We anticipate announcing the 2024 programme in February.
In the meantime—for a taster of what to expect—please see the 2023 itinerary below.
(ALL TIMES, PANELS AND PANELLISTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
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. |
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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 |
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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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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