Coronavirus and Creativity, by Antony Johnston‘Self-isolate? You mean stay indoors, don’t leave the house, and don’t socialise with anyone? Why, I’ve been practising for this my whole life!’ Every author has cracked some form of this joke over th...
Ready for an Armchair Road Trip? (Not coming to a screen near you just yet!) by B E Jones‘I’d love to see a draft of the script when there is one,’ I said, trying not to get over excited as I sipped a glass of London’s alarmingly expensive red wine. I was fresh off the 10.05 train from Ca...
Mystery for Golden Age Fans from CWA Diamond Dagger Winner Martin EdwardsThe CWA’s decision to award me the Diamond Dagger for 2020 is a huge honour. I’m so thrilled; I can still hardly believe it. Among other things, it’s a massive fillip to morale, and all writers benefi...
Fear Not the Details … by Paul GitshamOne of the scariest things about writing contemporary police procedurals is the attention to detail that is necessary. To write a modern police investigation that feels authentic requires some insight...
Murder game ideas for these difficult timesReading is of course a fabulous way to pass the time in this period of social isolation. But when all you crave is social contact – is it possible to still get the thrill of jointly solving a murder...
Eating the Dead: the Parsees of India by Vaseem KhanThe fifth novel in the Baby Ganesh Agency series, Bad Day at the Vulture Club, sees my protagonist, Inspector Chopra investigating the murder of a wealthy Parsee in India’s city of dreams – Mumbai. Pa...
Tiller Thrillers by Andy GriffeeJust when you thought it was safe to go out on a canal, another Tiller-Thriller comes along. At a time of plague and pestilence it is tempting to think that a peaceful cruise to remote and isolated lo...
Poisoned at the Priory, from the Cold Case Jury series by Antony M BrownBalham, 1876. When the newly-wed barrister Charles Bravo ingests a rare poison, all evidence suggests suicide. But in one of the most infamous inquests of all time, a coroner finds it to be an unlawfu...
Judging a Book by Its Cover, by Pauline RowsonPauline is author of the DI Andy Horton crime series (14); Art Marvik mystery thrillers (3) and the 1950 set mystery Death in the Cove, the first in the Inspector Ryga series. Book covers are a...
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE! (While I take a few notes…) – tips on historical research from Karen CharltonAlthough the Internet is still the first port of call for historical crime writers who want to research an era, many of us still glean a wealth of knowledge and inspiration from the old newspapers of...
A virtual book festival for crime fiction – and it’s free!MyVLF.com, the multi-award winning virtual book festival venue, is holding a dedicated Crime & Thriller Fest on March 28th, and it is totally free to attend, wherever you are in the world. Launche...
‘From Trilogy to Series – how a forgotten manuscript in a drawer led to publishing success’ by Anne CoatesPerdition’s Child, the fourth book in my Hannah Weybridge crime thriller series is published on 6 February, 2020 and my protagonist, a freelance journalist and single mother in her 30s, has come a lon...
The ‘Museum Murder’ series by Jim Eldridge – a BBC scriptwriter’s journey to becoming a novelist2018 saw the publication of Murder at the Fitzwilliam, the first in my historical crime series ‘The Museum Mysteries’. Set in Cambridge in 1894, it introduced Daniel Wilson, a private investigator and...
A fond farewell to MC BeatonBarry Forshaw, author of Crime Fiction: A Reader’s Guide, on MC Beaton (aka Marion Chesney), the creator of Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth, who has died at 83. Although many crime novels fit more or...
‘The Abduction’ by A.A. ChaudhuriTHE ABDUCTION by Alex Chaudhuri Hot on the heels of serial killer whodunnit, The Scribe, Kramer & Carver are back in new twisty thriller, The Abduction, published by Endeavour Media, 20 December 2...
What Women Want – Graham Brack takes a view on the sometimes differing tastes of female readersBy Graham Brack I am writing this in the United States where I have been amusing myself by, among other things, visiting bookshops. Needless to say, I focus on the crime fiction shelves where two thou...
Laid in Earth by Graham BrackCould this be Josef Slonský’s final case…? Perfect for fans of Ian Rankin, Jo Nesbo and Peter Robinson, and for those who like an unusual setting and more than a dash of wry humour. Why dig a new grav...
The Peter Lovesey First Crime Novel ContestMultiple CWA Dagger winner Peter Lovesey (including the prestigious Diamond Dagger in 2000) is launching a competition for new authors, along with his publisher, Soho Press. It is open to the world. A...
The ‘other’ Golden Age Knitting Sleuth – Alice K. Boatwright on Miss SilverIn December 1927, the world’s most famous knitting detective made her first appearance in the pages of The Royal Magazine. Dressed in Victorian black brocade and lace mittens, Miss Jane Marple knitted...
How to start your novel – a step-by-step guide by Cal MoriartyWe at the CRA know that many of our readers also dream of one day, themselves, being writers. Our sister organisation, the CWA, offers you an opportunity to submit your fledgling novel for the Debut D...
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