Behind the Scenes of Crime in 1987 – the CWA on BBC Radio 4!In 1987 longstanding CWA member Joan Lock, who had already written and presented several plays and programmes for Radio 4, made a documentary about the CWA featuring many crime-writing luminaries of t...
Walter Mosley Awarded CWA Diamond Dagger 2023Walter Mosley is the 2023 recipient of the highest honour in crime writing, the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Diamond Dagger. The CWA Daggers are now regarded by the publishing world as the foremos...
MURDER MYSTERIES: A NEW GOLDEN AGE? asks Tom MeadLike many people, I grew up in thrall to the Golden Age of Detective Fiction (GAD for short). Our home was heaped with Agatha Christie paperbacks, so even before I picked up a single one and actually...
‘From the slush pile to the Sorbonne’ – Peter Lovesey on the lows and highs of short story writingMany stories ago, I found a second-hand book published in 1947 called The Queen’s Awards. It contained the winning short fiction in a competition organised by the two American mystery writers, Frederi...
‘The C Change in Undercover Policing’ by Stephen BentleyHaving now written two non-fiction and several fiction books about undercover cops, I know a thing or two about authenticity when writing fiction involving characters who are undercover police officer...
‘Entering the secret world of urban gangs’ by Jennie EnsorWhat goes on inside closed groups has always fascinated me – whether it’s a dysfunctional family unit, an urban gang or a Metropolitan Police murder team. All three feature in my fourth book, Silenced...
‘Scribbler Sleuths’ by Andy Griffee‘Police Calls’ were one of my regular duties as a 20-year-old cub reporter on the weekly Poole and Dorset Herald during the early 1980s. It involved an early morning drive to the town’s ma...
‘Sodden boxershorts: Charles Willeford and modern-day publishing’ by John BarlowI’ve just finished reading Charles Willeford’s Hoke Moseley series. The four books, all set in 1980s Miami, are wildly, brilliantly idiosyncratic. As Elmore Leonard said, nobody writes a better crime...
“Not so much Dun-Roamin’ as having discovered a whole new genre to roam.” – by Simon ScarrowI was on a panel of ‘Roman’ writers at a festival in Harrogate some years ago when a member of the audience asked us if we’d ever contemplate writing outside that historical period. I was quite surpri...
When Covid 19 clips your wings, why not plan a crime festival?By Beverley Jones, author of The Beach House. Remember last summer, when we were all staying home, protecting the NHS and clapping for carers? Little did we know how thoroughly Covid 19 would affect u...
‘Karloff, the 60’s, and the First Truly Modern Crime Story’ by Joseph Schneider“Mr. Boogey Man,” “King of Blood” they used to call me. Marx Brothers make you laugh, Garbo makes you weep, Orlock makes you scream. – Boris Karloff as Byron Orlock, Targets It’s 1967, and Peter Bogda...
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...
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...
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...
Domestic Noir – crime that’s close to home by Alice CastleDomestic noir is not new. Ever since the first performance of Medea in 431 BC, or Mrs Bluebeard’s first peek into that forbidden chamber, women have been confronting horrible truths close to home. The...
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