Down the Rabbit Hole – the Story Behind Splinter in the Blood by Ashley DyerSplinter in the Blood began with an image: a woman with a gun standing over a shooting victim. My earliest jottings on the story date back to April 2014. I wrote, ‘She looks down at him and feels ange...
Time to get Crime Writing for Prestigious CWA CompetitionsTwo crime writing competitions are open now. 1) The CWA Margery Allingham Short Story Competition Not to be missed for lovers of short-story writing – and being shortlisted for this renowned competiti...
Popular Crime Writer Kate Ellis Launches Latest TitleOn 6 December Kate Ellis welcomed another addition to her list of titles. Kate is best known for her long-running series featuring archaeology graduate turned police inspector, Wesley Peterson. Howeve...
Blue on Blue by Paul BennettOver twenty years ago Nick Shannon was in prison for seven years for the mercy killing of his sister, crippled beyond repair by a hit-and-run driver. The only clue he has is that there was a boot prin...
Are Shorter Reads Better? by David BecklerI’ve watched the growth in the popularity of novellas with interest, something you can read on your morning commute or in a couple of lunchtimes. Novellas are also a good way to discover new authors....
Where A Book Begins – The Back-story of Death on a Shetland Isle by Marsali TaylorDeath on a Shetland Isle began with a story, a true one, of how of how two people went missing from Eynhallow, an island in Orkney. I enjoy putting Shetland folklore in my books, and for this one I wa...
Halfway – there’s a killer behind and trouble ahead, by B E JonesThe Halfway Inn is closed to customers, side-lined by a bypass in the inhospitable, wild countryside. One winter’s night, deep in snow, Lee, a student hitching home for Christmas, and Becca a local nu...
Writing A Series by Leigh RussellMany authors of series work out in advance how their protagonist is going to develop through each book. I’d like to say my own series was carefully planned in this way, but the truth is I never set ou...
Criminal Law In the Blood by Ruth ManciniIn the Blood was inspired by a real-life case. I was waiting in court one morning when a young woman was brought up from the cells. The charge was murder, the victim her newborn child. I’ve dealt with...
How Working in a Safe-House influenced my WritingAJ Waines chats to the CRA about the background to her latest psychological thriller, Perfect Bones. I can honestly say that when it comes to personal experience of the ‘criminal mind’, fact, for me,...
Get Ready for Killer WomenThe third Killer Women Festival is on 21 October in Brown’s Courtrooms, Covent Garden, London. Headliners include Mark Billingham, Sophie Hannah, Paula Hawkins, CWA Dagger shortlisted Mick Herro...
The Curious Case of the Pheasant and the Dog, by Peter TicklerWhere do you get your ideas from? Almost every author ever published will have been asked this question at some stage. And in the case of my latest crime novel White Lies, Deadly Lies, there are two...
Interview with Sarah Ward, author of The Shrouded PathThe Shrouded Path by Derbyshire-based author Sarah Ward is out on 6 September. She talks to the CRA about her new book. Q: This is the fourth novel in your DC Connie Childs series. Is it easier to...
Spooky fifteen-inch robot provides inspiration for Kate EllisEvery book begins with a flash of inspiration, something that triggers an idea and starts a plot flowing. The initial idea for The Mechanical Devil was a newspaper article about a sixteenth century ro...
Gallows Court by Martin EdwardsOne of the most exciting moments in a writer’s life comes with a decision to try something very different, a novel unlike anything one has attempted before. Writing a book in this way is also a scary...
An Appointment with The Wicker Man, by Charles E McGarryI sometimes wonder if Robin Hardy’s cult movie The Wicker Man holds a magical allure for me because I was born at the same time as it was being filmed. This is probably vanity, as the film, the grandd...
A macabre liturgy. A mysterious carving. An intriguing 200-year-old mystery. When Phineas Fox is asked to help with the music for bicentenary celebrations at Cresacre Abbey School, he does not expect...
A DISCORDANCE OF ANCIENT LAWS by Sarah RayneI wasn’t expecting to find I had combined an ancient law and opera for a book, but Song of the Damned, published in July 2018, turned out to have both elements at its heart. It’s not, of course, so ve...
The second disappearance of Aldo Moro by Timothy WilliamsLeft-wing terrorists kidnapped Aldo Moro in Rome on 16 March 1978. Fifty-five days later, on 9 May, his lifeless body was found abandoned in a Renault 4 hatchback in the heart of the city. He had been...
And What Do You Do? by Diane DicksonWhen I was in my late twenties, I worked as a receptionist. Not any old receptionist, I worked in the staff health clinic in a military hospital in Saudi Arabia. It was confidential work. It wasn’t ju...
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