Programme – 2023

Thursday, 11 May

13:30 – 14:20
Police Procedurals: Getting it Right and Making it Real

* Mark Ellis
* Chris Lloyd
* Tina Orr Munro
* Leigh Russell
Participating Moderator: Alison Bruce
14:40 – 15:30
Protagonists Under Pressure: Putting your Characters in Danger

* Kia Abdullah
* A.J. Hill
* Heidi Perks
* Caro Ramsay
Participating Moderator: Louise Mangos
14:40 – 15.30
Telling Tales: Keeping Secrets and Telling Lies

* D.V. Bishop
* A.A. Chaudhuri
* L.F. Robertson
* Linda Stratmann
Participating Moderator: Tracy Darnton
15:50 – 16:40
High Octane: A Thrills and Spills Ride

* Andrew Child
* Paul Finch
* Nadine Matheson
* Alex Shaw
Participating Moderator: Zoë Sharp
In association with International Thriller Writers
15.50 – 16.40
Partners in Crime: When Two (or more) Heads are Better than One

* Simon Brett
* J.M. Hall
* Robert Thorogood
* Bridget Walsh
Participating Moderator: Kate Ellis
17:00 – 17:50
Authors Remembered

* David Beckler (on Friedrich Durrenmatt)
* Chris Curran (on Vera Caspary)
* Peter Guttridge (on Donald Hamilton)
* John Lawton (on Stanley Ellin)
Participating moderator: Martin Edwards (on Margot Bennett)
17.00 – 17.50
A Twist in the Tale: Turning the Plot on its Head

* Paul Durston
* Lisa Jewell
* Lesley Kara
* Simon Toyne
Participating Moderator: Lucy Martin
20:00 – 21:30: CRIMEFEST Pub Quiz, with crime writer and critic Peter Guttridge as Inquizitor. Prizes to be won!
LOCATION: TBA.

Friday, 12 May

09:00 – 09:50
Keeping it Cosy: The Gifted Amateur

* Antony Johnston
* Leigh Russell
* Fiona Veitch Smith
* T.E. Kinsey
Participating Moderator: Dolores Gordon-Smith
09:00 – 09:50
All in the Mind: Psychological Thrillers

* N.J. Fountain
* Jo Furniss
* Jackie Kabler
* Lesley Kara
Participating Moderator: Kate Rhodes
10:10 – 11:00
Dark Times: Crime Fiction Set in and Around WWII

* Cara Black
* Mark Ellis
* Chris Lloyd
* Ovidia Yu
Participating Moderator: Luke McCallin
10:10 – 11:00
This is a Modern World: Crime in the Digital Age

* L.M. Chilton
* Heather Critchlow
* Abi Silver
Participating Moderator: Ava Glass
10:10 – 11:00
Ghost of Honour: IAN FLEMING

* Charlie Higson
* Kim Sherwood
* Corinne Turner
Participating Moderator: Simon Brett
11:20 – 12:10
More than One: Serial Killers and Multiple Murderers

* Sam Holland
* Neil Lancaster
* Nadine Matheson
* D.E. White
Participating Moderator: Jackie Kabler
11:20 – 12:10
A Captive Audience: Locked Rooms and Limited Suspects

* Helen Fields
* Tom Hindle
* Guy Morpuss
* Kate Simants
Participating Moderator: Sarah Ward
11:20 – 12:10
The Ones You Least Expect: Keeping the Reader Guessing

* Elly Griffiths
* M.J. Lee
* Gilly Macmillan
* C.L. Taylor
Participating Moderator: Cara Black
12:30 – 13:20
Humanity in the Darkness: Finding Hope in Crime Fiction

* Michael Ridpath
* Zoë Sharp
* Jane Shemilt
* Jack Sutherland
Participating Moderator: Maxim Jakubowski
12:30 – 13:20
New Golden Age? Today’s Mystery Fiction

* Mark Billingham
* Martin Edwards
* Janice Hallett
* Vaseem Khan
Participating Moderator: David Brawn
12:30 – 13:20
Keeping Them Close: How Well Do You Know Your Friends?

* Chris Curran
* Caroline England
* Lauren North
* Alex Stone
Participating Moderator: B.A. Paris
13:40 – 14:30
Unspeakable: When Bad Things Happen

* Alex North
* Stella Oni
* Nell Pattison
* Simon Toyne
Participating Moderator: Elizabeth Chakrabarty
13:40 – 14:30
Science Fact and Science Fiction

* David Beckler
* Heather Fitt
* Andrew Hunter Murray
* Nicola Monaghan
Participating Moderator: Eve Smith
13:40 – 14:30
Guilt and Innocence

* Graham Bartlett
* James Buckler
* John Lincoln
* Abi Silver
Participating Moderator: L.F. Robertson
14:50 – 15:40
Location, Location, Location: The Importance of Setting

* Mark Dawson
* Antony Dunford
* Sabine Durrant
* David Heska Wanbli Weiden
Participating Moderator: Michael Stanley (Stanley Trollip)
14:50 – 15:40
Job Titles: Choosing What Your Protagonist Does For a Living

* Neil Daws
* Felix Francis
* Valerie Keogh
* Linda Mather
Participating Moderator: J.M. Hall
14:50 – 15:40
A Little Bit Spooky: Adding a Sprinkle of the Supernatural

* C.S. Green
* David Penny
* Teri Terry
* Sarah Ward
Participating Moderator: Linda Stratmann
16:00 – 16:50
Historical Crime Fiction: Today Reflected in History?

* D.V. Bishop
* Jake Lamar
* Bonnie MacBird
* Luke McCallin
Participating Moderator: Vaseem Khan
16:00 – 16:50
It’s Personal: The Private Lives of Police Protagonists

* Paul Finch
* Neil Lancaster
* Stella Oni
* Kate Rhodes
Participating Moderator: Sam Holland
16:00 – 16:50
Spying For A Living

* Ava Glass
* Michael Kurland
* John Lawton
* Pam Lecky
Participating Moderator: Samantha Lee Howe
17:10 – 18:00
Cat and Mouse

* Alison Bruce
* Tana Collins
* Harriet Crawley
* Antony Johnston
Participating Moderator: D.E. White
17:10 – 18:00
A Battle Between Good and Evil?: Protagonist vs Antagonist

* Liz Mistry
* Liz Nugent
* Tim Sullivan
* Robert Thorogood
Participating Moderator: Alex Shaw
PALM COURT
18:30 – 19:30

CrimeFest hosts the Crime Writers’ Association’s Dagger Announcement Reception

Saturday, 13 May

09:00 – 09:50
Debut Authors: An Infusion Of Fresh Blood

* L.M. Chilton
* Megan Davis
* Jen Faulkner
* A.J. Hill
* Bridget Walsh
Moderator: Barry Forshaw
09:00 – 09:50
Close to Home: Murder in the Family

* Tammy Cohen
* James Delargy
* Vanessa Savage
* Roz Watkins
Participating Moderator: Kia Abdullah
09:00 – 09:50
TBC
10:10 – 11:00
Kicking Against the Pricks: Fighting Power, Injustice and Inequality

* Antony Dunford
* Jónína Leósdóttir
* Emma Styles
* David Heska Wanbli Weiden
Participating Moderator: Stephen Edger
10:10 – 11:00
Children and YA Crime Fiction: Thrilling the Next Generation

* Tracy Darnton
* Elly Griffiths
* Teri Terry
* Nicki Thornton
Participating Moderator: C.S. Green
10:10 – 11:00
A Question of Genre: What do we write and Who is it for?

* Judi Daykin
* Paul Gitsham
* John Lincoln (TBC)
* Jane Shemilt
Participating Moderator: Nicola Monaghan
11:20 – 12:10
High Stakes: Risking it All

* Felix Francis
* Paul Gitsham
* Lucy Martin
* B.A. Paris
Participating Moderator: Helen Fields
11:20 – 12:10
Black is the Night: Cornell Woolrich

* Martin Edwards
* Samantha Lee Howe
* Vaseem Khan
* Donna Moore
Participating Moderator: Maxim Jakubowski
11:20 – 12:10
Historical Crime Fiction: Choices, Research and Making It Work

* Kate Ellis
* Dolores Gordon-Smith
* Pam Lecky
Participating Moderator: Sarah Williams
12:30 – 13:20
FEATURED GUEST: ELLY GRIFFITHS

Interviewer: Barry Forshaw
13:40 – 14:30
A Stranger in Our Midst: The Danger of the Outsider

* Will Dean
* Sabine Durrant
* Stephen Edger
* Tasha Sylva
Participating Moderator: Jane Corry
13:40 – 14:30
Greed, Power, Money, Revenge…: Motives for Murder

* Andrew Child
* Jake Lamar
* Louise Mangos
* L.C. North
Participating Moderator: Alex North
13:40 – 14:30
Evening All: the Enduring Allure of Police Procedurals

* Trish Finnegan
* Peter Guttridge
* Michael Ridpath
* Michael Stanley (Stan Trollip)
Participating Moderator: Caro Ramsay
14:50 – 15:40
FEATURED GUEST: MARK BILLINGHAM

Interviewer: Vaseem Khan
16:00 – 16:50
Humour: When Murder Makes us Laugh

* Peter Guttridge
* T.E. Kinsey
* Mike Ripley
* Ovidia Yu
Participating Moderator: Simon Brett
16:00 – 16:50
Society: What Crime Fiction Says About Us

* Graham Bartlett
* Elizabeth Chakrabarty
* Brian Price
* Nicola Williams
Participating Moderator: Cathy Ace
16.00 – 16.50
English Riviera: It’s not all Sunshine and Ice Cream

* Jane Corry
* Candy Denman
* Teresa Driscoll
* Karen Taylor
Participating Moderator: Tina Orr Munro
17:30 – 18:15: Ian Fleming Publications Pre-Gala Dinner Reception (All Full Pass holders welcome)
18:15: CRIMEFEST Awards Dinner – ticket holders only
TBA – Eurovision Final Song Contest Screening (all Full Pass holders welcome)

Sunday, 14 May

09:30 – 10:20
Debut Authors: An Infusion Of Fresh Blood

* Heather Critchlow
* Paul Durston
* Emma Styles
* Tasha Sylva
Moderator: Barry Forshaw
09:30 – 10:20
The Indie Alternative

* Stephen Collier
* David Gatward
* Rachel MacLean
* Dave Sivers
* Catherine Yaffe
Participating Moderator: Zoë Sharp
10:40 – 11.30
TOASTMASTER INTERVIEW – PETER GUTTRIDGE

Interviewer: Donna Moore
10:40 – 11.30
Tight Knit: Where Everyone Knows Your Business

* Cathy Ace
* Tana Collins
* Will Dean
* Chris McDonald
Moderator: Barry Forshaw
11:50 – 12:40
Criminal Mastermind Quiz

* D.V. Bishop
(on the Harry Palmer movies starring Michael Caine)
* Paul Gitsham
(on Michael Connelly’s Lincoln Lawyer novels)
* Elly Griffiths
(on Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple novels and stories)
* Zoë Sharp
(on the Slow Horses television series)
Participating Inquizitor: Maxim Jakubowksi