A Christmas Murder of Crows by DM AustinDecember 1923. In the picturesque Westmorland village of Crowthwaite, the barmaid at The Black Feather entertains a traveller with a local story of pagan sacrifice – the Murder of Crows. Unbekno...
Suspense Novels: Home or Away? by Helen CooperI write this while looking at the covers of my two novels. My debut, The Downstairs Neighbour, features a house with a half-open doorway: an ordinary, familiar image, but with an air of shadowy secrec...
‘Taking to Drink with Dickens’ by JC BriggsI was studying my map of London in 1850 to find the end of the Blackwall Railway where Dickens and Jones must alight in pursuit of a murderer. I needed a tavern in which the murderer could be holed up...
Every Time Unlucky: finding new challenges for a series character by Antony JohnstonDo we expect spy thrillers to have an emotional arc? Perhaps not. Many readers, certainly, seek out the genre for action and tradecraft rather than mental health issues, relationship problems, or dysf...
‘The Patrios Network’ by Antony JohnstonONLINE HATE BECOMES REAL. When a renegade British officer steals plans for a high-tech weapon that could plunge whole cities into darkness, elite MI6 hacker Brigitte Sharp is sent to get them back. Bu...
Bookseller of the Month – September 2022: The Oundle BookshopJoanna Patterson-Gordon of The Oundle Bookshop Talks to William Shaw You’ll find The Oundle Bookshop behind an impressive line of Georgian pillars on Market Place, which is where it’s been for a remar...
An Honourable ThiefIntroducing Jonas Flynt. Gambler. Thief. Killer. Man of honour. 1715. Jonas Flynt, ex-soldier and reluctant member of the Company of Rogues, a shady intelligence group run by ruthless spymaster Nathan...
‘From Dallas, Texas’ by MJ WilliamsMy new book, The Velocity of Blood follows 17-year-old Jack Tolleson as he’s bullied online and offline, fat-shamed, victimized and finally thrown away and forgotten. One day in October, he breaks. In...
Curtain Call at the Seaview Hotel by Glenda YoungCurtain Call at the Seaview Hotel is the second in the series starring hotel landlady and amateur sleuth Helen Dexter. You can still read it as a stand alone book, however. This cosy crime is set agai...
Bookseller of the Month – August 2022: Imagined Things BookshopGeorgia Eckert from Imagined Things Bookshop in conversation with William Shaw. In 2018, Imagined Things Bookshop, in Harrogate, became known as the bookshop that was saved by a tweet. On 25 June 201...
‘Witness for the Prosecution: Jumbo Saves the Day’ by JC BriggsI am always astonished by the interesting and extraordinary stories which turn up during my research for the Charles Dickens Investigations. Some things can’t be used and remain in the memory just as...
CWA Daggers 2022 announcedRay Celestin, MW Craven, Janice Hallett and Mark Billingham awarded 2022 CWA Daggers. The winners of the 2022 CWA Daggers, which honour the very best in the crime writing genre, have been announced. R...
‘Her Perfect Husband’ by Susan WilkinsShe thinks he’s perfect. But is he playing her for a fool? In a tangle of twisted passions and lies, the path of love leads to obsession and murder. Sophie Latham is a successful businesswoman used to...
What if your father turned out to be a serial killer? asks Victoria SelmanMy latest thriller, Truly Darkly Deeply explores a serial killer’s legacy through the eyes of his daughter who, twenty years after his incarceration, still can’t be sure whether he’s actually guilty....
‘What makes great characters tick?’ asks AA ChaudhuriThere’s something about the psychological genre that sucks me in like no other. The pervading sense of dread, the flawed narrator(s), the tension between characters, along with an iconic twist, all ma...
Countdown to CWA DaggersJust a few days are left to buy tickets to attend the annual Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Dagger Awards dubbed the ‘Oscars’ of the crime genre. Booking closes this Friday (10 June) for the 2022 aw...
‘CRIME FICTION IN THE BLITZ’ BY MIKE HOLLOWThe trouble with writing historical crime fiction is that it’s fiction, which means you make it all up, but it’s also set in the past, and if you get your history wrong it can really annoy the person...
‘The Life of Crime’ by Martin EdwardsIn this ground-breaking history of crime fiction, acclaimed expert and CWA Diamond Dagger winner Martin Edwards traces the evolution of the genre from the eighteenth century to the present, offering a...
Are you a saint or a sinner? asks Caroline EnglandWhen it comes to my psychological suspense novels, I’m a counsellor, therapist and particularly a psychologist. How I love to excavate my characters’ innermost thoughts and feelings and find out who t...
‘The Thief, the Wife and the Canoe’ by David LeighThe Thief, His Wife and The Canoe is the behind-the-scenes account of a true event of audacious deception and coercion, offering an unprecedented insight into a mind-boggling story that gripped the na...
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