The Crime Warp

Staunch or True?   For me, reading and writing Crime Fiction has always been about exploring the darkness, shining a spotlight on those issues that hide in the dark corners of society causing mayhem and trauma to those who encounter them. It has never been about exploiting that, but rather about keeping those issues in the forefront, refusing to let them hover in the shadows insidiously wreaking havoc among the disenfranchised, the vulnerable or the scared. Crime fiction, as a genre, consistently holds these issues up to moral scrutiny whether through highlighting child trafficking, the ‘bonding’ of immigrants, the manipulation of sex workers or the targeting of racial or sexual groups and more. So, when I first heard of a crime fiction prize for thrillers “in which no woman is beaten, stalked, sexually exploited, raped or murdered ,”  (for details click here  ) back in January 2018, I felt I had to give my reactions time to settle...

Here's a little bit of background on today's Detective in the Dock:  DI Colin Strong was born and brought up In Doncaster. As a six year-old, he met and became lifelong friends with Bob Souter. They played football together in the same school teams – Colin up front and Bob in midfield. Colin studied English at Nottingham University, where he met his wife, Laura, before joining West Yorkshire Police. The Fields of Wheat moment… What is the most rebellious thing Colin has ever done? He was part of the university football team which stopped off at a Chinese takeaway after a game late one Wednesday night. Systematically, he and his team-mates stripped the shop of everything from the salt and pepper pots, soy sauce bottles to the menu hanging on the wall before making their escape in the team bus chased down the road by the angry owner. Part way home they were stopped by the police. Relief was overwhelming when all they wanted to ask was if the driver had seen...

I collect all sorts, always have. Stamps, minerals, masks, postcards, … nothing valuable, just things that take my fancy. Some of my more acerbic friends say I’m a hoarder rather than a discerning collector. At least I don’t collect skeletons of deformed bones – the latest collecting trend in Fiona Cummins’ dark and chilling thriller. And I certainly don’t go around killing people, either able-bodied or disabled, to enhance my collection. Ebay and the occasional junk shop serve just fine.  They say the collecting bug runs in families, that we often want to build on a collection we inherit. Well, the psychopath in this thriller inherited a deformed-human -bone family museum - macabre you might think, especially if you are one of the many kind, tolerant people who don't believe in the existence of evil. Or you might think, 'that's sick, wtf?' The thing is, if you have an interesting collection, you want to pass it on, either to an heir, or a museum perhaps, (a...

On Detectives In The Dock today, please welcome Detective Gareth Gravel.  Created by the fabulous John Nicholl's, Gravel has left the comfort of Wales, to get a real grilling here on The Crime Warp in Bradford today ... and I so love a juicy grilling. His most recent novel  A Cold Cold Heart  was released in January 2018 and his next one,  White Is The Coldest Colour  is due for release on 28th February 2018. Read on to find out more ... Tell us a little about DI Gareth Gravel’s background. Gravel, or Grav as he’s known to all in the force, is an Available here old-school copper, who’s struggling to adapt to a chaging world. He thinks of himself as a dinosaur, the last of the Mohicans. A man who’s seen too much and heard too much. Grav’s worked in Wales for his entire life, drinks to excess, smokes too many cigars, bends the rules in the interests of justice, and has a scant regard for the new breed of management, who, in his opinion, ...

The biggest celebration of the crime genre in the world has announced blockbuster author, John Grisham, will be one of its headline authors this July. John Grisham will be interviewed on stage by Lee Child, author of the bestselling Jack Reacher series. Child is Programming Chair of the 2018 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, which takes place 19-22 July in Harrogate. Established in 2003 by crime author Val McDermid, agent Jane Gregory and arts charity Harrogate International Festivals and supported by Theakston’s from the start, 2018 marks the 16 th  Festival, held at Agatha Christie’s haunt, The Old Swan Hotel. Dubbed ‘America’s favourite storyteller’ Grisham is synonymous with the modern legal thriller. The lawyer-turned-author has had nine of his books adapted to film, including  The Firm  with Tom Cruise,  The Pelican Brief  starring Julia Roberts, and  A Time to Kill  featuring Samuel L. Jackson and Matthew McConau...