A Good Girl's Guide to Murder writer Holly Jackson: 'I was fascinated by dark topics so it was either crime writing or serial killer'

She has, however, always had “a tiny bit” about Harrogate’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. It’s billed as the world’s largest and most prestigious celebration of crime fiction, a genre that Lisa came to in 2017 after first working in fashion and then spending years writing chick-lit following the publication of her first novel on the back of a drunken bet with a friend.

“I've always had a tiny bit of imposter syndrome about Harrogate and maybe even a tiny bit of it about the crime writing community in general because I came to it quite late,” she admits. "And so I've always felt slightly like I would try and hold myself back at Harrogate because it felt like it was other people's place, the people who'd really put the work in over the years to be part of the crime writing community.”

That all changed when she was asked two years ago to become programming chair to curate the 2026 festival. “It was the final nail in the coffin of my imposter syndrome about Harrogate. I just thought, okay, I feel like I'm now fully accepted into the crime writing community, and into the Harrogate community. It was an amazing moment,” she says.

The festival returns for its 23rd year next month, with a programme of panels, talks and creative workshops at the Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate. Highlights include an event for Vera fans, with writer Ann Cleeves and actor Brenda Blethyn, who played DCI Vera Stanhope for fourteen years, taking a behind-the-scenes look at the much-loved TV series, whilst Cleeves unveils her latest Vera Stanhope novel.

Author and TV writer Anthony Horowitz also returns to the festival hot on the heels of smash-hit BBC TV dramas Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders to showcase his latest novel – and making her festival debut is Holly Jackson, author of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, who will introduce her new thriller Not Quite Dead Yet.

"I haven't actually done that many festivals,” the 34-year-old admits. “And this is the big crime one. This is the grownup party that I've been invited to. I don't actually know what to expect. I don't know what the crowd will be like. I don't know if they'll find my jokes funny. I don't know if they'll find the fact that I'm very unserious about the topic of murder okay. But I'm very grateful to have been included.”

Festivals like this provide an opportunity for interaction, both with readers and amongst other authors, and that’s particularly valuable in the sometimes “lonely business” of writing books, Holly says. It’s one of the reasons she also takes enjoyment from writing and producing screen adaptations of her work. "With books you have to take the reader on an emotional journey just using words. That's really difficult,” she says. “I like to think that when I'm the author, I have to do all the jobs. I'm the writer, the director, the actor, the set designer. There's so much to think about.

“Whereas when I'm writing scripts, yes, I have to think about the visual, and how it's going to cut together...and obviously, I have to supply the character arc, the journey, the lines, but a lot of the heavy lifting is done by the actors who will take what I've written on the page and breathe life into it. It's more collaborative in that way. And I feel like there's less pressure on me to have to do it all.”

She believes she’s become a better writer since studying how to do so for screen. But writing in some form has been part of Holly’s life since childhood. In her family’s eyes, there were two paths she could have taken – storyteller or serial killer. “It was going to go one way or the other just because of my absolute fixation on dark topics,” she laughs. “I used to write short stories for my little sister. We used to do this thing that my parents used to think was cute and adorable and so endearing where we had a notebook and we would write short stories for each other to take to bed and read….Then my parents got hold of the notebook and read some of the stories that I was scribbling and we're talking full-on visceral murder, even cannibalism. So they swiftly put a stop to that practice.”

It’s author anecdotes like these that Lisa finds fascinating. As programming chair, the 57-year-old worked with the team at Harrogate International Festivals to create a “lifestyle tone” for this year’s festival, taking place from July 23 to 26. “This might sound awful, but when I’m listening to writers talking, I’m actually not that interested in hearing about their book,” she explains. “I want to hear about them, their lifestyle, their publishing story, their writing processes, how they've been shaped as a writer…And I think think once you've heard a writer talk about themselves, you'll be naturally inclined to want to pick up their book and find out more about them via the medium of their writing.”

Lisa, whose new novel It Could Have Been Her is out next week, is involved in a couple of festival events herself, taking the spotlight during an ‘in conversation’ with author Lee Child, the creator of the Jack Reacher novels, and also hosting the Man About The House panel, with male writers in the field of domestic noir.

"The festival always has this very beautiful energy about it,” she reflects. “For the types of people who want to come and meet writers and listen to writers talking and then for writers themselves to be in a space that's completely taken over with enthusiasm and love and excitement, it's the most invaluable experience. It's not like anything else.” Visit harrogateinternationalfestivals.com