Harrogate's Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival full line up revealed

And Harrogate International Festivals has now announced the line up for this year’s 20th anniversary Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.

Hosted at Harrogate’s Old Swan Hotel from July 20 to 23, this year the festival will welcome Lucy Worsley, the TV historian and curator, whose recent biography of Agatha Christie examines her disappereance in 1926.

Famously, 11 days after she went missing, Christie resurfaced – at the Old Swan Hotel.

Literary legends Lee Child, Andrew Child, Lisa Jewell, Ruth Ware, Ann Cleeves and Val McDermid are all set to appear in a programme curated by award winning crime and thriller author Vaseem Khan.

Mr Khan said: “It’s a privilege to chair this year’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.

"My late father and I watched Poirot together and we’d never imagined that decades later I would chair a Festival so closely connected to Agatha Christie.

"It feels special to be the first British Asian crime writer to chair the Festival, and even more special for the monumental 20th anniversary.

"The Festival team have pulled together an Avengers Assemble line-up of crime writers to celebrate the monumental anniversary. You’d be (criminally) insane to miss it."

Sharon Canavar, chief executive of Harrogate International Festivals, added: “This year marks 20 years since the Festival launched in Harrogate, and what wonderful two decades we’ve had celebrating the world of crime fiction.

"In that time, the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival has welcomed some of the biggest names in crime fiction and this year is no exception.”

The Festival will start with Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award ceremony, where the winner of crime writing’s most prestigious accolade will be revealed alongside the recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award.