The Crime Warp

Harrogate, Thursday 2 July 2020 : Harrogate International Festivals is thrilled to announce first names for its new, free virtual festival bringing world-class culture to everyone at home, the   HIF Weekender . From 23 to 26 July, the HIF Weekender will present a celebration of the arts, featuring performances and interviews with internationally acclaimed musicians, best-selling authors and innovative thinkers to coincide with what would have been the legendary long weekend of Harrogate’s  Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. The HIF Weekender begins with a bang, crowning the winner of the UK’s most prestigious crime fiction prize –  Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year  –  in a virtual ceremony recognising the best of the best. The celebrations continue with crime writing royalty  Ian Rankin , who was set to be the  2020 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Programming Chair , interviewed by  N. J. Coo...

Available here Sometimes it's great to find two novels from a favourite author that you've managed to miss and then read them almost back to back and that's exactly what I did with The Last Widow and The Silent Wife b y Karin Slaughter. These two books follow on from each other but couldn't be more different in terms of plot. Once more Slaughter has managed to not only produce a fantastic thriller, but she's ramped up the tension between Will and Sara in a very clever way ... but more about that in a bit. For now, here's the blurb. The Blurb He watches. A woman runs alone in the woods. She convinces herself she has no reason to be afraid, but she’s wrong. A predator is stalking the women of Grant County. He lingers in the shadows, until the time is just right to snatch his victim. He waits. A decade later, the case has been closed. The killer is behind bars. But then another young woman is brutally attacked and left for dead, and the MO is identic...

Available here I've read all of J D Kirks Jack Logan books and throughly enjoyed all of them. However, A Whisper of Sorrows is, in my opinion, the best yet. In this we see the return of Mr Whisper and let me reassure you, you are in for a real treat with this one.  Blurb The hunter has become the hunted. Ten years ago, DCI Jack Logan caught the twisted child killer known as Mister Whisper. Two days ago, Mister Whisper escaped. Now, Jack must track down the most ruthless enemy he has ever faced before he can strike again. But, after ten years behind bars, it isn't just murder that Mister Whisper has in mind. It's revenge. A Whisper of Sorrows  is the sixth book in the DCI Jack Logan crime thriller series, all based in the Highlands of Scotland, and perfect for fans of Tartan Noir crime fiction. My Thoughts Well, when I finished The Last Bloody Straw, I was a wee bit peeved as it left with such a great cliffhanger and I thought I was going to have to wait for ages f...

Delighted to welcome Amanda Brittany to The Crime Warp. Amanda writes psychological crime thrillers. Her debut, Her Last Lie was published in January 2018, with all her eBook royalties being donated to Cancer Research UK in memory of her younger sister. Her Last Lie is presently being made into a film. Amanda lives in Hertfordshire in the UK with her husband and two crazy, cute dogs. She's studied psychology & creative writing, and has a BA in English literature. When she's not writing, she loves spending time with her family and friends, travelling, walking her dogs, reading & sunny days. Although she also has a soft spot for snow, which features quite a bit in her writing! She also writes psychological suspense novels as A J Brittany with Karen Clarke. Their debut The Secret Sister is out NOW, and they are presently writing book 2. Amanda's fourth book I Lie in Wait is out in August 2020 and is available to pre-order. Tell the Truth and Traces ...

(L-R: Jessica Moor, Deepa Anappara, Trevor Wood, Elizabeth Kay) The New Blood 2020 panel will be streamed on Saturday 25 July on harrogateinternationalfestivals.com Harrogate, Thursday 18 June 2020 : The undisputed ‘Queen of Crime’ Val McDermid has unveiled the hotly tipped ‘New Blood’ authors for 2020, showcasing the year’s best breakout crime writing talent: -            Deepa Anappara  –  Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line  (Chatto & Windus) -            Elizabeth Kay  –  Seven Lies  (Sphere) -            Jessica Moor  –  Keeper  (Penguin) -            Trevor Wood  –  The Man on the Street  (Quercus) Since 2004, the best-selling Scottish author of the Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series has curated...

I love the Will Trent/Sara Linton series, but every time I open up a new one I panic a little, in case I'm disapppointed . But WOW! The Last Widow is explosively addictive and I flew through it at a rate of knots. In fact I think the pages just turned themselves. Here's the Blurb She might be the first victim, but she won’t be the last. Three… A woman is abducted in front of her child. Two… A month later, a second is taken in explosive circumstances. One… But the web is bigger and darker than anyone could imagine. The clock is ticking to uncover the truth. My Thoughts The relationship between Will and Sara is sharper, more poignant and infinately more compulsive than before - a real marked development here which was sooooo satisfying. When Sara is snatched by an extremist right wing group who have a complex and deadly agenda that will result in many deaths, she needs all of her ingenuity to survive. Meanwhile, Will's worst nightmare has become a ...