Crime writers head for Harrogate festival

Want to know where to find the sickest minds in the country? Nope, it’s not Westminster. It’s Harrogate. For a few days this summer, it will be a hot-bed of serial killers, psychopaths, lone wolves and devious criminal masterminds.

You’ll find them in the bar, chatting over pints of real ale and giving you their thoughts on the weather, the cricket and why books smell so nice.

And no, they’re not at all dangerous. They’re a nice bunch. Friendly, approachable, gregarious and enthusiastic. And the only thing they’re out to punish in the real world is their livers.

The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival is the biggest celebration of the genre in Europe. You see, crime is big business. It accounts for £200m book sales a year. It dominates film and TV. And the people feeding the nation’s crime addiction are all to be found in Yorkshire this July, whether they’re on a panel or not. Up to 90 authors will be mingling with publicists, publishers, agents, editors and readers for one long weekend at The Old Swan Hotel.

Author Kevin Wignall (whose book For the Dogs is currently been filmed with Sam Worthington) has never appeared on a panel and yet hangs out every year. He says it’s the crime fraternity’s “annual AGM”. Lee Child flies to Harrogate from his New York home (this will be his fourth appearance) not because he needs to sell books (17.5m worldwide sales so far) but because it’s where he meets old friends and because, as he said, there’s no other place to discover new, upcoming writers.

This year it’s even attracting an Oscar-nominated actress – Brenda Blethyn – and top comedienne Sarah Millican.

The annual New Blood panel is regarded as being a showcase for the Next Big Thing, previewing the likes of SJ Watson with his phenomenal debut, Before I Go to Sleep (now being filmed with Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth).

It was where I made my debut last year and 12 months on I am now the festival’s new reader-in-residence and to get you in the mood for the annual Yorkshire festival of crime, here’s a run down of some of the best books in the genre.

Stav Sherez – A Dark Redemption: He has a mind as dark as the inside of a pig, in a coffin, in a tomb, with the lights off. But boy can he write. It introduces DI Jack Carrigan and DS Geneva Miller as they investigate the brutal murder of a young Ugandan student. Plunged into an underworld of illegal immigrant communities, they discover that some people will go to any lengths to keep their secrets.

Kate Atkinson – Started Early, Took My Dog: Atkinson is a Special Guest and with Jackson Brodie back on our TVs, it’s a good time to revisit, or discover her Jackson Brodie series… especially as, like the festival, it’s set in glorious Harrogate and north Yorkshire (even if the TV series was filmed in Scotland!)

Lauren Beukes – The Shining Girls: She’s been tipped as the next Gone Girl must-read this summer, with her time-travelling serial killer and superb heroine. The Shining Girls will take over your mind and your life and you won’t regret it for a moment.

Anya Lipska – Where The Devil Can’t Go: A naked girl has washed up on the banks of the River Thames. The only clue to her identity is a heart-shaped tattoo encircling two foreign names. Who is she – and why did she die? That’s the question facing intriguing protagonist Janusz Kiszka, an unofficial ‘fixer’ for East London’s Polish community.

Mari Hannah – Deadly Deceit: It’s only a matter of time until ‘next big thing’ Mari Hannah fulfils the predictions. The latest addition to the Kate Daniels series is fascinating. It’s 4am on a wet stretch of the A1 and a driver skids out of control. Quick on the scene, Senior Investigating Officer Kate Daniels and partner DS Hank Gormley are presented with a horrifying image of carnage and mayhem. But as the casualties mount up, they soon realise that not all deaths were as a result of the accident.

Sarah Pinborough – Mayhem: Set at the same time as the hunt for Jack the Ripper, this is a gripping and truly authentic page-turner. She leads a panel 
in Harrogate on Victorian crime alongside leading authors Kate Colquhoun, Lyndsay Faye, Kate Summerscale and Andrew Taylor down a myriad of dark Victorian alleys.

Colette McBeth – A Precious Thing: Colette has created something stunningly visceral and believable in A Precious Thing and is hotly tipped to use her appearance alongside Val McDermid on the New Blood panel as a springboard to major success.

Other crime festival highlights

As well as the novelists featured above, this year’s Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival will also see appearances from Scarborough’s own Susan Hill, Charlaine Harris, William McIlvanney, Ian Rankin and Ruth Rendell interviewed by Jeanette Winterson.

Panel discussions include a look at German crime writing, authors from south of the equator and the role of forensics with Professor Sue Black.

The festival runs from July 18 to 23 and for more information call 01423 562303, www.harrogateinternational festivals.com/crime