The Crime Warp

      My book Dying to See You was  released on 25 th April 2018. It’s a psychological thriller based in Bedfordshire about a single mum, Sophie, who meets the wrong man. She doesn’t know Max has been watching her for some time.           My inspiration for the book came from pondering how well we ever know anyone. I run a care agency for children and when we recruit carers we undertake formal interviews as well as Disclosure and Barring Service police checks, two references and a medical. When I first met my husband-to-be twenty years ago it was several months before I met anyone who knew him and could verify who he was. I allowed him into my home and introduced him to my two children. Thankfully my instincts were correct and he is a warm and loving man. Sophie in my story isn’t so lucky.

Sex, drugs, prostitution, violence and an agency, no not Los Angeles 2018, but Victorian London. Mrs Kern, owner of the foremost secretarial agency in London and woman with a troubled past, decides to investigate the suicide of one of her employees. Who would have thought that this investigation would lead her into terrible danger?  Did I mention that Garden of Lies belongs to the genre of Historic Romantic Crime? We know that this means a beau, a swain, a lover - so who is the heart throb who unsettles Mrs Kern while at the same time helping her with her investigation? No other than dashing adventurer, archaeologist and man of mystery – the infamous Slater Roxton. Before the investigation by our feisty heroine is concluded, there will be mystery, an assassin, blackmail and more dead bodies. If you want an entertaining read set in 19 th Century London then look no further.  Jayne Ann Krentz is a prolific American author who has over 50 New York Times bests...

It gives me great pleasure to welcome Lesley Kelly back to The Crime Warp.  This time we host her     blog tour and we've been lucky enough to grab an exclusive article written by Lesley herself.  I'm sure you'll find it as fascinating as I did. 

 Val McDermid has unveiled her four ‘New Blood’ debut crime novelists for 2018. Val McDermid co-founded the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival with literary agent Jane Gregory and arts charity, Harrogate International Festivals in 2003. Since 2004, she has hosted her annual New Blood panel at the festival, which has become one of the most anticipated events on the publishing calendar. Just four debut novels are picked out of 50 submissions the ‘Queen of Crime’ receives each year. Over the years, McDermid has introduced some formidable new talents to the Harrogate audience, and through them to a wider readership. Val McDermid said: “Choosing the four debut novels for the New Blood panel at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival and presenting them to the 700-strong audience is the best job in crime fiction. I get to immerse myself in new voices and fresh ideas. My quartet this year have each produced a provocative and entertaining excursion into t...

I love my Young Adult crime fiction, especially as for my Ph.D in Creative Writing, I'm looking into the 'teen voice' in adult crime fiction.  I think adult crime fiction has a lot to learn from YA fiction.  Here's my review of a couple of YA crime fiction books I've read recently.  The first is Genuine Fraud by E Lockhart, author of We Were Liars, a serial killer novel. The second is Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkampe, best selling author of This Is Where it Ends.   This   is a tense psychological thriller.

Wow, what a great read. There are lots of well-written crime novels on the market but this one grabbed me personally. Perhaps because it’s set in a police academy and I’ve been a teacher and lecturer myself, perhaps because it’s set in Quebec and I was born in Canada, perhaps just because it’s a great plot with interesting characters. The second part to the setting is an unmapped village in the Eastern Townships with a small church and a stained-glass window concealing a mystery. The main protagonist, Inspector Gamache is a good man. It’s not really fashionable in these image driven days to be good anymore - we need to be successful, look good in selfies, be interesting and appear to take an interest in social justice, as long as there is no personal cost to us. However, no one wants to be thought of as good or decent anymore. Police inspectors are supposed to be drunks or have any amount of neuroses or skeletons in the closet and be as demon driven as the criminals they are...

Big hitters including Lee Child, Ian Rankin and Val McDermid, feature on the longlist for the most prestigious crime writing prize in the country. The prize was created to celebrate the very best in crime fiction and is open to UK and Irish crime authors whose novels were published in paperback from 1 May 2017 to 30 April 2018. 2018 marks the 14 th  year of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award. The winner is announced at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, hosted in Harrogate each July. The festival was established in 2003 by Val McDermid, agent Jane Gregory, and arts charity Harrogate International Festivals. The award is run in partnership with T&R Theakston Ltd, WHSmith, and The Mail on Sunday. The longlist of 18 titles were selected by an academy of crime writing authors, agents, editors, reviewers and members of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Programming Committee. Four previous winners of the award - Val McDer...