The Crime Warp

 It seems like a lifetime ago when The Crime Warp went live in October 2012.  We weren't sure what to expect but we couldn't have anticipated how many readers we would have (over 45,000 page views) and how much we would write about crime fiction and thrillers (225 posts with more being added every week).  We originally thought most readers would be from the UK and have been delighted to see how far The CrimeWarp has spread, with regular visitors from across the whole of Europe, the Far East, Australia and the Americas. Our ambition is to provide our readers with news about the newest and best in crime fiction and thrillers through book reviews, author interviews and general news about what's happening in the world of crime fiction.  We believe its that mix that keeps bringing people back so often.   To celebrate our second birthday, we're giving away a copy of Books to Die For , which normally retails at £18.99.  The book is edited by John Conn...

Both my parents migrated to the UK and when I read Long Way Home I thought about my father who left his home in Eastern Europe when he was 17 and didn’t see it again until fifty years later. It brought back lots of memories of him because there was something particularly evocative about both the title and themes of the novel. Long Way Home didn’t just strike a chord with me - the mix of good writing, smart plotting and stories drawing on contemporary social issues appealed to lots of readers, both in the UK and right across Europe.     Long Way Home wasn’t just a flash in the pan. Dolan has now signed a deal for another two novels in the Zigic and Ferreira series and the TV rights have also just been optioned by ITV. Here’s a sneak preview of the next two books in the series, which have piqued my interest even more than the first book did.   Tell No Tales – January 2015. A car ploughs into the bus stop early one morning leaving a trail of death and destructi...

I really enjoyed Specific Gravity , a story with each chapter written by a different author. It’s a free download and each chapter is designed to be read in 15 minutes if you happened to be on a number 36 bus in Harrogate! It was pretty tongue in cheek but a good giggle nonetheless:   http://36stories.co.uk/fifteen-minute-read-12/   I liked the idea of a number of authors each writing their own chapter and I’ve just come across this - Choose the plot - which is even better, giving the reader the chance to decide on the direction each chapter will take.  

Tip 1 Mark Billingham/ Stuart MacBride: Dead Funny Friday 19 th 8:30 – 9:30 Ex- standup comedian Mark Billingham and Scotland’s own hilarious crime writer Stuart MacBride are not to be missed.   Together they will be criminally insanely, murderously, deadly uproariously funny. Tip 2 Nele Neuhaus and Danielle Ramsay Saturday 20 th 11:45 – 12:45 Nele Neuhaus, German author of Snow White must Die and Bad Wolf   in conversation with Scottish Belle, Danielle Ramsay will be enlightening.   Nele’s books are beautifully written and I enjoyed the insight into German policing and the class barrier

I travel a lot in the car for my job and although there’s often something good on the radio, it’s never enough for long journeys. I like to listen to audiobooks, but my preference is for dramatisations, rather than books read by famous people. In the past I bought quite a few CDs, but the place I always defaulted to was Audiogo, who had a huge catalogue of downloadable radio drama. The prices were good and they were flexible about downloading to different devices and burning CDs. You can imagine that I was pretty unhappy when they went into liquidation.  

On the prowl in The Old Swan Hotel Harrogate we decided to find out a bit about our favourite Crime Writers' own reading tastes. Our question: Which Crime Writer are you taking to bed at the moment .... and why? Here are their answers

Broadcaster and Festival regular Mark Lawson hosts the Awards on the opening night of the 12th annual Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate on 17 July.  The winner will receive a £3,000 cash prize, as well as a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakstons Old Peculier. Also on the night,  Lynda La Plante  will receive the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award, joining past winners Ruth Rendell, PD James, Colin Dexter and Reginald Hill.  

Jane Gregory  ASPIRING AUTHORS SEEKING LIFE OF CRIME A few spaces are still available for the 2014 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival’s hotly anticipated creative writing workshop, Creative Thursday. ‘Dragons’ Pen’ is the culmination of the day-long creative writing workshop The workshop offers the opportunity to pitch concepts to two powerhouse literary agents, Jane Gregory of Gregory and Company and Juliet Mushens of The Agency Group, and two highly esteemed publishing professionals, crime editor at Faber & Faber, Katherine Armstrong, and Publisher for Transworld Publishers, Bill Scott-Kerr.

Five Hot Tips For Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival In Harrogate This year the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival offers panels and discussions ranging from discussions on Smartphones safety, Authors changing to the crime writing genre, self publishing, and  Special events featuring authors such as Denise Mina and Lynda La Plante.  The following are my 10 must go to panels for this year and  are in no particular order. see more...

There's been a lot of news recently as the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival announces more participants for the 2104 festival. The latest news is that Denise Mina is joining the guest line-up which includes famous name authors Ann Cleeves, Gillian Flynn, Sophie Hannah, Lynda LaPlante, Laura Lippman, Peter May, Denise Mina and S. J. Watson.   Fans of Denise Mina and competition aficionados will be delighted to find that the Festival has put together a competition to win one of ten exclusive Denise Mina triple bundles.  Each includes a DVD copy of Field of Blood and the brand new cover versions of The End of the Wasp Seaso n and The Red Road.  Here's the link to the competition:   http://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/crime/news/exclusive-competition-ten-prize-bundles-up-for-grabs/   Good luck!   Romancrimeblogger   PS - don't forget our own Crime Warp Flash Fiction competition that closes at the end of Janua...

Tip Off Talking to the Dead By Harry Bingham     This novel is being dramatized on DRAMA MATTERS (Wednesday 16th Oct Sky Living /Virgin 9PM)     I found the central character in this novel intriguing and Bingham wrote the story so well we were given clues throughout to her 'disorder' but didn't find out till near the end.      Can't wait to see how they dramatise it!  

Arvon Crime Writing Course  Tutors: Val McDermid  and Andrew Taylor Guest Tutor: Allan Guthrie July 2013   Moniack Mhor Inverness This course was brilliant.  After a personally difficult year the combination of expert guidance from the tutors, the relaxing environment and the support and stimulus of being with other aspiring crime writer's, was uplifting.  As a result, barely a day has gone by when I haven't written, edited, reread or scribbled down an idea (even when on holiday) - Thanks Val and Andrew and fellow Arvon Criminalites!      Moniack Mhor Our home for the week was a beautiful rustic cottage with an extension to the kitchen and bedrooms.  This shows the Kitchen annex and the upstairs bedrooms and part of the living room.  Below is a separate cottage that housed the tutors, computers and a few of the course members. As you can see the weather was fantastic for the entire week and the sunsets were a...

                 Criminal Reads For Valentines Day         Jilliane Hoffman has created a killer called CUPID and a hero called C.J. Townsend.   There are three books in the Townsend trilogy.   1/ The Retribution :           A young lawyer is raped and left for dead.  Years      later, having changed her identity,  she is in the courtroom to prosecute a serial killer called Cupid.   When he speaks for the first time she recognises his voice as her rapists'. 2/ Last Witness : This is the second book in the series.  It appears that Cupid is pulling strings from behind bars as a series of witnesses for the prosecution are killed.    3/ The Cutting Room :        In the third book Cupid escapes from prison and...

Monday 5 Novembe r - Peter James' latest book Not Dead Yet is currently on Kindle for 20p.   I thought the book was good and for 20p its an absolute bargain.  I don't know how long the offer will last for, or whether it's on at that price for other e-book platforms - I leave blog readers to work that out for themselves.   My recommendation - go for it! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Not-Dead-Yet-Grace-ebook/dp/B007L248KI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1352130214&sr=8-2 Romancrimeblogge r

Halloween Tricks or treats Criminal   Ideas for reading, writing, browsing watching and playing  this HALLOWEEN  1.    Trick Or Treat by Jeffrey Deaver (Short Story) (Read) 2.    Halloween Party by Agatha Christie (Read) 3.    Stuart MacBride’s’ blog contents page – yellow eyed cat - (Browse) 4.    Luther (series two) Scary Scream mask (Watch) 5.    Days Of Atonement   by Faye Kellerman (Read) 6.    A Touch Of Death by Charlaine Harris (Read) 7.    Stuart MacBrides blog extra’s   page (tangle of rodents) (Browse) 8.    The Detectives Halloween Special UTube (Browse) 9.    Halloween writing (see Bloggers Blag) (Write)     10. Halloween Lies (a Murder Mystery game) Google (Browse) (Play)