Cleeves, followed by When Bygones Aren’t Bygones – a panel discussion delivered by Johana Gustawsson and Clare Carson. French native Johana co-authored the bestelling On se retrouva, which drew more than 7 million viewers when it was adapted for television in 2015. Clare, an anthropologist and international development specialist working in human rights, is the daughter of an undercover policeman which brings a special insight to her latest novel The Dark Isle.

And what could be more inviting on a chilly Sunday afternoon than a plate piled high with scones, pastries and dainty sandwiches… but beware! Poisoned High Tea is an event with a twist. Dr Kathryn Harkup, author of A is for Arsenic, will be there to remind us that in the hands of queen of crime Dame Agatha Christie, everything on the menu could become a lethal weapon.

For The Write Investigator, audiences will meet two authors putting fellow writers front and centre to solve crimes. Will Dean, who has lived in Sweden for the past five years, offers a unique take on Scandi noir in his acclaimed debut, Dark Pines. Eva Dolan’s newest book, This is How it Ends, is a gritty standalone thriller that places an idealistic blogger and a seasoned campaigner at the heart of the action.

Who Do You Think You Are? Features two of the most talked-about recent debuts which feature protagonists with unstable identities. Stuart Turton’s The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, has been called “Gosford Park meets Inception, by way of Agatha Christie”, while Felicia Yap has been named one of The Observer’s Rising Stars of 2017.

Rounding off the festival are four brilliant Late Night Noir events and a Poisoned Cocktail Party, where guests can enjoy specially concocted cocktails, all made using ingredients inspired by Agatha Christie’s penchant for poison. Dr Kathryn Harkup, who is also hosting the Poisoned High Tea, will be on hand to divulge expert guidance on the ingredients and how things could go awry should they get into the wrong hands in a Christie novel.

Thomas Enger

A Criminal Mastermind Pub Quiz gives people the chance to pit their wits against some of Granite Noir’s authors, while Words and Music Scandi Style will be a unique evening hosted by Norwegian bestseller Thomas Enger, (be still my beating heart) who will play some of his original piano compositions, as well as talking about his writing.

Finally, it’s Noir at the Bar, an informal gathering of festival and local talent for a night of reading and hijinks.

Also throughout the festival is an expertly guided Granite Noir Walking Tour through Aberdeen’s dark underbelly, an exhibition of Crime Scene Photographs and an Exhibition of Police Wanted Posters.

There are four Young Criminals events for young people and their families: a Writing Workshop with award-winning children’s author Elen Caldecott; Steve and Frandan Take on the World with poet, playwright, novelist and former Edinburgh Makar Ron Butlin and Magic, Mystery and Mayhem with Meg McLaren. There is even a SFX Make-Up Workshop with theatre make-up artist specialist and teacher Raymond Wood, for ages 16+

There are three Crimewatch Film Screenings at Belmont Filmhouse: Double Indemnity, The Big Clock and The Big Easy, as well as Locals in the Limelight which offers a stage to North-east writers for the second Granite Noir. Five of the region’s most talented authors will read extracts from their noir fiction in front of audiences at The Lemon Tree, and there will be pop-up readings by these authors in the Central Library café throughout the weekend.

All week at HMT (until Saturday) will be Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic thriller starring Phil Daniels.

For those who can’t be there in person, this year Granite Noir has launched a live streaming and pay-per-view service for selected talks, along with exclusive content and interviews.

Aberdeen Performing Arts chief executive Jane Spiers said: “Aberdeen will be in the grip of Granite Noir in February as we bring our crime fiction festival to venues across the city. Our inaugural event earlier this year was a huge success, with multiple sell out events. This year we’re bringing more authors and more variety, with something for people of all passions and ages.

“Brilliant writers from far and wide will share insights into their work in our author talks and panels, while aspiring authors can hone their craft at special writing workshops. We are providing a platform for local authors to share their work with our spotlight readings at The Lemon Tree, and we are holding classic Noir film screenings, a Granite Noir guided walk, our popular Poisoned High Tea and a brand new Poisoned Cocktail Party, as well as crime scene exhibition and a unique words-and-music book launch.”

I think you will agree this is a pretty stunning programme featuring some great masterclasses and fascinating opportunities to delve deeper into the world of crime. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

Granite Noir is produced by Aberdeen Performing Arts in partnership with Aberdeen City Library and Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives and Belmont Filmhouse, with support from Aberdeen City Council and Waterstones. Freelance writer and interviewer Lee Randall has programmed the author conversation strand of the festival for the second time. Lee regularly appears at book festivals throughout the UK, and has twice been a judge Bloody Scotland’s McIlvanney Prize.

Events are individually priced and tickets go on sale on the evening of Sunday, November 26. Tickets are available from aberdeenperformingarts.com or by phone on 01224 641122. From Monday (November 27), tickets will also be available in person at the Box Office at HMT and The Lemon Tree. Discounts apply for certain group purchases and festival passes are available (excludes some events). Please check the programme or website for more information.

Follow Granite Noir on @GraniteNoirFest

Facebook: @GraniteNoirFest

Instagram: #granitenoirfest

Sparkling Granite Noir Programme Launched Aberdeen February 23rd – 25th 2018 @GraniteNoirFest Amidst the glamour of the Poisoned Cocktail Party, the Granite Noir programme was launched this evening.

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jenmedsbookreviews · 7 years

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So. Funny old week. Started off in a rather unspectacular fashion. Went to work. Did work type stuff. Got bored. Rinse and repeat on Tuesday. Well, Health and Safety meeting on Tuesday so I was mainly depressed by lunchtime, but still relatively uneventful. Flying visit to Dublin on Wednesday (literal as it’s a long walk from my house) in which I managed to set the Irish budget (mostly). Go me. On the plus side I got a lot of reading in at the airports and on the plane so it wasn’t all bad.

Thursday… what to say about Thursday? Well, first up, I was only in work for half a day which is always nice. I had the afternoon booked off to attend the book launch of Lloyd Otis’s debut novel, Dead Lands. Great book which I’ll be reviewing very soon and which, coincidentally, I was actually reading on my way to London. Arriving in London, me and my sister decided to treat ourselves to some wonderful Danish pastries at Ole & Steen on Haymarket. If you like Danish pastry (and I mean the real deal not the soggy stuff you find festering in the cake department fo supermarkets) then you could do worse than visit this place. I’m not being paid to say this, not at all. I just happen to think their food is lush and very reasonably priced for a central London Cafe/Restaurant.

So, one lovely toastie and cake fest later, Mandie and are are headed to the nearby (overpriced) giant sweet shop so that she can buy her friend a stick of pink rock. It’s a thing… Don’t ask. While I’m loitering in the entrance trying not to get enraged by the prices they are charging (£10 for a box of Oreo cookies!!!) I decide to check my emails. Oh my giddy Aunts. I won’t lie. I know I must have looked like a complete div. I know this as while I was reading one particular email I was stood staring out at Piccadilly Circus literally opened mouthed in shock, waiting for Mandie to join me and check that I wasn’t actually seeing things. Please note – I am getting very old and I wasn’t wearing my glasses so I could quite honestly have been reading anything. But no. I wasn’t seeing things. What I was reading was real.

I had received an e-mail from The Writer Awards, telling me that I had been named as one of the top nominated book blogs. Apparently they had been seeking nominations and from 1000+ recommendations, my little old blog had been selected as one of the best. Now, being honest, and being blind, I hadn’t read the whole email and I am always cautious about selecting links in emails as you never know if it’s a virus. I’d seen mention of top 33 so I figured number 30 wouldn’t be bad, but being the sceptical soul that I am, I googled The Writer Awards rather than followed the link. Sure enough a site showed up a the top of Google and I clicked through to find the Blogger Awards near the top of teh site. As I started clicking through the list, I really expected to be scrolling through for hours. Imagine my surprise when at No.10 I found Jen Med’s Book Reviews. No. 10!!!

I double checked the e-mail and sure enough there it was. Ranked no. 10. Of 1000+ blogs. And why – well apparently this little weekly mind melt is one of the reasons. Who knew. I thought it was just a good way to fill a gap in my blogging diary 😀

For those of you reading this on a phone, what this says is

This blog nicely weaves in the author’s own adventures through weekly recaps. It’s like you’re following a bookish journey from book tours to recaps to the reviews themselves. The creator’s personality really shines through!

Now personally I believe that they missed the word disorder out of the above statement but let’s look at the facts: Weekly adventures from book tours (Dead Lands – check), recaps (look below – check) and the reviews themselves (see the bottom of the post for links to all of last weeks posts – check). Well. Yep. That’s me then.

All joking aside, I am still rather stunned to have received the email. I’ve only been blogging for around 15/16 months, and in all honesty, only really been pushing myself to take it seriously since last November (a post a day for months now excluding Christmas) so this is absolutely amazing. Whoever it was that nominated me, thank you. It really means a lot. I knew nothing about this, can’t really understand how I got here, but at least I know that all of my hard work (well reading and occasional rambling) does mean something. I often feel that although I have a bias towards crime fiction, my blog is neither one thing or another, and so it feels like it’s harder to build a following that it might be for a dedicated crime fiction or Sci-fi/fantasy focused blog for example. And anyone who knows me will testify that being recognised for my ‘personality’ has seldom been a good thing in the past. 😉 So, for a gal without a gimmick I’m feeling kind of proud.

Enough of the fluffiness… Back to Thursday night. What an evening. So great to see Lloyd again and to be able to help him celebrate his success. I have no doubt that Dead Lands is going to do really well and that he has an amazing future in front of him. I first met Lloyd at Crimefest which seems forever ago now – long I’m sure for Lloyd – but it is so good to be able to support him on his journey, even if it’s just by way of a review. Good luck, Lloyd.

So. Back to my week. Friday was all work. Boo hiss… Any way. Moving on.

Book post wise – well Monday saw my last Mr Men Christmas book arrive so I am all set for Christmas month on the blog. Sort of. And, you know how Thursday was a pretty awesome kind of a day? Well what I didn’t mention is that when I popped home at lunch before catching my train I was greeted by the Post Man bringing me a parcel. A bookish parcel. A very exciting bookish parcel. It was only Now We Are Dead by Stuart MacBride which I’ll be reviewing for First Monday Crime in November. Stuart will be appearing alongside authors Vaseem Khan, Simon Booker and Elodie Harper, with the panel charied by Barry Forshaw. I was lucky enough to attend October’s panel and I’m sure as heck going back for the next one. Maybe I’ll see you there.

Book purchase wise – well aside from the signed copy of Dead Lands (whoop whoop), I’ve been a very good girl. I only bought 4 books. Just 4. 2 preorders, Helen Phifer’s Dying Breath and Susi Holliday’s The Deaths of December, and two books recommended in Ann Girdharry’s recent Book Love post as they sounded right up my street, LaRose by Louise Errdich and Red Blood, Yellow Skin by Linda L.T. Baer.

Netgalley saw me downloading two titles again, both for blog tours. First up Stephen Edger’s Dying Day and also Kierney Scott’s Now You See Me. I also received an ARC of Jennifer Gilmour’s new book (more on that tomorrow).

And aside from some teeny tiny audible purchases, namely Elly Griffiths’ The Chalk Pit, Val McDermid’s Insidious Intent and B.A. Paris’s Behind Closed DoorsBehind Closed Doors that is absolutely it.

B.Reading wise, I read just the four books this week. Been busy and in schock 😉

Books I have read

Zenka by Alison Brodie

Devious, ruthless, and loyal.

Zenka is a capricious Hungarian with a dark past.

When cranky London mob boss, Jack Murray, saves her life she vows to become his guardian angel – whether he likes it or not. Happily, she now has easy access to pistols, knives and shotguns.

Jack discovers he has a son, Nicholas, a male nurse with a heart of gold. Problem is, Nicholas is a wimp.

Zenka takes charges. Using her feminine wiles and gangland contacts, she will make Nicholas into the sort of son any self-respecting crime boss would be proud of. And she succeeds!

Nicholas transforms from pussycat to mad dog, falls in love with Zenka, and finds out where the bodies are buried – because he buries them. He’s learning fast that sometimes you have to kill, or be killed.

As his life becomes more terrifying, questions have to be asked:

How do you tell a mob boss you don’t want to be his son?

And is Zenka really who she says she is?

I read Alison’s last book, Brake Failure last year and really enjoyed the blend of humour and action. Based around an East End crime boss who is trying to get to know his son for the first time, this book is packed full of laughs, action and the odd body dump. It had me chuckling all the way through at the series of mishaps and misunderstandings. And god help Olga!!! You can see my review next week and in the meantime you can order the book here.

…

Dead Lands by Lloyd Otis

The stunning debut from thriller writer Lloyd Otis.

When a woman’s body is found a special team is called in to investigate and prime suspect Alex Troy is arrested for the murder. Desperate to remain a free man, Troy protests his innocence, but refuses to use his alibi. Trying to protect the woman he loves becomes a dangerous game – questions are asked and suspicions deepen.

When the prime suspect completes a daring escape from custody, DI Breck and DS Kearns begin the hunt. Breck wants out of the force while Kearns has her own agenda and seeks revenge – and a right-wing march provides an explosive backdrop to their hunt for Troy.

Lloyd Otis brings a startling account of the past back to life over a burgeoning ’70s landscape, and delivers a thrilling piece of crime fiction that will excite any fan of the genre.

What a debut. Full of suspicion, tension there is a ruthless and brutal killer on the loose but is he the man the police suspect? Set in 1970’s London I loved the freedom that this brings to the narrative as well as adding to the tension as you know that the police cannot rely on the forensics to get their man. So will justice prevail? Well – read for yourself to find out. I have and I’ll be reviewing in a little over a week for the blog tour. However, the book is available now and you can bag a copy here.

…

A Cosy Candlelit Christmas by Tilly Tennant

All singleton Isla wants for Christmas is to be left in peace, but a surprise trip to the Alps means there’s a chance for romance in every snowflake that falls…

It’s the week before Christmas and Isla McCoy has just received an unexpected gift: a letter announcing she is due a life-changing inheritance, but only if she’s willing to make amends with the father who abandoned her.

She has absolutely no intention of forgiving him, but who could resist an all-expenses-paid trip to the French resort of St Martin-de-Belleville?

There she meets smooth-talking Justin and nerdy glaciologist Sebastian; two very different men, with two very different agendas. Torn between her head and her heart, Isla finds herself utterly lost in a winter wonderland of her own feelings.

Surrounded by twinkling candles and roaring log-fires, Isla’s resolve finally begins to melt. But will she learn how to reconnect, not only with a whole new family, but with herself and her heart?

A gorgeously heart-warming festive read to help spark a little romance in those long winter nights. Perfect for fans of Jane Linfoot, Debbie Johnson and Jenny Colgan.

The difficult situation of meeting her estranged father is what greets Isla this Christmas. But maybe that’s not all. In an idyllic ski-resort setting, with crisp white snow and beautiful scenery all around, could love also be on the cards. Released on 26th October, I’ll be spilling the beans on this book really soon, in the meantime you can order a copy right here.

…

The Lost Child by Patricia Gibney

They placed me in here and threw away the key. I look down at the gown they’ve put on me. I want my own clothes. I don’t know how long I’ve been here.

An elderly woman is found murdered in her own home, and Detective Lottie Parker and her partner Detective Boyd are called in to investigate. When they discover that the victim’s daughter is missing as well, they start to fear for the safety of the whole family…

Two days later as a nearby house is set on fire and with the body count rising, Lottie and her team begin to unpick a web of secrets and lies, as the murders seem to link back to a case investigated by Lottie’s father before he took his own life.

With little knowledge of what really happened to her father, Lottie knows this is a case that could give her some answers. But how much does she want to know? And how far is Lottie prepared to dig to uncover the truth?

The Lost Child is a thrilling page-turner from the bestselling author of The Missing Ones and The Stolen Girls that will have you guessing right to the very last page. Perfect for fans of Rachel Abbott, Angela Marsons and Robert Dugoni.

Book three in the Lottie Parker series sees our troubled Irish Detective investigating a murder and brutal attack which could well have links back to her own father. With her personal life as complicated as ever, can Lottie keep her head clear enough to get to the truth? You can find out when the book is released on 27th October if you preorder the book right here.

…

I’ll take that as I’ve been busy this week. Blogging wise, another really full on week of reviews and book love which you can follow right here.

The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra

#BookLove: Anne Williams

Snowflakes, Iced Cakes and Second Chances

#BookLove: Ann Girdharry

Cover Reveal: Conrad Jones

Press Release: Heywood Hill Competition

Her Last Secret by Barbara Copperthwaite

The Fallen Agent by Oliver Tidy

Snare by Lilja Sigurdardottir

The week ahead is just as busy with a mammoth number of blog tours. First up today is Zoe Sharp’s Fox Hunter; on Wednesday is The Second Son by Andy Blackman, Thursday is Lily Graham’s Christmas At Hope Cottage and Friday is Sharon Maas’ The Girl From The Sugar Plantation. I’ll also have book love posts from Joanne Robertson of My Chestnut Reading Tree and Meggy Roussel of Chocolate’n’Waffles and my second Inspector Chopra review. Busy, busy, busy – just how I like it.

Adventure wise – well nothing bookish but I’ve got to travel to Manchester and Edinburgh this week to deliver some project training so who know what I’ll listen to along the way.

Have a fabulous week of bookishness all.

JL (award winning book bloggist )

Rewind, recap: Weekly update w/e 15/10/17 So. Funny old week. Started off in a rather unspectacular fashion. Went to work. Did work type stuff.

#Rewind Recap #Weekly Round UP

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jenmedsbookreviews · 7 years

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Last year I took a bit of a gamble. As I already had to go to Scotland to do some preparatory work on my departmental budget for 2017, I decided to make a proper week of it and stayed up in Scotland so that I could attend the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival. From the very first evening, I knew I had made the perfect choice and as the weekend went on, I knew that, come hell or high water, I’d be back again.

I knew this because I’d booked the hotel for 2017 before I’d even left Stirling.

After much arm twisting (read a single text message) I had managed to persuade my sister to join me and last Friday morning, armed only with suitcase, a few empty bags and a takeaway crap in a bap for breakfast we set off for Stirling.

Now regular followers of my blog will recall that I suffer from more than a little paranoia and neurosis when it comes to attending festivals. I don’t not go, but as a total introvert and overtly shy person (when not hiding behind my computer screen at least) there is nothing worse for me than a facing room full of people, all of whom seem to already know each other, laughing, joking and generally celebrating all things bookish. For regular visitors to these things it’s a chance to catch up with old friends. For me – it’s a nightmare.

Bloody Scotland is totally different. Set across three venues in Stirling, it is entirely possible to attend this event without feeling either claustrophobic or excluded. There is no pressure to socialise, and yet every opportunity to do so. It feels like there are more people there for the simple fact of listening to the authors, as much as they are to schmooze with them. And yet, if you are so inclined, the opportunity to schmooze is there. It is a truly reader friendly festival and about as relaxed as they come. I’m not saying that other book festivals are not friendly (they are) or relaxed (they are), but for someone like me, not having everything in one venue just makes it feel easier somehow. It’s hard to put my finger on it, but it is an entirely different atmosphere. A lot less intense.

It is no less bloody brilliant.

What a weekend we had. If you are in any doubt about attending festivals then I would encourage you to make the pilgrimage north to Stirling in September. I very much doubt you will be disappointed. There is a packed agenda across the two and a half days, Saturday and Sunday packing in up to three panels in each time slot. The most taxing thing you need to do all weekend is decide on which ones to attend.

Not being drinkers, Mandie and I went a little mad on the old panels, attending all three events on Friday night, six panels each on Saturday and three on Sunday afternoon. Because I was on the blog tour for the Bloody Scotland book, I got one of these:

I didn’t really need to use it much as I’d booked tickets in advance, but it’s a wonderful souvenir and reminder of a cracking weekend.

First up on Friday night was a truly unique and wonderful event. After attending the Gala Opening, held for the first time at Stirling Castle, in which Denise Mina was awarded the McIlvanney Prize for her novel The Long Drop, we threw caution to the wind and joined everyone heading down the hill in the first torchlight procession in honour of Ian Rankin’s 30 years of Rebus.

It was absolutely incredible (and a little scary) heading down the hills and cobbled streets from the castle to the Albert Halls for the panel with Ian Rankin and Mark Billingham. Now I say scary because I was walking next to Mandie who can trip over a shadow, so the idea of hills, cobbles and a three foot long wooden stick coated in paraffin wax and set alight… Well, it’s enough to make even a tough man cower. We survived though and after completing the ‘dip and tip’ manoeuvre with the torch, we headed into the Albert Halls for the first panel.

After an entertaining hour spent in the company of Messrs Rankin and Billingham, listening as they talked all things Rebus, Ian Rankin’s 30 years in the business, the highs the lows and hitting the suspects list, we trundled back to the front of The Albert Halls to queue for the last event of the evening – Never Mind The Buzzcops in which two quiz teams, captained by Mark Billingham and Val McDermid, with Craig Robertson as quizmaster, tried to out gun each other with their knowledge of all things crime – from theme tunes to baby photos.

To me the quiz was one of the highlights of the 2016 festival and this was no different. Mark’s team won by the narrowest of margins but a win is a win right? (Same couldn’t be said for the football team he captained, but that’s someone else’s story.) When all the quiz fun was over we hung around for the very last treat of an already incredible opening evening – The Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers. Playing an array of songs from rock to country, and rounding off the night with The Proclaimers 500 Miles, this was an event to remember. Doug Johnstone, Luca Veste, Stuart Neville, Mark Billingham, Val McDermid and Chris Brookmyre showcased their musical talent and natural rhythm (or lack thereof in Val McDermid’s case, but she does do a mean train impression) and wowed the crowds, getting them dancing in the aisles. Frustrated rock stars possibly, brilliantly entertaining they most certainly are.

After the excitement of Friday night, Saturday morning was a far more sedate start. After breakfast our first panel of the day was Queens of Grip Lit with C.L. Taylor, Sarah Pinborough and Clare Mackintosh. Here they talked about everything from domestically mundane tasks, to implausible or unnecessary twists, and the need to up the ante in their next book.

Next up was Craig Sisterson in conversation with Val McDermid. As always with Val, a thoroughly entertaining and frank discussion about her 30 years of writing. They talked through her whole career from the Lindsay Gordon series which she described as ‘Agatha Christie with a radical, feminist, lesbian plot’ to the Hill and Jordan series which was conceived while driving down the M6 past the Lake District.

The third panel of the day saw me and Mandie part ways. Mandie when to Watching the Detectives featuring MJ Arlidge and Robert Thorogood, and I went to the New Crimes panel, chaired by Alex Gray and featuring Felicia Yap, Mark Hill, Ian Skewis and Rob Ewing. It was great to hear about how all of the writers approach the task of writing, both plotters and pantsers represented here, and where the inspiration for their novels came from. Rather more disturbingly, Rob Ewing shared his thoughts on the most effective virus for wiping out a population of people. Least said, as they say…

Meeting back up with Mandie, we next attended The Dark Lands featuring Lin Anderson, Ragnar Jonasson and Thomas Enger. As well as discussing their fiction, all set in cold, dark climates, reflecting on how this affects mood, setting and even writing style, we were also treated to a musical performance by Thomas Enger, who played the lullaby which his character, Henning Juul, created for his young son. I’d seen a video on line but nothing compares to seeing it played live. Absolutely beautiful and moving music, and completely a wonderful panel to boot.

Time to split up again, Mandie heading to the From Cops to Robbers panel and me heading to watch Craig Sisterson interviewing Mason Cross and Craig Russell. A really interesting hour spent looking at two writers from not only very different settings but also very different time periods. Examining how they create time and place from a landscape which is not their own natural habitat, it did nothing to help my ever growing TBR list. Even better, just before the panel we were treated to a Crime in the Spotlight session, created to highlight just some of the rising stars in crime fiction. This time it was the turn of Lloyd Otis, whose new debut novel Deadlands is released in October.

After a quick bite to eat (the first time we’d remembered to eat and drink since just after breakfast – whoops) we both headed back to The Golden Lion for the final panel of the evening, Two Crime Writers and a Microphone – featuring hosts Luca Veste and Steve Cavanagh, and guests Mark Billingham, Eva Dolan and Ian Rankin, with Stuart Neville providing the soundtrack live. Due to laws of libel, and this being a mostly family friendly blog, I can’t repeat a lot of what was said, however I can tell you it was hilarious, occasionally close to the knuckle, and a brilliant way to end the evening. If you’ve ever listened to one of the podcasts then imagine that live and uncensored. Yeah. Like that.

Sunday was a far more sedate affair. A morning spent drinking coffee, reading and completing a little blogmin, as our first panel wasn’t scheduled until 2pm. Then it was time for Social Issues or Serial Killers with Craig Robertson, Eva Dolan and Mark Billingham. Examining the ideas of whether evil truly exists, the place for and popularity of serial killers in crime fiction, and their own novels which come with a high sense of social justice, this was an absolutely cracking session with three authors who are never afraid to speak their minds. If you’ve not read them yet, you really must.

Nesx up was An Inspector Faro Mystery – The Vanishing Vagrant. Possibly not quite award winning acting, but still highly entertaining, it has to be said that the accents left a lot of be desired. There was a guest turn from actress Harley Jane Kozak, but as good as she was she was nonetheless upstaged by Gordon Brown‘s Liverpudlian (? – who knows) accent, and Douglas Skelton‘s top class turn as Inspector Faro, stepping deftly into the shoes vacated by last year’s star, Stuart MacBride.

Rounding off the whole weekend in style, we decided to head to Four Blokes in search of a plot. The dream writing team of Neil Broadfoot, Gordon Brown, Douglas Skelton and Mark Leggatt recreated their writing partnership magic, penning their next masterpiece, Stewart MacBride and Tatty Peeler, while wearing the ‘tea cosy of inspiration’ and answering questions from the audience on the art of writing. Absolutely hilarious.

Nice hat Gordon!

It was a great weekend meeting old friends and new. It was wonderful to finally meet Jackie Baldwin, Mary Picken and Kelly Lacey. I saw Jackie perform her Crime in the Spotlight segment last year and it was lovely to finally say an official hello.

If you are in any doubt about whether or not to attend next year, which by the way is from the 21st to 23rd September, then here are a few words from festival newbie Mandie to try and persuade you.

Thoughts from a Bloody Scotland first timer.

So this year I went to my very first Bloody Scotland event. If I am honest it was my first real experience of a Crime Writer’s festival. I went to the Killer Women event last year in London but that in no way prepared me for the weekend that lay ahead.

As a newbie the first big trauma you get is trying to work out what you want to see.. thankfully I had Jen to help guide me a bit as the first thought is to do something from every session… My advice is don’t – not unless you really want to see specific authors that are on in the session. You will drive yourself nuts flitting from one event to another. On the Saturday, when we paused at about 5pm we realised we had not really had anything to eat or drink since early that morning.

My other bit of advice is go to some of the fun events on offer (always at the end of the day). They are a good way to unwind and to be honest is probably when you see the authors at their most relaxed. I have never laughed so much as I did at the Inspector Faro play on Sunday, but the authors trying to put together a story between them, whilst wearing a tea cosy of inspiration was hysterical.

I think one of my favourite sessions was “From Cops to Robbers”. There I got to listen to 3 former police officers talk about their experiences and what got them writing. It was interesting to hear about their different experiences in the force.

My advice is – if you have not been to one before – go, they are a blast.

All that remains to be said is thank you to every one involved in creating, hosting and participating in Bloody Scotland. It is an amazing weekend and I can’t wait to return to Stirling next year.

…

A Bloody Giveaway

Now I will admit that I am a bit of a tool, but a generous one, so one of you lucky folk will get to benefit from my toolishness right now. Being an avid reader of crime fiction, and loving all things Scottish, I had a hard copy of Bloody Scotland on order from Amazon from the minute I found out it was being released. I also ordered it on Kindle because I prefer to read that way. As I was on the blog tour, the organisers of Bloody Scotland kindly sent me a hard copy of the book. I forgot to cancel my order with Amazon (to be fair I forgot I even had it on order still so…)

As I am a lovely lady (apparently) I am going to give that brand new copy of Bloody Scotland away to one of you lucky folk. As I am so very, very lovely (apparently) I am also giving away a beautiful Heather Gems bookmark, a Hailin’ Coo notebook and a bar of Iain Burnett Highland Chocolatier Milk Chocolate which believe me is very lush. Open to entrants from UK and Europe, all you need to do is follow the link and do one of three things: follow Jen Med’s on Twitter, follow Jen Med’s Facebook page, or comment below with the answer to the question asked in the link.

Enter Giveaway Here

A weekend to remember. @Bloodyscotland Roundup September 17 + Giveaway Last year I took a bit of a gamble. As I already had to go to Scotland to do some preparatory work on my departmental budget for 2017, I decided to make a proper week of it and stayed up in Scotland so that I could attend the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival.

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