Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Article Part 2: The authors - What is it about Crime fiction as a genre that turns us on?

Every year I come to Theakston's old Peculier crime Writing festival and every year I am truly astounded by the sheer volume of people who attend this event. Crime fiction is the largest selling genre and as both a writer and a reader of crime fiction I am interested to find out exactly what makes us read Crime fiction.... so that's exactly what I've done.This article poses the question to many of our beloved crime fiction writers.  Tomorrow it's the turn of the readers and the day after its the turn of the Industry greats to tell us what exactly turns them on about crime fiction...


What turns them on about Crime Fiction

Denise Mina: 'We write and read crime fiction because we have a fundamental desire to believe in a just world despite the Tsunami of evidence to refute it.'






Fiona Cummins; 'I use crime fiction to process my emotions and experiences'





Sarah Hilary; 'Readers are after an extended puzzle and they
love compassion and looking at things from all sides.. it's a very leveling process.  Crime novels can tweak our curiosity and make us reassess what we think we know'


Sheila Quigley: "A nice juicy murder, plus if it's a bad guy ithelps get rid of bad vibes.  Clears the brain and the heart.'

Steve Mosby; 'It's a genre you can use to tell any story, or address any theme you want.  Plus, it has the best writers and readers in the world.'


James Oswald: 'The readers, meeting up with people at places like Harrogate.'

Mark Billingham: 'Crime fiction tells the truth about darkness.'

Martyn Waites/Tania Carver: 'Well, not turned on in the literal sense ... it's always been my go to genre.  As long as you remember to tell a damn good story you can do absolutely anything with it.  there are no original stories, only original voices.And crime fiction is full of original voices.  that's what I love about it.'

Paul Gitsham: 'You can write about literally anything.  Any topics can be explored and I love the intellectual thrill and the challenge.'





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