Newsletter Archive

Friday, 2 August 2024.

Hi all,

Apologies for the extended radio silence. The organisers took a longer than usual break, but we are now raring to go!

Before we look forward we have to thank the Featured Guest Authors, authors, readers and industry professionals who helped make this year’s CrimeFest such a successful one! Thanks especially to Cathy Ace. Cathy was a truly fabulous Leader of Toasts. Her outstanding after-dinner speech beautifully encapsulated the inclusiveness we strive for when we organise CrimeFest!

 So, this is the first newsletter for CrimeFest 2025!

CRIMEFEST AWARD WINNERS
Congratulations to the winners of this year’s CrimeFest Awards!

Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award:
– Stig Abell for Death Under a Little Sky (Hemlock Press/HarperCollins)
With thanks to headline sponsor Specsavers, who provided the £1,000 in prize money.

eDunnit Award:
Laura Lippman for Prom Mom (Faber & Faber)

Last Laugh Award:
– Mick Herron for The Secret Hours (Baskerville)

H.R.F. Keating Award:
– Adam Sisman for The Secret Life of John Le Carré (Profile Books)

Thalia Proctor Memorial Award for Best Adapted TV Crime Drama:
– Slow Horses (series 3), based on the Slough House books by Mick Herron (Apple)

Best Crime Fiction Novel for Children:
– J.T. Williams for The Lizzie and Belle Mysteries: Portraits and Poison, illustrated by Simone Douglas (Farshore)

Best Crime Fiction Novel for Young Adults:
– Elizabeth Wein for Stateless (Bloomsbury YA)

Congratulations to all the winners. (See details for the nominees here.)

CRIMEFEST REGISTRATION (BOOK AND SAVE)
Unlike most other major crime writing events, our full pass prices have not gone up since 2018. Eight years on, and we are committed to keeping the cost of the full pass at £200 for as long as possible! However, the earlier you book, the lower the price, and you have until midnight 16 August to register for the Early Bird rate of £155. After that the price will incrementally go up to £200. The Gala dinner is currently £60 but will also go up later this year.

AND THE FIRST FEATURED GUEST TO BE ANNOUNCED IS…
We are thrilled to announce that our first Featured Guest and Toastmaster is the fabulous Vaseem Khan! Vas must be one of the UK’s hardest working crime writers, juggling his role of Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association with two series: the Baby Ganesh Agency Investigations (featuring an elephant – surely a first in the crime fiction world!); and the historical Malabar House books, set in India. Next year will also see a stand-alone novel, The Girl in Cell A, and a new series that will expand the ‘00’ universe that will see gadget-master ‘Q’ take centre stage. We can’t wait to hear all the details!

CRIMEFEST BURSARY FOR A CRIME FICTION AUTHOR OF COLOUR
CrimeFest prides itself on the diversity of both its delegates and the representation of the nominees for our awards.

First introduced in 2022, CrimeFest’s bursary for a crime fiction author of colour returns for a third year. The bursary covers the costs of a weekend pass to the convention, with a night’s accommodation and panel appearance. Previous recipients were Saima Mir, Elizabeth Chakrabarty and Christie Newport. To apply, send an email with ‘BURSARY’ in the subject line, and a brief description of what you hope to gain by applying. The deadline to apply is 30 November, so get your skates on!

We’re thankful for the input of Ayo Onatade and Vaseem Khan, who help judge all applications. And to Ayo for her insightful comment on why bursaries are still important today. Read it here: The Bookseller – Comment – Why we need bursaries.

INDIE ALTERNATIVE PANEL
If not the first, then CrimeFest was one of the first major fiction events to recognise the high-quality of writing by many self-published authors. We are proud to annually schedule the Indie Alternative panel. The deadline to be considered as one of our four panellists is 30 November. So, again: skates! For more information visit the Indie Alternative info page.

RICHARD REYNOLDS – BOOKSELLER EXTRAORDINAIRE
Over the years crime readers have become increasingly aware of specialist booksellers. Maxim Jakubowski reigned over the first at Murder One on Charing Cross Road; then there was Crime in Store, in Covent Garden. Still going strong are David Headley, Daniel Gedeon and crew at Goldsboro Books. (The wonderful Thalia Proctor having worked at all three of these landmark shops!)

Heffers in Cambridge may not have been a specialist store, but its crime fiction buyer (and organiser of its ‘Bodies in the Bookshop’ event) Richard Reynolds was. Many readers were dealt a blow when he announced his retirement in 2022. But you can’t keep a good man down!

Richard, together with Oleander Press publisher Jon Gifford, have taken the ‘Bodies’ event and turned it into their own independent store: Bodies in the Bookshop. Located at 1A Botolph Lane, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB2 3RD, Bodies in the Bookshop can be contacted at info@bodiesinthebookshop.co.uk.

Please do support our highly valued Indie booksellers!

That’s it until the next newsletter!

Cheers,

Adrian & Donna,
CrimeFest Co-Hosts.